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By Charlie Pillsbury
Speech delivered in front of the FBI Building, New
Haven, 09/12/02
To investigate the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President
Roosevelt established an independent commission on
December 18, 1941, 11 days after the Japanese
attack. To investigate JFK's assassination,
President Johnson established the Warren Commission on
November 29, 1963, one week after President Kennedy's
death. Eight months after the terrorist bombing of Pan
Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1998,
then President Bush had established the Commission on
Aviation Security and Terrorism.
I think an Independent Commission is needed
because:
- The nation cannot effectively prevent or respond
to future attacks without adequate knowledge of
the problems that led to the Sept. 11 tragedy
- The victims' families and the public deserve to
know the facts concerning the most devastating act
of terrorism against Americans in history
- Only an independent commission can conduct the
investigation in an atmosphere free from political
pressure
- Only a comprehensive investigation can provide
the overview necessary for an integrated approach
to homeland security and the war on terrorism
- The current congressional investigations are
time-limited and ineffective.
As an independent Green Congressman, I would
support the proposed House and Senate bills to
establish the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
upon the United States. Senate Bill 1867 was
introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman and John
McCain on December 20, 2001, and has 21 co-sponsors; and House
Bill 4777, introduced on May 20, 2002, has 117
co-sponsors, including Rep. Rosa DeLauro. On
June 11, 2002, Rep. Chris Shays joined advocates
representing the September 11 families and called upon
the President to appoint an independent presidential
commission to investigate the attacks.
Meanwhile, the proposed Homeland Security bills to
create a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should
be tabled. They are premature, ill-conceived and
a waste of billions of our taxpayer dollars.
- How can we craft solutions for the security of
the American people, when we do not know what the
problems are?
- How does the establishment of a DHS, which does
not include the FBI, help this nation address the
massive failures of intelligence leading up to
Sept. 11?
- How does the rush to create a huge new federal
bureaucracy with a $37.5 billion budget inspire
confidence in our political leadership and
legislative process?
The current proposals to create a new DHS would
constitute the largest reorganization of the federal
government in 50 years.
Let's take the time to do the job right.
Let's first establish an Independent Commission to
finish the job begun by the hodgepodge of politically
motivated congressional committees.
As citizens, we should not rest or be satisfied
until American policy, foreign and domestic, is based
upon verifiable and established facts.
Democracy demands no less.
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