Congressman Mike Rogers made the following statement today after the House passage of his legislation, H.R. 2470, The Homeland Threat Assessment Act yesterday.

“The 9/11 Commission revealed that a “failure of imagination” contributed to our country’s inability to identify the emerging threat posed by al Qaeda. As a result, we were blind to the approaching tragedy.

“Sixteen years later, our ability to accurately identify and evaluate threats to the Homeland remains stunted. Though talented professionals across federal agencies and at the State and local level are hard at work gathering and analyzing threat information, there is not a formalized process that evaluates homeland threats in a meaningful, comprehensive way.

“H.R. 2470 closes this gap by requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release an annual, comprehensive homeland security threat assessment. This will provide a common threat picture across DHS and for Federal, State and local partners. I believe the best way to honor the memory of those who lost their lives that day and since in the fight against terrorism is to hold our government to a high standard.”

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