Sherrod Delivers Democratic Response to President Bush’s 9/11 Anniversary Address

On Saturday, September 9, 2006, Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), candidate for the United States Senate Seat in Ohio, delivered the Democratic response to the President’s National Radio Address marking the fifth anniversary of September 11. 

The address aired immediately following the president’s address on major radio networks, including ABC, AP, AURN, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, American Forces Radio, Voice of America, BBC, CBC, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Listen to audio below:

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09/09/2006 / Permalink / Audio, Homeland Security, Iraq, (all tags)

Brown calls for safe harbors

From Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Three days before the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Rep. Sherrod Brown says the United States still has its guard down.

Today at the Port of Cleveland, Brown, a Democratic candidate for the Senate, called for following security recommendations made by a federal commission after the terrorist attacks. Specifically, Brown urged inspection of all cargo entering the the country instead of a small percentage.

He also said the Bush administration has failed to provide the amount of money needed by firefighters, police and other "first responders."

Brown's campaign says that according to the Coast Guard, the United States could secure its ports by spending $5.4 billion over 10 years. But spending is less than $200 million a year.

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09/08/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, (all tags)

Brown, First Responders Call for Implementation of 9/11 Commission Recommendations

Five years after 9/11, unacceptably large security holes remain
 
Cleveland, OH -- U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was joined today at the Port of Cleveland by first responders and longshoremen to call for the urgent implementation of the two-year old recommendations of the bi-partisan 9/11 Commission.  Three Ohio cities - Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus - are at high risk of terrorist attacks, but the Bush administration cut homeland security grants to the state by $37 million.  President Bush, Senator DeWine, and the Republican leadership in Washington have failed to provide full funding for first responders and to close security gaps that are leaving Ohio vulnerable to future threats.
 
"Five years after the September 11th attacks our ports, our plants, our transit systems, and our airports still remain vulnerable to terrorist attacks," said Brown.  "We cannot afford to let another year go by without implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. To win the war on terror, we must first secure our homeland.  It is inexcusable that five years after one of the worst tragedies our nation has ever faced, the Republican leadership still is dragging its feet."
 
Brown also called for the full inspection of the cargo at U.S. ports.  Currently, only 6% of the cargo at U.S. ports is inspected.  Senator Mike DeWine refused to take a stand on the Dubai ports deal, when a foreign, state-owned corporation attempted to acquire several major port terminal operations across the United States.
 
"We ask grandmothers to take their shoes off at airports, yet we inspect less than 6% of the cargo at U.S. ports," stated Brown.  "We must set a one hundred percent standard and inspect all of the cargo that crosses our borders.  While we are lucky that the British government was able to intercept the latest group of terrorists determined to strike our nation, the method of their attack was not new. We must be better prepared and use all the tools we have available to secure our nation."
 
While homeland security funding for Ohio has been cut, the U.S. continues to spend more than $2 billion a week on the war in Iraq.  Senator Mike DeWine said that the United States should only redeploy its troops from Iraq if the country breaks out into civil war, and this week, failed to vote "no confidence" in Secretary Rumsfeld's mismanagement of the war.
 
"The Bush administration squandered billions of dollars in resources on the war in Iraq, and cut Ohio's homeland security grants and funding for first responders," said Brown.  "Instead of standing up for Ohio communities, Senator DeWine rubberstamped the Bush administration's stay-the-course strategy in Iraq.  It's time for new leadership in Washington that secures our homeland and pursues the most urgent terrorist threats around the globe."

09/08/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, (all tags)

Republicans Losing The ‘Security Moms’

From Washington Post: 

Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews.

This critical group of swing voters -- who are an especially significant factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts on which control of Congress will hinge -- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001, according to data compiled for The Washington Post by the Pew Research Center.

...In the Senate race, Sherrod Brown, a longtime Democratic congressman and champion of liberal policies, is running his own version of an antiwar campaign. He voted against the war resolution and the USA Patriot Act, which provided the government new terrorist surveillance tools and authority, at a time when the conventional wisdom in Washington held that both votes were politically disastrous moves.

"I voted against the Iraq war while Mike DeWine slept through the intelligence hearings, asked no real questions about weapons of mass destruction, asked no questions about a plan to win or a plan for reconstruction," Brown said. "If this election comes down to terrorism and war, I still win." If elected to the Senate, Brown said, he will demand the military come up with a plan to have all U.S. troops out in no more than two years.

