STATEMENT OF SENATOR BARBARA BOXER
FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT
July 13, 2004

Mr. President, after today, we have 27 legislative days until adjournment - 27 legislative days to deal with the most pressing issues facing this country.

There were three developments in the last few days that underscore the work that needs to be done.

First, we were all summoned to the secret briefing room here in the Capitol and told that we were under a real threat of attack from al Qaeda between now and election day.

In a public appearance, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said:

"Credible reporting now indicates that al-Qaeda is moving forward with its plans to carry out a large-scale attack in the United States in an effort to disrupt our democratic process."

Second, there was a new report released showing that the intelligence of this country is in disarray. The intelligence was wrong. It was misused. It was misinterpreted. It was ignored. And it appears to me that pressure was brought to bear to skew that intelligence.