Citing a commission finding calling the Bush administration's failure to arm Predator drones a "missed opportunity" in the hunt for bin Laden, Clinton asked Rumsfeld to respond to questions from the families of 9/11 victims.

In testimony before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee earlier in the day, 9/11 family spokeswoman Kristin Breitweiser complained about arguments between the Pentagon and the CIA over the use of Predator drones.

"As their heated debate continued over money and responsibilities, al-Qaida was already here in the U.S., lying in wait, fully embedded and prepared to kill 3,000 innocent people," Breitweiser said, in quotes picked up by CNN.

"If that does not illustrate how off-the-mark our military and intelligence community was in the months leading up to 9/11, I don't know what does," she complained.

"The status quo has failed us," 9/11 relative Stephen Push testified. "The current allocation of intelligence budgets failed to prevent the murder of nearly 3,000 people in one day on American soil."

Rumsfeld had not responded to Sen. Clinton's request by the time the Armed Services Committee hearing ended.

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