B
bamthin
Guest
I was watching the "O'Rielly Factor" last night and he did a piece on the Bush stonewalling and refusal to extend the 9/11 investigation findings. Even O'Rielly thought what Bush was doing was BS. What do you republicans here think of that?
9/11 panel wants until July to finish report, but political heat will be on
Philip Shenon NYT
Thursday, January 29, 2004
WASHINGTON The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks announced that it would seek an extension of its deadline to complete the investigation until at least July, raising the prospect of a public fight with the White House and a final report delivered in the heat of the presidential campaign.
The White House and Republican congressional leaders have said previously that they saw no need to extend the congressionally mandated deadline, now set for May 27, and a spokesman for the speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, said Tuesday that Hastert would oppose any legislation to grant the extension.
But commission officials said Tuesday that there was no way for them to finish their work on time - a situation that panel members attribute in part to delays by the Bush administration in turning over documents and other evidence.
The commission said Tuesday that it had still not yet gotten a commitment from the administration for public testimony from prominent White House officials, including Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser.
The panel said it was still in negotiations over the possibility of testimony from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"We are telling the Congress and the president what we need to do the best possible job," said the panel's chairman, Thomas Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, in announcing the panel's decision to seek an extension of at least two months. "Much work remains, and some hard work in finalizing our report."
The commission's vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, a Democrat and former House member from Indiana, said the panel was "mindful of the politics" of an extension, "but if we do not have the extra time, we would not have as many hearings as we would like."
At the hearing, the panel also harshly questioned former officials of the Federal Aviation Administration over why they had not merged terrorism watch lists that might have alerted airlines to block some of the hijackers from boarding the planes on Sept. 11.
The aviation agency's former security chief acknowledged in testimony that he had not known until this week that the State Department maintained a special terrorist watch list, known as Tipoff, that had thousands of names.
The Bush administration initially opposed the creation of the 10-member independent commission, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Administration officials have acknowledged concern that Democrats - and especially the Democratic nominee for president - will try to make use of the report's findings to embarrass Bush, especially if the report contains any suggestion that the White House failed to act before Sept. 11 on intelligence suggesting that a catastrophic attack might be imminent.
The Bush administration officials confirmed news reports last year that a White House intelligence summary presented to Bush shortly before the attacks suggested that terrorists might be planning an attack using passenger planes.
"It smacks of politics to put out a report like this in the middle of a presidential campaign," said a senior Republican congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Democrats will spin and spin."
Prospects for legislation to extend the deadline were uncertain.
An extension of the commission's deadline would need to be approved in Congress in the next few weeks, and the Senate authors of the bill that created the panel last year - John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat - have already said that they are willing to try to shepherd an extension bill through Congress, although both have said they expect a fight with Republican congressional leaders.
"I fully support an extension to ensure that the commission's work is not compromised by the Bush administration's delaying tactics, secrecy and stonewalling," Lieberman said Tuesday from New Hampshire, where he was campaigning in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary.
"Clearly the president is not interested in a complete and thorough investigation."
The New York Times
-Bam
9/11 panel wants until July to finish report, but political heat will be on
Philip Shenon NYT
Thursday, January 29, 2004
WASHINGTON The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks announced that it would seek an extension of its deadline to complete the investigation until at least July, raising the prospect of a public fight with the White House and a final report delivered in the heat of the presidential campaign.
The White House and Republican congressional leaders have said previously that they saw no need to extend the congressionally mandated deadline, now set for May 27, and a spokesman for the speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, said Tuesday that Hastert would oppose any legislation to grant the extension.
But commission officials said Tuesday that there was no way for them to finish their work on time - a situation that panel members attribute in part to delays by the Bush administration in turning over documents and other evidence.
The commission said Tuesday that it had still not yet gotten a commitment from the administration for public testimony from prominent White House officials, including Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser.
The panel said it was still in negotiations over the possibility of testimony from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"We are telling the Congress and the president what we need to do the best possible job," said the panel's chairman, Thomas Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, in announcing the panel's decision to seek an extension of at least two months. "Much work remains, and some hard work in finalizing our report."
The commission's vice chairman, Lee Hamilton, a Democrat and former House member from Indiana, said the panel was "mindful of the politics" of an extension, "but if we do not have the extra time, we would not have as many hearings as we would like."
At the hearing, the panel also harshly questioned former officials of the Federal Aviation Administration over why they had not merged terrorism watch lists that might have alerted airlines to block some of the hijackers from boarding the planes on Sept. 11.
The aviation agency's former security chief acknowledged in testimony that he had not known until this week that the State Department maintained a special terrorist watch list, known as Tipoff, that had thousands of names.
The Bush administration initially opposed the creation of the 10-member independent commission, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Administration officials have acknowledged concern that Democrats - and especially the Democratic nominee for president - will try to make use of the report's findings to embarrass Bush, especially if the report contains any suggestion that the White House failed to act before Sept. 11 on intelligence suggesting that a catastrophic attack might be imminent.
The Bush administration officials confirmed news reports last year that a White House intelligence summary presented to Bush shortly before the attacks suggested that terrorists might be planning an attack using passenger planes.
"It smacks of politics to put out a report like this in the middle of a presidential campaign," said a senior Republican congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Democrats will spin and spin."
Prospects for legislation to extend the deadline were uncertain.
An extension of the commission's deadline would need to be approved in Congress in the next few weeks, and the Senate authors of the bill that created the panel last year - John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat - have already said that they are willing to try to shepherd an extension bill through Congress, although both have said they expect a fight with Republican congressional leaders.
"I fully support an extension to ensure that the commission's work is not compromised by the Bush administration's delaying tactics, secrecy and stonewalling," Lieberman said Tuesday from New Hampshire, where he was campaigning in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary.
"Clearly the president is not interested in a complete and thorough investigation."
The New York Times
-Bam
