Moran Q+A: Rice Testimony

April 9 -- Now that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has spoken publicly to the 9/11 commission, how is the public reacting to her comments?

ABCNEWS White House correspondent Terry Moran answers questions from ABCNEWS.com users who watched the televised testimony.

Question: If this was a bipartisan commission then why was it so partisan in questions?

Answer: Because it's a bipartisan commission, not a non-partisan commission. It's just a fact in our country — and a healthy one — that we disagree politically about basic issues of governance. It is also a fact — maybe healthy, maybe not — that most of us ally ourselves with one of the two major political parties. Recognizing that fact, the Congress and the president figured the best way to design a commission was to have equal representation of Democrats and Republicans.

That said, there is a long tradition in Washington that partisanship should be set aside as much as possible in debates on national security issues (though sometimes that cannot, and should not, be done). Here, the fact that it is an election year seems to have driven some Commission members in both parties to let their loyalties influence their duties more than might have been the case in an off-year.

Question: Is there anywhere I can download the entire 9/11 commission's questioning of Rice? I missed this and would like to see the entire thing for myself.— Paul, Dallas

Answer: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/politics/08RICE-TEXT.html. And many other sites.

Question: Did you feel, as I did, that Dr. Rice was trying to filibuster or was she trying to be give a complete answer to each question by the panel?— RJ