AD FACT
JOHN KERRY: "I will immediately reform the intelligence system."
BACKGROUND
Kerry Pledged At The DNC Convention: "I Will Immediately Reform The Intelligence System." "As president, I will ask the hard questions and demand hard evidence. I will immediately reform the intelligence system, so policy is guided by facts and facts are never distorted by politics." (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks At DNC Convention, 7/29/04)
AD FACT
VOICE OVER: "Oh really…As a member of the Intelligence committee, Senator Kerry was absent for 76 percent of the Committee's hearings. In the year after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Kerry was absent for every single one."
BACKGROUND
While On Committee, Kerry Missed 38 Of 49 Public Intelligence Committee Hearings. During John Kerry's eight years of service on the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence, there were 49 open, public hearings. Of these 49, John Kerry attended just 11 (22.4%). Among the most notable of those he missed is the June 8, 2000, hearing on the report of the National Commission on Terrorism, which warned about the terrorist threat we now face and recommended numerous steps to address that threat (few of which were adopted prior to 9/11/01).
In 1994, Kerry Missed Every Committee Hearing (Bob Kerrey Attended All Of The Hearings That Year), Including A Hearing On The Report Of The Joint Security Commission, Which Warned, In Part: "The bombing of the World Trade Center and the assassination of two CIA employees in Virginia heightened our sensitivity to the fact that terrorist activities against Americans can occur domestically as well as abroad." ("Redefining Security: A Report To The Secretary Of Defense And The Director Of Central Intelligence," U.S. Joint Security Commission, 2/28/94)
AD FACT
VOICE OVER: "That same year he proposed slashing America's intelligence budget by 6 billion dollars. There's what Kerry says and then there's what Kerry does."
BACKGROUND
In 1994, Kerry Proposed Amendment To Cut Intelligence Budget By $6 Billion Across The Board. (Amdt. To H.R. 3759, CQ Vote #39: Rejected 20-75: R 3-37; D 17-38, 2/10/94, Kerry Voted Yea; Graham, Lieberman And Braun Voted Nay)