When testifying in front of the 9/11 Commission on March 24, 2004, former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke was asked how much of a priority terrorism had been for the Clinton and Bush administrations. He replied: ” ‘My impression was that fighting terrorism in general, and fighting al Qaeda in particular, were an extraordinarily high priority in the Clinton administration, certainly no higher priority. …I believe the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue but not an urgent issue.’ ”
– Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, Without Precedent, Page 167