Hearing of the Committee on Governmental Affairs

August 17, 2004 Tuesday

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

SUBJECT: VOICING THE NEED FOR REFORM, THE FAMILIES OF 9/11

CHAIRED BY: SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME)

WITNESSES: MARY FETCHET, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, VOICES OF SEPTEMBER 11TH, MEMBER, FAMILY STEERING COMMITTEE; STEPHEN PUSH, CO-FOUNDER AND BOARD MEMBER, FAMILIES OF SEPTEMBER 11TH;

KRISTEN BREITWEISER, FOUNDER AND CO-CHAIRPERSON, SEPTEMBER 11TH ADVOCATES MEMBER, FAMILY STEERING COMMITTEE

LOCATION: 216 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): Thank you, Madam Chair.

And, Ms. Breitweiser, in your testimony you have a paragraph on the first page which struck me. You say, "We as a nation should have made a historic reorganization of our domestic security structure a priority on September 12th, 2001, or at the very least studied it more seriously. Nothing's been done or even seriously considered in this regard until now. Without a doubt, the appointment of an NID will not thwart the next attack, but if an NID had been appointed three years ago we might have been in a safer position today.

We're here because of this 9/11 Commission report and I think-I'm going to go out on a limb and tell you, we wouldn't have this 9/11 Commission report had it not been for you. Had the families of those who died on 9/11 not been steadfast and resolute in demanding, this would have fallen apart a long time ago. There was resistance to creating this commission. There was resistance to funding this commission. There was resistance to extending the deadline to this commission. And now when you hear this chorus of praise for the 9/11 Commission, you know better. This was a time when this was not a popular idea at all, and the reason it happened was because you stuck with it. Had you not done that, we would-we'd go off on our vacations in August as usual. But we're at work, as we should be, on this very important and critical national issue.

We like to stand in judgment of the executive branch. I guess that's our role as an oversight committee.

I'd like you to stand in judgment of us. You've been on Capitol Hill now for a long time. You have been nudging and pushing and making your presence known to create this force. There have been press reports that some committee chairmen were hiding behind doors so that they could avoid you. But you got the job done as American citizens, as you said, who came here with not just grief but a determination to get something done. What is your report card on Congress on terms of what we have done? I mean, let's put it all on the table right here. What would you say needs to be done on Capitol Hill for us to do the right thing, the American thing, and follow through on these commission reports. What is your greatest fear in that regard, Ms. Breitweiser?

MS. BREITWEISER: I think your grade at this point is an incomplete, and I think that you're serving the summer recess, summer school. And I really do. I think all of the families want to thank everyone for attending the hearings this summer. We are enormously grateful. But undoubtedly Congress has a lot of work to do, and I don't think it just has to do with the executive branch agencies reorganization. I think Congress needs a reorganization. I think that the setup of the joint inquiry, particularly when they looked into the attacks on 9/11, where you had both houses, the Senate Intel and the House Intel working together cooperatively to produce one product, I think that was a good setup.

I know it's recommended in the commission's report and I would urge you to seriously contemplate doing something like that. Because more than symbolically indicating and illustrating that everyone is working together, I just think on a realistic basis it's something that we could all stand to benefit from, was to combine the intel committees, that they're working together. But we cannot urge you enough to act, and not necessarily act in haste, act with sound reform. Because one of the things that I just don't get is all this talk about reorganization.

I think that it is futile to reorganize the intel community if you're going to leave people in positions that failed in the years leading up to 9/11 or the days before 9/11, or on the day of 9/11. If you're going to leave those people in those positions and just reshuffle the boxes, then you are setting this reorganization, if it does happen, up to fail.

SEN. DURBIN: Which was a point I tried to make in yesterday's hearing. Are we ready for reform? I mean, can we pass a law that is really going to achieve real reform? In the New York Observer piece about your experience with the Jersey moms going around to the FBI and all the different agencies, the fact that you are an attorney and you have some training and skills I could tell from the questions you asked and pressed on. You were more successful than some. But I could also note some real frustration here. You felt like you were getting the runaround. There were people there who would not accept responsibility for reality.

MS. BREITWEISER: I would say that I think I have acted like a lady in that I --

SEN. DURBIN: I'm sure you did.

MS. BREITWEISER: -- have not really been very transparent in some of the behaviors and the tones and the attitudes of certain individuals who are elected officials. And going forward, I will continue to act like a lady. Nevertheless, we have an American public who is enraged, outraged after reading this report. I know people that are just commonplace people: moms. They don't work, you know, they're stay at home moms. They can't get past page 50 because they are shaking with anger that it was as bad as it was. And I think that is something-the jig's up. Everybody's going to know and there's going to be no more excuses.

And I'll just urge you-because I'll be a lady but there's going to be other people who are going to want meetings, and they're going to walk out of those meetings and they're not going to act like gentlemen and ladies. They're going to say exactly what went on. And there are websites currently being created by people like that who are saying things that you cannot carry out and support national security on an ad hoc basis. You cannot call for the declassification of over- classified material and then not support wholesome border security because it may affect your constituency. We need this to be a committed effort and I want to believe it can be done and I promise I will continue to be a lady.

SEN. DURBIN: I hope you all will continue in your effort, and I thank you for it. And that noise, that pressure, that heat is democracy. That's what it's all about.

MS. BREITWEISER: I'm not saying I'll be a lady behind the scenes.

(Laughter.)

SEN. DURBIN: Thank you. I'm sure you will.

Thanks, Madam Chair.