[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 26 (Wednesday, March 3, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENSION OF NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED
STATES
Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the
Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 2136) to extend the final report
date and termination date of the National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks Upon the United States, to provide additional funding for the
Commission, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate
consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:
S. 2136
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST
ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Final Report Date.--Subsection (b) of section 610 of
the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003
(Public Law 107-306; 6 U.S.C. 101 note; 116 Stat. 2413) is
amended by striking ``18 months'' and inserting ``20
months''.
(b) Termination Date.--Subsection (c) of that section is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``60 days'' and inserting
``30 days''; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``60-day period'' and
inserting ``30-day period''.
(c) Additional Funding.--Section 611 of that Act (6 U.S.C.
101 note; 116 Stat. 2413) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection (b):
``(b) Additional Funding.--In addition to the amounts made
available to the Commission under subsection (a) and under
chapter 2 of title II of the Emergency Wartime Supplemental
Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108-11; 117 Stat. 591),
of the amounts appropriated for the programs and activities
of the Federal Government for fiscal year 2004 that remain
available for obligation, not more than $1,000,000 shall be
available for transfer to the Commission for purposes of the
activities of the Commission under this title.''; and
(3) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by striking
``subsection (a)'' and inserting ``this section''.
Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I fully support this extension for the 9/
11 commission. In fact, I would support giving it any and all time and
cooperation it needs to get to the bottom of 9/11.
Sixty days is but a bare minimum--but it is absolutely necessary.
This extension is nice, White House cooperation would be better. A
thorough final report would bolster our national security and bring a
measure of understanding and closure to Americans, New Yorkers, and,
most importantly, the victims' loved ones. Unfortunately, that effort
has been hampered by an uncooperative White House.
The latest manifestation, as reported in today's New York Times, is
severe restrictions on interviews with key 9/11 players.
I ask unanimous consent to put this in the Record.
Mr. Speaker we need White House cooperation now. And if they continue
to refuse to give it, we should demand to know why.
Mr. Speaker, it's too important for this country, for my city and its
people not to get this report done right. This is too important an
issue for the White House to play hid and seek with. I hope this
extension will trigger full cooperation.
[From the New York Times, Mar. 3, 2004]
9/11 Panel Rejects White House Limits on Interviews
(By Philip Shenon)
Washington, Mar. 2.--The independent commission
investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is refusing to accept
strict conditions from the White House for interviews with
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and is renewing
its request that Mr. Bush's national security adviser testify
in public, commission members said Tuesday.
The panel members, interviewed after a private meeting on
Tuesday, said the commission had decided for now to reject a
White House request that the interview with Mr. Bush be
limited to one hour and that the questioners be only the
panel's chairman and vice chairman.
The members said the commission had also decided to
continue to press the national security adviser, Condoleezza
Rice, to reconsider her refusal to testify at a public
hearing. Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are expected to be asked
about how they had reacted to intelligence reports before
Sept. 11, 2001, suggesting that Al Qaeda might be planning a
large attack. Panel members want to ask Ms. Rice the same
questions in public.
``We have held firm in saying that the conditions set by
the president and vice president and Dr. Rice are nog good
enough,'' said Timothy J. Roemer, a former Indiana
congressman who is one of five Democrats on the 10-member
commission.
Mr. Roemer said that former President Bill Clinton and
former Vice President Al Gore had agreed to meet privately
with the full bipartisan commission, and that Samuel R.
Berger, Ms. Rice's predecessor, would testify in public.
``It's very important that we treat both the Bush and the
Clinton administration the same,'' he said.
The White House has declined to discuss details of the
limitations it has sought on the interviews with Mr. Bush and
Mr. Cheney but has said the administration wants to cooperate
fully with the commission, known formally as the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
A spokesman for the National Security Council, Sean
McCormack, said Tuesday that the White House believed it
would be inappropriate for Ms. Rice to appear at a public
hearing as a matter of legal precedent. ``White House staff
have not testified before legislative bodies,'' Mr. McCormack
said. ``This is not a matter of Dr. Rice's preferences.''
Even as panel members warned of a possible confrontation
with the White House, there was fresh evidence that the
commission had averted a showdown on Capitol Hill. Speaker J.
Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, said Tuesday that he
planned to shepherd a bill granting the panel a 60-day
extension for its final report. Mr. Hastert had vowed to
block the extension.
Mr. Hastert met Tuesday with the commission's chairman,
Thomas H. Kean, a Republican and a former governor of New
Jersey, and the vice chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, another
former Democratic congressman from Indiana, and said at a
news conference later that he would try to secure House
approval of the extension, a proposal already accepted in
the Senate.
With the extension, the commission would have until July 26
for its final report. The panel had warned that if it was
held to its original deadline of May 27, as mandated by
Congress, it would be unable to complete a full investigation
and would have to curtail public hearings.
Mr. Hastert denied suggestions from Congressional Democrats
that he had tried to block the extension as a favor to the
White House, given Republican fears that the report might
embarrass President Bush during his re-election campaign. Mr.
Hastert said he had no direction from the White House.
``I didn't want it to become a political football,'' Mr.
Hastert said of his initial opposition to the extension,
adding that he had been chagrined when the White House said
in February that it would back the extension.
Referring to the commission, Mr. Hastert said he had
changed his mind last week ``after it became apparent that
they couldn't get their work done.''
Commission officials said that if the White House continued
to insist on limitations on the interviews with Mr. Bush and
Mr. Cheney, there might be little that the panel could do to
force the issue and that the commission might have to accept
the White House's terms.
And they said that despite internal conversation about the
possibility of issuing a subpoena for Ms. Rice's public
testimony, that move was unlikely. Ms. Rice provided several
hours of private testimony last month and has suggested that
she is willing to answer additional questions behind closed
doors.
The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the
table.
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