President Praises 'Very Constructive' 9/11 Report
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, July 22, 2004
WASHINGTON – President Bush praised as "very constructive" the recommendations in a new report Thursday on intelligence failures that led to Sept. 11, though his administration has reacted coolly toward a central proposal to establish a Cabinet-level national intelligence director.
Thomas H. Kean, Republican chairman, and Lee H. Hamilton, Democrat vice chairman, formally handed a copy of the independent commission's report in a ceremony in the Rose Garden. Bush had fought the creation of the panel, resisted the release of documents and battled against letting national security adviser Condoleezza Rice address the panel. But he embraced its work Thursday.
Story Continues Below
Bush called the report's recommendations "very constructive" and said the commission had "done a really good job of learning about our country, learning what went wrong prior to Sept. 11 and making very solid, sound recommendations about how to move forward."
"I assured them that where government needs to act, we will," Bush said.
Kean praised Bush for allowing "unprecedented access to documents."
The report's primary recommendation is for a major overhaul of the nation's intelligence community, including the creation of a Cabinet-level intelligence director with authority over the CIA, FBI and other agencies.
Ridge: Too Much Bureaucracy Already
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday: "I don't think you need a czar. We already had one level of bureaucracy that we don't need."
Hours after he received the final report of the Sept. 11 commission, the president was scheduled to outline a strategy to protect the country and details what he regards as the accomplishments in making America safer.
Bush will lay out his strategy in Glenview, Ill., where he speaks to an audience of first responders and leaders at a center that trains police officers, firefighters and public works personnel.
A coalition of organized labor, blacks and liberal Democrats helped Al Gore win Illinois by 12 percentage points in 2000, and John Kerry leads Bush this year in the state, which is getting its first visit this year from the president.
Bush's remarks come amid the conclusions in the Sept. 11 commission report that the hijackers exploited deep institutional failings within the U.S. government over a long period of time to carry out the attacks.
Before he leaves the White House for the Midwest, the president is signing the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, an election-year measure long sought by police officers. It gives off-duty and retired officers the ability to carry their concealed firearms nationwide.
One of the largest groups representing police officers is supporting Bush rival John Kerry and says it wasn't invited to the signing ceremony, where the president will be surrounded by leaders of the law enforcement community.
"This administration cut $500 million ... and took officers off the street," said David Holway, president of International Brotherhood of Police Officers. "There are now fewer police officers than there were before Sept. 11."
Bush is highlighting the administration's progress in transforming the government into an instrument that can reliably thwart terrorist threats in any form.
At a fund-raiser Wednesday night, Bush sketched out a second-term domestic agenda that would shift focus to improving high school education and expanding access to health care.
"This nation is on a rising path, and with four more years we'll achieve more growth, new and higher-paying jobs and greater opportunity for all of our citizens," Bush told nearly 7,000 campaign donors who contributed $23 million to Republican lawmakers.
Bush offered only broad outlines of what his priorities would be, and no specific new initiatives. Aides said those would come later.
Earlier Wednesday, he signed into law Project BioShield to protect Americans against chemical, biological and nuclear attack, setting goals including stockpiling 75 million doses of anthrax vaccine beginning next year.
From changing the focus of the FBI to creating the Department of Homeland Security from 22 law enforcement entities, the Bush administration is building the case as the president's re-election campaign shifts into high gear that border security is tighter and that intelligence collection is improving markedly.
The government is coupling the new measures to what Bush says is the most important lesson of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: confronting the enemy overseas so that America doesn't have to face more attacks at home. |
