9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act

9/11 RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - October 07, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 827 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 10.

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding me this time, and for his extraordinary leadership in bringing this substitute to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, the credentials of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) are unsurpassed in this body. In the previous Congress, following the 9/11 attack, and even before that, he served as the Chair of the Homeland Security Task Force for the House Democrats. He serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and he serves on the Committee on International Relations, in senior positions on both committees. So when we speak about protecting our homeland, our waterways, our ports, our rivers, our whatever, he knows of what he speaks. And when he talks about taking the fight against terrorism into Afghanistan and other diplomatic initiatives, sitting on the Committee on International Relations, he knows of what he speaks.

But perhaps the saddest, let us say the saddest learning experience he has had in this regard was the loss of over 100 of his constituents on September 11, 2001. So it is with great pride, I say to the gentleman, that I rise to support the gentleman's substitute. It is an informed substitute, it is based on bipartisanship, the bipartisanship of the Commission and the bipartisanship of the Senate, as it is a reflection of two of the bills that were put together in the Senate.

Following 9/11, Mr. Chairman, the Congress called for a joint inquiry of what happened then.

As a ranking member on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, at the time I served as a co-chair of that, and before we started our proceedings, our inquiry, which was conducted in a bipartisan manner, for most of the time, but before we began, we said that we must have a moment of silence before we began. It was both a deeply felt approach to it because we all wanted to pray for the families who had been harmed, who had lost their loved ones in 9/11; but also it represented the inadequacy of any words that we could ever have to express sympathy or condolence to those families. No words could possibly be adequate.

We resolved as we proceeded that we were on hallowed grounds. Anything to do with 9/11 was hallowed grounds. There was no place there for partisan politics. There was only room there for the U.S. to honor the memory of those who lost their lives; to pledge to the families that we would find the terrorists and bring them to justice who were responsible for this heinous crime; to make sure that we protected the American people so that acts of terrorism would not occur in this country; and to give comfort to those families that we were doing everything possible to achieve those goals.

The work that we did on that committee was largely ignored, and many of us thought that there should be an independent commission to bring fresh eyes to the challenges that we faced with a broader mandate; hence, the 9/11 commission was born. And the members of that commission understood that there was no place for partisanship on that hallowed ground that they now occupied, and they knew the responsibility that they undertook. The commission was reviewing the failures associated with 9/11 and suggesting ways to correct them.

Under the leadership of Chairman Kean and Vice Chairman Hamilton, the commission acted in a very bipartisan and thoughtful way to accomplish its assignment. By persistence, dedication, and an unshakable belief in the importance of its task, the commission overcame every obstacle, and on July 22 provided us with a unanimous bipartisan blue print for action. Our entire Nation is in their debt.

The 9/11 families and the commission then looked to Congress to enact their recommendations into law. The 9/11 families had reason to be proud that their advocacy was effective, when last night the Senate adopted by 96 to 2 a bipartisan bill that meets the challenge for reform laid down by the commission and needed by our country.

We have an opportunity to do the same thing by adopting the substitute advanced by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) whose district like so many others across our country bore such pain and sorrow on September 11. The Menendez substitute is a merger of the legislation introduced on September 7 by Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman and the bill authored by Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman that was reported by the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

These bills were endorsed by the 9/11 Commission and by the 9/11 families groups as being faithful to the commission's recommendation, and they were bipartisan from day one.

The Republican leadership bill, H.R. 10, on the other hand, implements fully only 25 percent of the commission's recommendations as opposed to the Menendez bill which is a reflection of the commission's recommendations. Having waited for more than 3 years to take action, why would the House want to adopt a bill which falls so short of the reforms identified as urgently necessary and adopted unanimously by the bipartisan commission and by the Senate?

Our country has tremendous unmet needs in the area of homeland security. Securing nuclear materials overseas before they fall into the hands of the terrorists and could do us harm; improving security on our airports, our ports, and our rail lines; ensuring that our first responders can communicate effectively in real time; and protecting our critical infrastructure have not been given the priorities they deserve in H.R. 10. We are not as safe as we could be.

Our first responsibility as elected officials is to protect the American people. Making the right choices on legislation to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations is one of the ways that we can meet that responsibility. The right choice today is the Menendez substitute that will bring us closest to the bill adopted 96 to 2 in the Senate, facilitate a rapid conference, and enable legislation to be signed by the President quickly.

Mr. Chairman, on September 11, 2001, the United States was the victim, as we all know, of some of the most horrific attacks in our history. Today is 1,121 days later. This House is finally being given the opportunity to consider a comprehensive legislative response to those attacks. It took over 3 years.

When the 9/11 Commission issued its report on July 22, it did so with a sense of urgency. Having delayed so long in taking action, it is critical that we get it right and that we get it right now. A vote for the Menendez substitute will honor the work of the commission, will respect the wishes of the families, and will make the American people safer.

I urge my colleagues to support the Menendez substitute.

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