Kerry urges fast action on Sept. 11 commission recommendations

[papau]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/conventions/articles/2004/07/27/kerry_urges_fast_action_on_sept_11_commission_recommendations/

Kerry urges fast action on Sept. 11 commission recommendations
By Darlene Superville, Associated Press Writer | July 27, 2004

BOSTON -- Keeping national security at the front of the presidential campaign, John Kerry called Tuesday for extending the life of the Sept. 11 commission to help ensure that its recommendations are enacted as soon as possible. "The stakes are too high," he said.

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, surrounded himself with military veterans at a campaign stop in the Navy town of Norfolk, Va., as he makes his way north to Boston and the Democratic National Convention that will nominate him for president.<snip>

In Virginia, a Republican-leaning yet military heavy state that Kerry wants to win, the Massachusetts senator called for the Sept. 11 panel to continue working beyond its scheduled Aug. 26 end date to ensure its suggested reforms are put in place.

Kerry has endorsed all the recommendations the commission released last week, and has urged President Bush to act quickly on them. He said he would, on "the day I become president." Bush may act within days on some of the recommendations, a White House spokeswoman said Monday.<snip>


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/07/27/senate_panel_moves_up_911_intel_hearing/

Senate panel moves up 9/11 intel hearing
July 27, 2004

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel that planned to begin hearings next week on the intelligence overhaul recommended by the Sept. 11 commission will instead hold its first session this Friday.

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee spokeswoman Jen Burita said Tuesday the session was moved up to accommodate the schedules of the commission's two leaders, who will testify: Republican Thomas Kean, the former governor of New Jersey, and retired Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.

The Senate hearing is all but certain to be Congress' first on the commission report. Several other House and Senate committees are also planning hearings, underscoring the sense of urgency congressional leaders are trying to project at a time when lawmakers have just started a six-week recess.

Last Friday, committee Chairwoman Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, said they planned to begin their hearings next week.

Burita said this Friday was chosen "because it was the day we were able to get both co-chairmen together."<snip>

[Zorra]

1. I'd really like to know what Dennis Kucinich thinks about the

9/11 report, and what he would propose to do.

Dennis read the IWR and the Patriot Act carefully before he voted against them, and he made an accurate analysis of both of those legislations, and accurately told Congress and the American public that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US, and did not possess WMD. Dennis also said that many aspects of the Patriot Act were a threat to our civil liberties and he was quite correct about this also.

DK seems to take the time to carefully read and analyze bills before he votes on them, and his vote is usually based on logic and concern for the American people.

I would hate for some piece of dangerous legislation to get passed because it was acted upon in haste and without proper analysis of the possible repercussions of legislation that ignores constitutional principles and abridges civil liberties.

I'm all for security, but I'm not about to trade my liberty for it.

So I hope that the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission are thoughtfully considered by all legislators, and that they design legislation that increases security while at the same time does not abridge any civil liberties and is not subject to being skewed due to questionable legal interpretation by a repressive conservative judiciary.

A centralized intelligence watchdog agency is probably a good idea if it does not create an agency which consolidates huge amounts of intelligence gathering and police power. The potential for abuse within a huge centralized police agency exists in that if an un-elected dictator or were somehow to assume power, the agency could be used as a vehicle for terror and repression.

So I sure hope our legislators are aware of this possibility and act upon the recommendations of the 9/11 commission with these considerations foremost in their minds.

[papau]

2. I think they will and have - the recommendations are structual as to the

ones Congress must address - but it means Turf battle must end.

Kerry has endorsed all the recommendations - Bush is refusing to do so - Cheney says he has reservations - but the minor points Bush may send an Executive order out this weekend - such as for boat traffic - Bush can tightem port security by Exec order.

The 40 billion we spend now on 20 groups for Intel has duplication and a lack of control as to ethics and function.