Force of 9/11 Panel Is Felt

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-commish28jul28.story

Force of 9/11 Panel Is Felt
Kerry wants to extend the bipartisan group's charter until 2006. Bush aides say the White House has accelerated a review of its findings.
By Josh Meyer And Matea Gold
Times Staff Writers

July 28, 2004

WASHINGTON — The juggernaut known as the Sept. 11 commission gathered momentum and influence Tuesday as Sen. John F. Kerry called for extending its charter until 2006 and a Senate oversight committee moved up its first hearing on reforming U.S. counterterrorism agencies to later this week.<snip>

Some commission officials questioned whether Kerry's suggestion was practical. Though panel members plan to tour the country pushing their proposals, the commission's charter expires Aug. 26, and it wasn't clear where the money would come from to keep the group intact for so long or whether its members and staff would agree to do so.<snip>

"I think they have to be very careful with what they do lest the fix causes more problems than it solves," said former Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), who with former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) co-chaired an earlier blue-ribbon commission that in 2001 called for action to combat a looming terrorist threat — an appeal that was largely ignored.

"This system wasn't built overnight and it can't be restructured overnight. There are political imperatives here, and I am concerned that sometimes things are done too rapidly," Rudman said. "If you are going to try to do this to convince the public that you're more concerned than the other guy , you're doing it too hastily."<snip>

Many of the recommendations can be implemented by executive order, but some would require legislation, including the creation of the post of director of national intelligence overseeing all 15 U.S. intelligence agencies and the formation of an interagency counterterrorism center — which Kerry has supported and Bush thus far has not.<snip>