Pat Roberts Quotes (58 Quotes)

Terrorists select their targets and mode of attack in order to maximize the political impact of the attack. And, because terrorists seek to call attention to whatever misguided cause they are pursuing, they need to escalate their attacks making each more spectacular and more horrific than its predecessor.

especially with the high cost of energy already an enormous burden for our farmers and ranchers.

not needed, not necessary and, in my personal opinion, was a stunt.

was probably a wise one.

As long as you're following the Constitution and there's no torture and no inhumane treatment, I see nothing wrong with saying here is the worst of the worst. We know they have specific information to save American lives in terrorist attacks around the world. That's what we're talking about,

Mr. President, it may surprise my colleagues, but I am no fan of federal disaster programs for agriculture. They are difficult to pass and often a disaster to implement.

We have several working drafts that we will give to members as of this week,

We will fight evil, but we will do it from above 15,000 feet.

I can tell you, however, that the committee has yet to hear from any intelligence official expressing such concerns, ... If any officials believe, however, that they have been pressured to alter their assessment, they have an obligation, and I encourage them to contact the committee.

With our Reserve and Guard units playing increasingly important roles in the war on terror and in Iraq, it is unacceptable to make them jump through any unnecessary hurdles.

I will not be surprised at any military action that would lead to the possibility that we have now finally killed Saddam Hussein,

I believe that such an investigation at this point ... would be detrimental to this highly classified program and efforts to reach some accommodation with the administration.

In my view it would have been far worse for these pilots to turn away from victims in their vicinity in order to complete their stated mission as foreseen by commanders 100 miles away and out of communication with a growing crisis,

When we do, then the people of Iraq will no longer live in fear of his return. ... You can see it in their faces, you can hear it in their voices.

I'm hopeful through the debate on this nominee, and the next Supreme Court nomination, we can avoid the destructive partisanship that approached the brink of absolutism in ideology,

It has been a pleasure to participate in your coronation -- ah, pardon me, your confirmation.

Security for agriculture merits serious concern by not only the agricultural community but our nation as a whole. The risk to the U.S. food supply and overall economy is real.

Kansas producers got an early present this holiday with the long overdue decision by Japan.

That's not the way to run the Intelligence Committee. We have really politicized it, and I think that's most unfair,

Why is it that on our number one security threat, we balk

While there may have been other bits of information or intelligence that would say, 'Whoa, wait a minute, we need to stop the train,' it never really stopped,

Throughout the world, terrorists are actively seeking their next recruit. Alarmingly, terrorist organizations are increasingly targeting school-age children as the next generation of terrorists.

I can't really tell you some of the more specific details that would make your eyebrows even raise higher,

A senior Administration official says that telephone calls and e-mails exchanged between several suspected terrorists and intercepted by the U. S. and foreign intelligence agencies pointed to a plot inside the U. S. using nerve gas, poisons or radiological devices. It wasn't just chatter, ... It was a pattern.

Part of that was redacted to protect the Saudis, ... there was obvious Saudi involvement.

I have to tell you I am losing a little patience with what appears to me to be an almost pathological obsession with calling into question the actions of men and women who are on the front lines of the war on terror.

I think it says something about the spirit of Kansas and of America that we can talk about the financial challenges facing our own farmers and at the same time ask for -- and get -- help for those even worse off, ... Only in America. Especially in Kansas.

Today we know these assessments were wrong.

Before the war, the U.S. intelligence community told the president as well as the Congress and the public that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and if left unchecked would probably have a nuclear weapon during this decade,

He indicates his analysis could have played a critical role.

I'm a former Marine, ... I serve on the Armed Services Committee. No bill that I have seen, even the one that I introduced that went even farther than this, had anything to do with doing any harm to tactical intelligence in regards to that war fighter in the field.

We are taking a look at the use of intelligence, and we're taking a look at the role the Defense Department played, and we're looking at prewar Iraq ... in a careful and deliberate way, because we want to get it right.

Now, as to WMD, it's going to take additional time to uncover Saddam's weapons programs, not the finished product, but the program, ... This was a program designed to be hidden -- hidden by people who knew what their fate would be if they revealed it.

I issued an open invitation to anybody who believes their analytical product was skewed in any way, or if they were intimidated or if they were coerced, that they can come to us, ... Face the Nation.

It's amazing to me, ... All the stars in the heavens were in the right places.

This is not a subject that we ought to be talking about daily in regards to a confirmation hearing. If anything, it ought to be talked about in executive session. But it's not, it's out, and so there you have it.

The committee found no evidence that the intelligence community's mischaracterization or exaggeration of intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities was the result of politics or pressure,

I don't believe that statement passes the smell test, nor do I believe it would be your position that we have no better mission for military pilots in a crisis of Katrina's magnitude than kennel duty,

It was a world community intelligence failure we can't let that happen again,

It is my opinion that the administration is also awaiting the report of the independent WMD commission, part of whose job or task is to take a look at the intelligence reform bill and make some recommendations,

Japan has chosen to ignore internationally recognized science and instead based their food safety on emotion and politics. This comes at a high price for the American beef industry. ... We're not going to stand idly by while politics and posturing drive international trade policy rather than sound science.

You don't want to have a situation where you have capability that doesn't work well with the FISA court, in terms of speed and agility and hot pursuit. So we have to solve that problem.

I know there is moral outage in regard to Mr. Milosevic, and that is certainly justified. But what about our response?

At the request of my colleagues, ... I have directed staff to examine Undersecretary Bolton's use of intelligence and after careful review, the Senate Intelligence Committee continues to find no evidence of abuse. I am prepared to assist in any reasonable effort to examine the facts, but an examination of upwards of 40 names appears to be an effort to preserve the issue, not to resolve it.

semi-annual reports that provide the committee with the information necessary to conduct effective oversight.

Despite the generous rewards that state juries dole out, in many cases, victims receive less than 50 cents on the dollar in settlements with the lawyers taking the rest. This is not justice.

We're facing huge demand increases for food stamps and Medicaid assistance, ... At a time when so much is undecided, I just don't expect those talks to happen.

Simply put, the round-the-clock helicopter rescue missions conducted by many services across three states, potentially saving thousands of citizens, was not a 'Hollywood role' by our military and Coast Guard personnel,

He's come before the committee. He's been very forthright. It's the president's call.

I have found no evidence to date in the rather voluminous material, floor to ceiling, that we have 10 staffers going over, that there was any manipulation on the part of the administration,