Orrin Hatch: “I joined in the amendment proposed by my good friends from Connecticut and Arizona because it is the right thing to do.…”

“I joined in the amendment proposed by my good friends from Connecticut and Arizona because it is the right thing to do. Sitting as I do on both the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, it has become clear to me over the past year that many different causes contributed to the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11. I have become convinced that we need to take a hard look at how this tragedy happened in order to better understand how we might avoid a similar tragedy in the future. Hindsight is, indeed, 20-20, and we may be able to profit from a detached and objective analysis of mistakes that may have been made in the days and months before that attack. We need to learn from our mistakes. The stakes are simply too high to bury them. While I believe that a September 11 Commission should be appointed, I also think that the administration should have some voice in its makeup. The amendment establishes a 10-member commission with all of the 10 members appointed by the majority and minority leaders of Congress. It is fitting that Congress play a large role in defining the membership of this Commission, but it is striking to me that the Administration has no voice at all.”