Statement Of Senator Patrick
Leahy
Terrorism: Two Years After 9/11, Connecting The Dots
September 10, 2003
As we approach the somber anniversary
of September 11, 2001, I want to take a moment to
raise an issue of great importance to victims and survivors of those
who were lost in the terrorist attacks two years ago.
Yesterday, I introduced the “September
11th Victim Compensation Fund Extension Act of 2003” to
extend the pending deadline of the September 11 Victim Compensation
Fund to December 31, 2004. I thank Senators Durbin,
Schumer, Dodd, Lieberman, Clinton, Corzine and Lautenberg for
joining me as original cosponsors of this legislation.
Along with Senator Daschle,
Representative Gephardt, and others, I worked hard to create the
9/11 Fund over the objections of some in the Administration and
Congress. We insisted that it be included in the legislation to
bail out the airlines, which passed in the wake of the most
devastating terrorist attacks on American soil. The current
deadline for applying for compensation from the Fund is rapidly
approaching, but it has become apparent that many of these
distraught families need more time. To this point, just under a
third of eligible families have applied.
Victim support groups have told me
that they receive calls daily from individuals who understand that
the deadline is approaching but cannot face the emotional pain of
preparing a claim. Ken Feinberg, the Special Master for the Fund,
has also commented that many victims are still too paralyzed by
their grief to confront the logistical burden of filing a death
claim.
In light of this painful reality, I
believe it is appropriate to extend the deadline for filing
applications to the Victims Fund to December 31, 2004
– an extension of just over a year. This extension would give
grieving families additional time to mourn those who were lost and
to overcome the emotional challenges of filing paperwork with the
Victims Fund.
As the anniversary of the tragedy of
September 11 approaches, victims’ families have many burdens. They
do not need this arbitrary deadline confronting them between
September 11 and the year-end holidays. I urge my colleagues on
this Subcommittee and on the full Judiciary Committee to support the
“September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Extension Act of
2003.”
Turning now to today’s hearing, we
will review what we have learned in the two years since the tragic
events of September 11, 2001, and attempt to “connect the dots” in
understanding how the attacks were planned and carried out.
Connecting the dots means continuing to investigate and establish
what U.S. Government agencies knew before September 11, and what was
done with that information. We also need to learn more about who
assisted the hijackers in formulating and executing their plans,
whether such investigations lead us to a greater understanding of
the operations of al Qaeda or to other sources of support for
terrorism.
As everyone in this room is well
aware, critical information about the role of the Government of
Saudi Arabia before and after September 11, and its level of
cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies, before
and after, has not been revealed to the public. Despite an outcry
from Republican and Democratic Senators alike for the release of
information, the Administration has denied the public its right to
know these crucial facts. This is most evident in the refusal of
the Executive Branch to declassify all or part of the 28 pages
relating to Saudi Arabia in the Joint Intelligence Committee report
dated July 2003. Several of my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle who have seen these pages, including Senators Shelby and
Brownback, believe that almost all of the data in these pages can be
released with no harm to national security. Even Saudi Arabia’s
ambassador to the United States has asked that these pages be
declassified.
This reluctance to share information
is, unfortunately, all too common in the current Administration.
The independent commission on September 11, chaired by Thomas H.
Kean, the former Republican Governor of New Jersey,
spent six months this year trying to obtain data from Executive
Branch agencies before Chairman Kean decided to go public with his
frustrations. After he raised the issue in a public forum,
cooperation from the Executive Branch increased. However, Chairman
Kean said in August that certain government offices were still not
supplying the commission with requested documents.
Similar frustrations have been felt by
members of this Committee in our efforts to conduct thorough and
constructive oversight. I worked closely with the Administration in
the negotiations that produced the USA PATRIOT Act. At the time the
Senate passed that bill, I made clear that this law, far more than
most, would require close congressional oversight. I meant that. In
the 18 months I served in chairing the Committee in the 107th
Congress, I worked hard, and in a bipartisan manner, to reinvigorate
the oversight activities of the Judiciary Committee, holding a
series of hearings on FBI reform, on improving homeland defense, on
the adequacy of law enforcement tools and law enforcement
performance, and on preserving constitutional freedoms in the fight
against terrorism. Last year, then-Majority Leader Lott blocked a
bipartisan request from members of this Committee for funding to
conduct an investigation. Our most acute challenges to effective
oversight, however, stem from the Department of Justice. We have
experienced delays of months and often more than a year in getting
answers to letters and questions posed in an oversight capacity.
When we receive answers, they are often unresponsive and require
additional follow-up — an effort that is a drain on the resources of
the Committee and a wholly unproductive use of time. It is quite
difficult to “connect the dots” when information dribbles in through
this cumbersome and inefficient process.
To be fair to the Department, I
understand that its Legislative Affairs office has to respond to the
requests of 100 Senators and 435 Representatives, and under such
circumstances, it may be difficult to prioritize and respond quickly
to requests. The Assistant Attorney General for Legislative
Affairs, William Moschella, is well known to the members and staff
of this Committee. We welcome him to his new position and look
forward to maintaining the positive relationship we all built with
him during his tenure on the staff of the House Judiciary
Committee. I do not level my criticism at him.
That said, in my more than two decades
on this Committee, I have never seen such a lack of responsiveness
from the Department of Justice on oversight concerns than that which
I have experienced from this Administration. Unfortunately, the
reluctance to work with us stems from the top. Despite asking for
and receiving new tools to fight terrorism, the Attorney General has
made only rare and relatively brief appearances before this
Committee to explain how such tools are being used.
Some pieces of information we have
managed to learn in our oversight capacity do not inspire
confidence. For example, on September 10, 2001, just
a day before terrorists executed their horrific attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, Attorney General denied a request
from the FBI to increase its budget for counter-terrorism. Other
failures of law enforcement were detailed last October by the Joint
Committee on Intelligence, such as the lack of communication between
departments and agencies, delays in translating intercepted
conversations, and the failure of authorities to track down
individuals on watch lists who managed to slip over our borders.
I look forward to the testimony of
today’s witnesses and the subsequent discussion in this timely
hearing. I hope this hearing brings us to a greater understanding
of the events, challenges, and missteps leading up to the terrorist
attacks two years ago.
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