DeWine has embraced the White House strategy of using terrorism as a wedge, condemning his opponent as a soft-on-security liberal. But his most aggressive attack backfired. A campaign ad that accused Brown of "weakening national security" was found to include a doctored image of the burning World Trade Center towers after Sept. 11. DeWine had to change the ad.

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08/18/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, Iraq, (all tags)

Democrats Go on Offense in Latest Terror Case

From Los Angeles Times: 

Two years after President Bush won reelection having painted his opponent as soft on terrorists and weak on national security, Democrats have seized on the latest alleged terrorism plot in hopes of turning the political tables on the White House.

Their aggressive stance was evident hours after British authorities announced they had disrupted a plot to blow up airplanes: Leading Democrats blamed the terrorism threat on "mismanagement" by the Bush administration and charged that the Iraq war had become a "rallying cry" for the enemy.

On Friday, Democrats continued with a series of sharp statements accusing the White House of exploiting the case for political gain.

Party strategists said they had steered clear of such loaded language in similarly sensitive cases out of fear of stirring up voters on an issue that, since 2001, has largely helped Republicans. But Democrats said they were determined now to maintain their criticism through the November elections, citing public anxiety over the Iraq war and other foreign policy challenges that might, for the first time in three election cycles, lessen the GOP advantage.

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08/12/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, (all tags)

Brown: Refocus Our Resources on Winning the War on Terror

The war in Iraq has drained military's resources, capacity
 
CINCINNATI, OH -- U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown today said that the terror attacks thwarted in Great Britain highlight the immediate need for the United States to refocus its efforts in fighting the war on terror.
 
"The attempted attacks on the United States remind us that we should be thankful for allies like Great Britain.  British authorities saved countless lives and they deserve our gratitude," said Brown.  "Today's failed attacks underscore the need to refocus our resources on fighting the war on terror.  Iraq has diverted billions of dollars from our defense budget and drained our military's capacity.  Our success in the war on terror depends on having the available manpower and resources to hunt down terrorist networks around the world.  As we continue to follow the Republican's stay-the-course strategy in Iraq, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden remain on the loose."
 
The situation on the ground in Afghanistan has deteriorated, with insurgent attacks on the rise and the Taliban regaining strength.  Iran and Syria have bolstered their role in Iraq and across the Middle East, and they continue to funnel money to terrorist groups that threaten our troops and allies in the region.
 
"Winning the war on terror will also require securing our nation," added Brown.  "We must immediately implement and fully fund the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.  We must secure our ports, our plants, our rail, and our airports to make our homeland security fail safe."
 
Mike DeWine and the Bush administration have failed to secure America.  Less than 10% of the cargo at our nation's ports is inspected.  Transit security has been underfunded.  The airport cargo explosive screening procedures recommended by the 9/11 Commission have not been implemented.  Three Ohio cities are considered to be at high risk for terrorist attacks, but DeWine did nothing as the Bush administration cut homeland security grants to the state by $37 million.

08/10/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, Iraq, (all tags)

DeWine, Brown trade barbs on security issues

From Dayton Daily News:

U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine says the issue of security – including intelligence matters – is one where he differs wildly from his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown.

...Each amendment was defeated and Brown still voted for the final bill for CIA funding each time except in 1995 and 1998, when he voted for an intelligence-related amendment attached to the defense appropriations bill.

He was joined in many of those votes by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., a hawk and fiscal conservative, and Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn.

Brown said he supported those amendments because of the era: The Cold War was over and the intelligence community had been criticized for a series of blunders.

"Our interest was not cuts in funding; primarily our interest was to make the intelligence community more responsive and more effective," Brown said.

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08/06/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, (all tags)

Security votes lose context in Senate race

From Cleveland Plain Dealer: 

After the Cold War ended, the intelligence community in Washington had to refocus. Making it harder were the embarrassments of the 1990s - erroneous targets hit by deadly missiles, billions of dollars unaccounted for, failure to warn of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

A minority in Congress, including Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown, wondered if the CIA was accountable to anyone. So they voted to cut the intelligence budget.

"The whole point was that we knew there was a slush fund at the CIA, that they had a lot of money set aside," Brown recalled. "We knew they had a lot of problems at that agency, where they weren't doing their jobs, and we were sending them a message."

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07/22/2006 / Permalink / 2006, Homeland Security, (all tags)