Sanford Bishop: “Mr. Chairman, last fall the committee approved a creation of an independent commission to examine all aspects of the…”

“Mr. Chairman, last fall the committee approved a creation of an independent commission to examine all aspects of the September 11 attacks. In the course of the legislative process, that proposal was first weakened and ultimately eliminated. I supported the commission concept not because I was concerned that the intelligence committees could not review adequately the performance of the intelligence agencies in the months leading up to September 11, but because I knew that review would be limited necessarily to those agencies. The September 11 story extends beyond the intelligence agencies, and to be told comprehensively, needs to assess the performance of agencies outside the intelligence community. A commission that is unencumbered by jurisdictional concerns could take that kind of comprehensive look at September 11. I would hope that the House tonight would have a chance to again consider a commission proposal like the one that was approved by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last year. Although that will apparently not be the case, I believe the commission amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer) will make a valuable contribution to a better national understanding of the September 11 events and what is being done within the intelligence community to respond to them. Therefore, I urge the adoption of the amendment.”