Who's to blame?
Many critics have blamed America's intelligence agencies for failing to detect or prevent the September 11 attacks. But David Horowitz notes that many Democrats in Congress repeatedly voted to cut funding for those agencies.
Every year for seven consecutive years, beginning in 1993, Rep. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent (COMMUNIST), who caucuses with the Democrats, "introduced an amendment that required a minimum reduction in financial authorization for each individual intelligence agency of at least 10 percent," Mr. Horowitz writes in a new pamphlet, "How the Left Undermined America's Security."
"Irresponsible? Incomprehensible? Not to ... the Democrats in the House who voted in favor of the Sanders amendment over the years. Ninety-seven Democrats in all voted for the Sanders cuts," Mr. Horowitz writes.
"As the terrorist attacks on America intensified year by year during the 1990s, Sanders steadfastly reintroduced his amendment. In 1995, 1996 and 1997 [Rep.] Barney Frank [Massachusetts Democrat] introduced a similar amendment that would cut the intelligence funds by less, but cut them still. In 1997, 158 Democrats voted for the Frank amendment. That same year, a majority [of Democrats] voted for a modified Sanders amendment to cut intelligence funds by 5 percent."