Feb. 25, 2004, 10:51PM
Rice refuses panel's request to testify publicly about 9/11
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The federal commission reviewing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks expressed disappointment Wednesday with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's refusal to testify in public.
"Although we have met privately with Dr. Rice, we believe the nation would be well served by the contribution she can make to public understanding of the intelligence and policy issues being examined by the commission," the 10-member panel said in a statement.
The bipartisan commission also urged President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to talk to the full commission instead of just the chairman and vice chairman.
The panel, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was established by Congress to study the nation's preparedness before the attacks and its response. It also is to recommend ways to guard against similar disasters.
The commission plans meetings in March with Bush, Cheney, former President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore to discuss what they knew before the 2001 attacks. Clinton and Gore have agreed to meet with the full panel but have not said whether they will testify publicly.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was discussing the time and format of the meetings. Bush has said he did not think his public testimony was necessary.
Relatives of Sept. 11 victims say they are particularly interested in Rice's testimony. They cited her May 2002 comments that the administration had no prior indication that terrorists were considering suicide hijackings, even though reports later showed that intelligence officials had considered the possibility.
"I can't understand why these elected officials, particularly the president and vice president, aren't willing to come before the American public and testify," said Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey, whose husband, Ronald, died in the World Trade Center. "That raises a concern they're hiding something."
Rice met with the commission for four hours at the White House on Feb. 7. After the session, at least two commissioners, Democrats Richard Ben-Veniste and Timothy Roemer, said it would be useful to have Rice testify in public.
At the panel's next public hearing, in late March, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell are to testify, as well as their counterparts in the Clinton administration, William Cohen and Madeleine Albright. Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, also is to appear at that session.
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