Statement by Congressman McCaul, Ranking member of the Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee, on actions announced by the President related to intelligence failures

"We need to be more proactive and not reactive. The fact that the State Department issued a cable stating Abdulmutallab had been in contact with extremists in Yemen and did not act upon it by revoking his visa was an absolute failure. I am encouraged to see that the President has now directed the State Department to review its processes for issuing and revoking visas. Revoking Abdulamutallab’s visa and placing him on the no fly list would have prevented him from carrying out his attack. 300 people bound for Detroit are alive today by sheer luck. The threat’s still out there. We need to take it seriously and call it what it is, not sweep it under the rug. Good intelligence is the first line of defense in this war and in this case we failed. I look forward to working with the President and the administration to ensure the American people are better protected in the future."

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