Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday made the explosive charge that President Bush has not done enough to make the nation safer in the wake of 9/11, saying, “We have relied on the myth of homeland security.”
In a blistering speech at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, Clinton used her strongest words to date to take Bush to task, charging he hasn’t provided enough anti-terror funding for local cops and that he’s taken a “piecemeal approach” to making America safer.
“Our vigilance has faded at the top – in the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., where the strategy and resources are supposed to originate, where leaders are supposed to lead,” Clinton said.
“We have relied on a myth of homeland security, a myth written in rhetoric, inadequate resources and a new bureaucracy, instead of relying on good, old-fashioned American ingenuity, might and muscle,” she added.
“Somewhere along the line, we lost our edge. We let our guard down.”
Clinton (D-N.Y.) made her verbal assault on Bush – whom she never mentioned by name – as Tom Ridge was being sworn in as the nation’s first secretary of homeland security in Washington.
Following the ceremony, Ridge told reporters that Clinton made “a very unfortunate characterization of what people are doing.”
“It’s not a myth that 170,000 people go to work every day at the borders,” he said.
The former first lady also joined other Democrats in attacking the president’s latest proposed tax cut – but linked it to domestic security, which she said has improved little since 9/11.
“The main idea to come out of the administration in recent weeks is to eliminate the tax on corporate dividends – at a cost of $364 billion,” she said.
“Will ending the tax on dividends save one police officer or firefighter his job?” she asked.
Clinton accused the Bush administration of “holding up valuable resources” for local fire and police departments and said that New York City needs at least an additional $900 million to improve its security.
Clinton’s swipe at the president was clearly a big political gamble in an arena where Bush is perceived as strong.
Recent polls have shown that voters think Democrats are better at handling the economy but trust Republicans more when it comes to national security.
Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) charged that Clinton was “basically accusing the administration of treason, almost.”
“That just encourages the enemy,” he said. “It’s like inviting the enemy to try another attack.”