9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act

9/11 RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - October 08, 2004)

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Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chairman, the bill before the House today is intelligence reform more in name than in reality. In fact, the Republican Leadership's bill, H.R. 10, ignores most of the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. Of the 41 recommendations made by the Commission, H.R. 10 fully implements only 11 of them.

On October 2, the Family Steering Committee, which is made up of the families of Ð9/11 victims, issued a statement that said, ``House of Representatives bill H.R. 10, drafted in response to the 9/11 Commission recommendations, is flawed because it does not provide for a strong National Intelligence Director. It also contains controversial, divisive provisions which may have merit but warrant separate debate.'' The Family Steering Committee's statement called on the House to adopt the bipartisan Senate bill, which has been championed in the House by Representatives SHAYS, MALONEY and MENENDEZ.

It should come as a surprise to no one that the Republican Leadership, which long opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission, turned a deaf ear to the views of the Commission and the 9/11 families. The more than 50 extraneous provisions that were not recommended by the 9/11 Commission remain in the bill. Some of these provisions are very controversial. To add insult to injury, the House Leadership restricted the opportunity of Members to amend and strengthen the bill.

There have been two distinctly different approaches followed in the House and Senate on the critical issue of implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. In the Senate, there has been an open and bipartisan process used to develop a bill that truly reflects the recommendations of the Commission. The Collins-Lieberman legislation in the Senate has been endorsed by the 9/11 Commission, the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, and even the White House. The Senate bill, which was adopted on a vote of 96 to 2, was the product of extensive deliberation and bipartisan cooperation.

The Republican Leadership in the House took a different road. They introduced a bill that was developed in secret with no meaningful input from Democrats. This partisan process has produced a weak bill that does not reflect the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. For all these reasons, I voted for the Menendez substitute, which is based on the bipartisan Senate bill and fully implements the reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission. The Menendez substitute is supported by the 9/11 families. I regret that the House narrowly defeated this proposal last night.

By supporting the Menendez substitute, and opposing the flawed and wholly insufficient underlying bill, I hope we can send a clear message that we stand with the 9/11 Commission and the 9/11 families in supporting genuine, meaningful intelligence reform. I hope this message will be heard by the House and Senate conferees as they work to reconcile the House and Senate bills.