Nancy Pelosi: “in the wake, literally in the wake, of the horrific tragedies of September 11, there are many Members in the body…”

“in the wake, literally in the wake, of the horrific tragedies of September 11, there are many Members in the body, indeed in the country, who want an independent review of events leading up to September 11 and an evaluation of the performance of the agencies with responsibility for counterterrorism in our country. I have a substitute amendment at the desk which strikes language in the bill in response to some of the concerns raised by our Republican colleagues. The committee position coming to the House today establishes an independent commission to review the appropriate agencies and their performance. There were concerns raised by some on the minority side and others even on the majority, saying that the scope of the commission was too broad, its ability to subpoena, to hold hearings, to grant immunity. Concerns were even expressed by the Justice Department. In the interest of addressing some of the concerns raised by the majority, I am presenting this amendment, which would eliminate some of those powers from the commission, and also reducing the number of people on the commission from 10 to 8, again, addressing the concerns raised. Many of those same provisions are in the Goss amendment. My concern with the Goss amendment and why I continue to persist with mine is that his amendment changes the scope of the commission.”