At a White House Rose Garden press conference Wednesday the president accepted blame for the use of a now-discredited claim that Iraq sought uranium for nuclear weapons in Africa.

"I take personal responsibility for everything I say, of course. Absolutely," Bush said, after weeks of evading blame for inserting the 16-word reference into his speech.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said the admission was "worthwhile" but late in coming.

"I'm sorry it had to take this long for him to acknowledge his responsibility," he said, adding there were "a number of other questions that also ought to be reviewed, and I think, investigated."

"What I am troubled by is the events leading up to the State of the Union message, what may have been the abuse of intelligence to gather information, and ... the lack of real understanding about how all of that happened," Daschle said.

"We still need the kind review and investigative research done to make sure that we know, and that we also have the confidence that this will never be done again."

Senator Dianne Feinstein said of the president's apology: "It doesn't cover it."

"That was using a flawed intelligence judgment. The question is whether there are other flawed intelligence judgments."

"Remember," she added, "we haven't found weapons of mass destruction. Remember, at least one senator -- myself -- wouldn't have voted for the use of force had it not been for the concept of threat, perhaps imminent threat."

Another Senate Democrat, Ron Wyden of Oregon, said the president's concession in no way lessens the mandate of lawmakers holding closed-door hearings into the White House use of prewar intelligence on Iraq.

"I feel very strongly as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee that all the facts have got to come out, and that's why we're going to stay at it until they do," said Wyden.

Senator Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat, said the president himself should be leading the charge on seeking accountability for the faulty intelligence.

"The president has an obligation to determine who was responsible for that and to take proper steps for accountability.

"I think the failure to hold anybody accountable after September 11th has contributed to a culture of lack of personal responsibility among people in the White House and in the intelligence communities," Graham said.

"That is an intolerable result of September 11th, when it should have been an event that would have increased our focus on accountability," he said.

The Florida Democrat also called on the White House to offer more robust support of the findings of the congressional committee on the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Those findings, released last week, severely criticized US intelligence services for lapses in intelligence gathering, and above all, in coordiation and cooperation.

"The intelligence community has been divided by interagency rivalries, including competition for funds and disagreements over priorities," Graham said.

Graham and other lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday -- the September 11th Memorial Intelligence Reform Act -- which would create a cabinet-level director of national intelligence.

"The intelligence community needs a leader with the clout to set common goals, establish priorities, and knock heads when necessary, to assure that the American people are protected," said US Senator Bob Graham who led the bipartisan congressional inquiry.

The cabinet secretary would track and coordinate terror investigations, but would operate apart from the Central Intelligence Agency and other existing intelligence bodies.

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