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Congress itself may be one of the greatest barriers in implementing an effective national security plan, a key lawmaker said Monday evening.

"We face a national security environment that leaves little room for errors," Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said to a small group at the National Press Club. Citing turf battles in Congress as an impediment to full reform, he said the weeks and months ahead will prove to be a crucial time for the Homeland Security Department.

Thornberry said while there are "no magic solutions to the problems that we face," government needs to be flexible enough to meet those challenges. "We must be resourceful and flexible," he said of the report by the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Among other things, the report said the government has lacked imagination.

"Our government is used to taking 20 years to decide on an airplane" design, he said. At a time "when technology can turn on a dime," the U.S. government must modernize its outdated and slow procurement system.

As chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cyber Security, Thornberry said he advocates that government agencies and departments become better integrated, share intelligence, track the progress of its systems, coordinate security efforts and get the technology right.

The government also must establish trust with the private sector to work together to create a secure and solid infrastructure, he said, noting that the private sector owns 85 percent of the critical infrastructure in the United States and market forces alone will not provide enough incentive for businesses to develop the security measures the government requires.

Thornberry called technology a "double-edged sword." While technology has the capability to blunt potential threats of terrorism, it does not necessarily translate into a safer solution. Technology also exposes vulnerabilities, he said, as the country becomes more technologically dependent.

In developing a national strategy, the Cyber Security Subcommittee must examine all possible scenarios, from the catastrophic to mere inconvenience. "Most people agree it will be pretty unlikely that terrorists will use the Internet" that would lead to a catastrophe, he said, but it could be used to cause mass chaos or raise money to fund terrorist activities.

Development of a national roadmap for implementing a cyber-security plan, as well as protecting America's physical infrastructure, must be swift, Thornberry said. The progress of integrating 22 agencies into one Homeland Security Department "has not met my hopes."