Guest
02-27-2004, 11:51 AM
I urge you to contact the Speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert, and urge him to drop his effort to block the 60 day extension that the 9/11 Commission has requested to complete it's work. The bipartisan committe needs the additional time to complete their work. Speaker Hastert's D.C. phone is 202-225-2976.
I am posting the following article from the NYTimes if you want to read more about it.
February 27, 2004
Extension of the 9/11 Panel Is Said to Hinge on Speaker
By PHILIP SHENON
ASHINGTON, Feb. 26 — The Senate is expected to approve legislation within days to extend the life of the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, with commission members and Republican lawmakers vowing on Thursday to press Speaker J. Dennis Hastert to drop his plans to block the measure in the House.
The 10-member commission has warned that without a two-month extension of the deadline for its final report, now set by law at May 27, the panel will not be able to complete its investigation, which focuses in part on intelligence and law enforcement blunders in the weeks and months before the 2001 terrorist attacks.
After some initial reluctance to support an extension, the White House agreed this month to endorse the two-month delay requested by the panel, known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Republican Senate leaders support the extension as well, and the Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to extend the panel's work by two months. Republican Congressional aides said on Thursday that the legislation would be approved in the Senate and sent to the House as early as this week, possibly attached to an otherwise uncontroversial bill to extend federal highway programs.
The stumbling block is Mr. Hastert, an Illinois Republican. He has said through his spokesman that he will prevent a House vote on any bill to extend the life of the commission, arguing that any extension would risk turning the commission's findings into a political issue in the midst of this summer's campaigning.
"We want this report out as soon as possible," Mr. Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, said on Thursday. "The recommendations only really work if they come out quickly. And any delay will only make this become a political football."
Mr. Feehery said Mr. Hastert had spoken on Monday with the White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., and made clear his opposition to any extension. Asked if there was any chance that Mr. Hastert might change his mind, Mr. Feehery replied, "I don't think so."
Members of the commission and lawmakers who support the extension seemed convinced, however, that Mr. Hastert would change his mind, especially if he was placed under pressure by fellow Republicans and the groups of families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, who are seeking an even longer extension of the life of the commission.
They say that attaching the measure to a popular federal highway bill could also force Mr. Hastert's hand because he would have to derail the highway bill to kill the extension.
"I hope the speaker will change his position and allow the House to vote," said Thomas H. Kean, the commission's chairman and a former Republican governor of New Jersey.
Mr. Kean said in a telephone interview that without the extension "we would not do as good a report as we could."
"It would be a disappointment to us and something of a disservice to the American people," he said.
The commission has warned that without an extension it might sharply reduce the number of public hearings it will hold on the events of Sept. 11 and will have to curtail other parts of the investigation.
"The commission is clear," said Lee H. Hamilton, the panel's vice chairman and a former Democratic House member of Indiana. "We unanimously support the additional two months, and from our standpoint, it's important to get quick passage of the extension so we've got to plan. As of now, we have to assume that our May 27 deadline is the deadline."
The House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, said at a meeting with reporters on Thursday that "Mr. Hastert is a reasonable man and that he will agree" to allow legislation extending the commission to be approved in the House.
"I don't think this House of Representatives wants to take responsibility for our having less information than we need as to how this happened," Mr. Pelosi said, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks.
If Mr. Hastert blocked the extension, she said, "I can only assume he is doing the heavy lifting for the White House, which never wanted this commission in the first place."
A White House spokeswoman, Claire Buchan, insisted on Thursday that the White House was eager to see the deadline extended but she rebuffed questions on whether President Bush and his aides were pressuring Mr. Hastert to reverse his decision.
Thanks,
Miranda
I am posting the following article from the NYTimes if you want to read more about it.
February 27, 2004
Extension of the 9/11 Panel Is Said to Hinge on Speaker
By PHILIP SHENON
ASHINGTON, Feb. 26 — The Senate is expected to approve legislation within days to extend the life of the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, with commission members and Republican lawmakers vowing on Thursday to press Speaker J. Dennis Hastert to drop his plans to block the measure in the House.
The 10-member commission has warned that without a two-month extension of the deadline for its final report, now set by law at May 27, the panel will not be able to complete its investigation, which focuses in part on intelligence and law enforcement blunders in the weeks and months before the 2001 terrorist attacks.
After some initial reluctance to support an extension, the White House agreed this month to endorse the two-month delay requested by the panel, known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Republican Senate leaders support the extension as well, and the Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to extend the panel's work by two months. Republican Congressional aides said on Thursday that the legislation would be approved in the Senate and sent to the House as early as this week, possibly attached to an otherwise uncontroversial bill to extend federal highway programs.
The stumbling block is Mr. Hastert, an Illinois Republican. He has said through his spokesman that he will prevent a House vote on any bill to extend the life of the commission, arguing that any extension would risk turning the commission's findings into a political issue in the midst of this summer's campaigning.
"We want this report out as soon as possible," Mr. Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, said on Thursday. "The recommendations only really work if they come out quickly. And any delay will only make this become a political football."
Mr. Feehery said Mr. Hastert had spoken on Monday with the White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., and made clear his opposition to any extension. Asked if there was any chance that Mr. Hastert might change his mind, Mr. Feehery replied, "I don't think so."
Members of the commission and lawmakers who support the extension seemed convinced, however, that Mr. Hastert would change his mind, especially if he was placed under pressure by fellow Republicans and the groups of families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, who are seeking an even longer extension of the life of the commission.
They say that attaching the measure to a popular federal highway bill could also force Mr. Hastert's hand because he would have to derail the highway bill to kill the extension.
"I hope the speaker will change his position and allow the House to vote," said Thomas H. Kean, the commission's chairman and a former Republican governor of New Jersey.
Mr. Kean said in a telephone interview that without the extension "we would not do as good a report as we could."
"It would be a disappointment to us and something of a disservice to the American people," he said.
The commission has warned that without an extension it might sharply reduce the number of public hearings it will hold on the events of Sept. 11 and will have to curtail other parts of the investigation.
"The commission is clear," said Lee H. Hamilton, the panel's vice chairman and a former Democratic House member of Indiana. "We unanimously support the additional two months, and from our standpoint, it's important to get quick passage of the extension so we've got to plan. As of now, we have to assume that our May 27 deadline is the deadline."
The House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, said at a meeting with reporters on Thursday that "Mr. Hastert is a reasonable man and that he will agree" to allow legislation extending the commission to be approved in the House.
"I don't think this House of Representatives wants to take responsibility for our having less information than we need as to how this happened," Mr. Pelosi said, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks.
If Mr. Hastert blocked the extension, she said, "I can only assume he is doing the heavy lifting for the White House, which never wanted this commission in the first place."
A White House spokeswoman, Claire Buchan, insisted on Thursday that the White House was eager to see the deadline extended but she rebuffed questions on whether President Bush and his aides were pressuring Mr. Hastert to reverse his decision.
Thanks,
Miranda