Implementing The 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE 9/11 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 09, 2007)
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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of the time.
First of all, I would like to set a couple of things straight for the record. For my ranking member, these 9/11 recommendations are not cheap political tricks; they are very serious and things that we all take very seriously because of that.
With respect to the 100 percent port cargo screening, it says take the lessons learned from the pilots and then implement what you learned from the pilots, not go forward, like you say.
You talk about not bringing bills before the committee. You brought a fence bill straight to the floor without going through a subcommittee or a committee.
So I might say to my colleague, I look forward to working with him over the next 2 years on making sure that we keep America safe from bad people, but also that we are able to respond to natural disasters and other things.
Mr. Speaker, it is fitting and proper that this bill, the first bill voted upon by the new Congress, gets the record straight on the 9/11 Commission's report. We finished the job. Yesterday, former Vice Chair Lee Hamilton of the 9/11 Commission made it very clear why we are here today.
He said in his view, ``The terrorists are plotting today on how best to strike the United States. They will not wait, and it has been a source of very considerable frustration to the members of the 9/11 Commission that so many of our recommendations, which really are commonsense recommendations, like the ability of the first responders to communicate with one another, the allocation of funds on the basis of risk and not politics, and many other recommendations, are simply common sense. It has puzzled us and frustrated us that they have not been enacted into law.'
Let us be very clear, Mr. Speaker, today's bill fixes these problems and fulfills many of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. In short, as 9/11 Vice Chair Lee Hamilton said yesterday, if this bill is enacted, funded and implemented, the American people will be safer.
I urge support of the bill.
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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to make reference to the fact that H.R. 1 includes provisions in which the Judiciary Committee has a jurisdictional interest. Specifically, I am speaking of provisions that touch on the following aspects of the bill: the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, the Fusion and Law Enforcement Education and Teaming Grant Program, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the treatment of detainees.
I appreciate the assistance of my colleague from Michigan, Mr. Conyers, in assuring the expedited consideration of this important legislation on the House floor, given his Committee's jurisdictional interest in the legislation. While it is important to note that I do not control the entire process, as there are other House Committees involved and the Senate will likely have its own positions on a variety of these issues, I am glad to work with the gentleman from Michigan and other Members of the Judiciary Committee as this legislation moves forward.
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