“My personal view is that the intelligence system we have has been broken for a long time. But we wanted to let the American people make up their mind. They don’t need our editorializing.”

— Former Navy Secretary John Lehman, a member of the 9-11 Commission, on why the bipartisan panel’s final report wouldn’t conclude that the terrorist attack could have been prevented.

“If these reforms are not the best that can be done for the American people, then the Congress and the president need to tell us what’s better. But if there is nothing better, they need to be enacted and enacted speedily because if something bad happens while these recommendations are sitting there, the American people will quickly fix political responsibility for failure.”

— James Thompson, former Illinois governor and a member of the 9-11 Commission.

“There are bad consequences to being in the middle of a political season and there are also good ones because everyone who is running for office can be asked, ‘Do you support these recommendations?’ “

— Democratic 9-11 commissioner Jamie Gorelik, about the political implications of working on counter-terrorism legislation during a political campaign.

“The farmers not only had their hands tied behind their backs, they had a pair of handcuffs as well.”

— Hezekiah Gibson, president of United Farmers USA, describing the obstacles that have kept tens of thousands of black farmers from getting the settlements promised them in a racial discrimination settlement reached five years ago with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“I worry about this every single day – recruiting and retention. We are recruiting a volunteer force during a time of war. We’ve never done that before.”

— Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, the Army’s top personnel officer, quoted in the New York Times about the Army’s difficulty in meeting recruitment goals during the conflict in Iraq.

“Errors are buried, hidden and not as shared and as studied as they should be.”

— Dr. Jeff Collins, Spokane physician and president of the Washington State Medical Association, discussing how lawsuit fears may get in the way of patient-safety improvements.

“When times are good, you’re willing to gamble your money. When times are bad, you hold on to it.”

— Economist John Church, suggesting that an improving economy is behind record sales of lottery tickets in Idaho in the past year.