Poverty does not cause violence and terrorism. Lack of education does not cause terrorism.

We will use all lawful tools at our disposal, and that includes authorities under the renewed PATRIOT Act. We firmly believe that our intelligence gathering tools must enable us to collect the information we need to protect the American people.

Terrorism needs to be fought against and certainly delegitimized or attacked, but some of the underlying grievances that might in fact lead individuals astray to terrorism cannot be ignored.

Throughout my career, I had the great fortune to experience firsthand as well as to witness what it means to be a CIA officer.

I want to be very clear - whenever it is possible to capture a suspected terrorist, it is the unqualified preference of the Administration to take custody of that individual so we can obtain information that is vital to the safety and security of the American people.

The risk of just one terrorist with just one nuclear weapon is a risk we simply cannot afford to take.

We are in this business, whether it be intelligence or the government, to protect freedom, democracy and liberty, not to violate that.