Issa Calls for Oversight Committee to Probe ‘Systemic Failure’ of Homeland Security and Intelligence Stove-Piping

WASHINGTON D.C. – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is calling for an immediate and bipartisan Committee investigation and hearing examining systemic failure that allowed an apparent Al-Qaeda terrorist to board a passenger plane with a bomb.

“The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform played a central role in creating the Department of Homeland Security and reforming our intelligence community specifically to encourage better information sharing.  Recent events have exposed a sobering reality that the very failures that made us vulnerable before 9/11 still threaten our homeland security today,” Issa said.  “When we created DHS, there was unanimous agreement here on the Hill and in the Executive that we must go from an atmosphere of need to know to need to share.  It now appears that our various counter terrorist agencies are reverting to their pre 9/11 ways and there refusal to share information has put our nation at risk.”

Issa continued, “That is why I have called Chairman Towns in hopes that we can hold an immediate series of bipartisan hearings and briefings detailing the failure of agencies to share information and utilize databases that could have prevented this terrorist from boarding an aircraft bound for Detroit.  There was a breakdown in communication that impacts numerous government entities and this Committee should investigate and hold hearings immediately.”