-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/15/politics/15COMM.html?ex=1038368509&ei=1 &en=fb4d89718c3b5906
November 15, 2002 White House Yields on a 9/11 Inquiry Backed by Congress By DAVID FIRESTONE ASHINGTON, Friday, Nov. 15 — Yielding to intense pressure from families of Sept. 11 victims, the White House agreed last night to a Congressional compromise that would create an independent commission to investigate the terrorist attacks. The House immediately approved a bill to establish the commission on a 366-to-3 vote before adjourning for the year early this morning. The Senate was expected to pass it later today. The 10-member commission will be charged with providing the nation the most comprehensive examination of the vulnerabilities that made the attacks possible. It will have up to 18 months to hold hearings and prepare a report on topics that include intelligence agencies, diplomacy and immigration controls, and is intended to be unflinching in assigning blame for specific government failures. The agreement puts an end to several months of wrangling between Congress and the Bush administration, which had objected to details of the commission's makeup. Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, said earlier Friday that the administration was stalling on the plan because it could not control the commission's eventual findings. But the White House had said for a month that Mr. Bush supported a commission, and after intense pressure from victims' families, the administration agreed to a plan tonight that is similar to the one originally proposed by members of Congress and family representatives. The panel of private citizens will be evenly divided between appointees of Republicans and Democrats. Congressional negotiators conceded two points to the administration, allowing it to choose the chairman and agreeing that any subpoenas would have to be issued by at least six commission members. The White House had feared that the five Democrats on the panel could turn it into a political witchhunt. The key to the compromise was allowing Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, to appoint one of the Republican slots. Mr. McCain had fought zealously for the commission for months, leveling bitter criticism at the White House as stalling it, and family representatives as well as Democrats said he would appoint someone who would be aggressive in questioning public officials. At the same time, the White House was satisfied that Mr. McCain's appointment would not be partisan in nature. "Our agreement protects the principles we and the families of Sept. 11 have pursued in calling for such a commission since last November," Mr. McCain said tonight. "Equal bipartisan membership, a broad mandate to review policies and responses related to the terrorist attacks across the range of government agencies, and the subpoena power to dig deep to find out what went wrong." Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the leading advocate for the commission among Senate Democrats, said the panel would finally provide a "clear, clean picture" of which government agencies failed and why, in order to prevent a similar attack in the future. The panel's inquiry, he said, will be similar to investigations of the Pearl Harbor attack and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, both of which won national attention for their unsparing accounting of responsibility. Members of the panel, which will be known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, are intended to be nationally recognized American citizens, none currently holding office, with broad experience in national security affairs and law enforcement. Former cabinet members and elected officials have been mentioned for the positions. The commission will issue a report to the president and to Congress 18 months after it begins, which could provide an embarrassing political issue in the middle of the 2004 election campaign. But White House officials said they were content with the creation of the commission. "We have worked closely with Congressional leaders involved with the issue to resolve the remaining issues," said Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, "and Congress appears ready to move forward on the strong bipartisan commission that will look at a broad range of issues." Leaders of the family groups, who had threatened a campaign of criticism against the Bush administration if it rejected the panel, said they were satisfied by the agreement. "We're not crazy about the president appointing the chairman, but our greatest concern was the subpoena power," said Stephen Push, whose wife, Lisa Raines, died in the plane that struck the Pentagon. "As long as Senator McCain has one of the picks, and the others are people of integrity, then we're guardedly optimistic about this investigation." The ability to subpoena government records and officials will be crucial to the panel's ability to ferret out facts and failures that remain undisclosed. Representative Tim Roemer, an Indiana Democrat who is an advocate of the commission, said subpoenas would make the commission "a real threat" to pry information out of reluctant government agencies, which are likely to include the F.B.I., the C.I.A. and other intelligence departments. One of the inquiry's targets is likely to be Congress itself. Representative Porter J. Goss, Republican of Florida, who leads the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he expected his committee's oversight role to be examined fully. The agreement calls for two commission members each to be appointed by the Senate Republican leader, the Senate Democratic leader, the House Republican leader and the House Democratic leader. (Mr. McCain's choice will be one of the Senate Republican leader's two appointments.) The president will choose the chairman, and Congressional Democrats the vice chairman. Subpoenas can be issued by either the chairman and vice chairman together, or by any six members. The commission had originally been included in the bill to create a Homeland Security Department, but at the direction of House Republican leaders, the House voted Wednesday night not to include it. Representative Dick Armey, the majority leader, said the panel was not properly structured. After last night's agreement won White House consent, the bill was included in the spending bill for intelligence agencies. One of the few voices of dissent on the bill came from Representative Ray LaHood, Republican of Illinois, who said the commission would raise false hopes among victims' family members and would pointlessly seek to blame innocent government offi Copyright The New York Times Company | Permissions | Privacy Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; I don't believe everything I read or send (but that doesn't stop me from considering it; obviously SOMEBODY thinks it's important) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. 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