"Everyone was caught unawares by Sept. 11 -- the president, the Congress, the American people, law enforcement agencies. Blame, if there's blame, has to be spread all across the board because the American people never demanded more or better. But now we've been warned, specifically warned. And now we've been told by everyone, from the president of the United States on down, it's going to happen again. And if it happens, and we haven't moved, then the American people are entitled to make very fundamental judgments about that."

--Republican 9/11 Commissioner James R. Thompson, on the possible political consequences if President Bush and the GOP-led Congress refuse to act promptly on the Commission's findings

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