Fact Sheet: The 9/11 Commission Report

Fact Sheet: The 9/11 Commission Report


The President welcomes the report. The President appreciates the hard work of the Commission to develop this report, and he welcomes the Commission's recommendations.

The Commission found that al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks and that government institutions failed to adapt to the threat of terrorism over more than a decade, enabling the terrorists to exploit "deep institutional failings." The Commission report notes that "the September 11 attacks fell into the void between the foreign and domestic threats."

The Commission confirms that the blame for the 9/11 attacks lies squarely, and exclusively, with the al Qaeda network. It is clear that, as the threat of international terrorism evolved over more than a decade after the end of the Cold War, our national security and counterterrorism institutions did not evolve adequately to best protect against the threat.
Under Republican and Democratic Administrations and Republican and Democratic Congresses, the kinds of systemic changes and reforms that might have made it more difficult for the terrorists to strike us on 9/11 did not take place.

The Commission's report makes the case for the policies the Bush Administration has been pursuing in the War on Terror. The country on the right track in addressing many of the problems identified by the Commission, but we still have more work to do. The President and Congress have taken important steps to protect America, including:
Implementing a new policy on terrorism by holding terrorist groups and the states that sponsor them to account, working to end all terrorist sanctuaries worldwide, and not allowing dangerous threats to gather overseas unchecked.
Strengthening relationships and promoting democratic reform in the broader Middle East.
Transforming the FBI into a world-class agency focused first on preventing as well as investigating terrorism and other crimes.
Conducting the largest reorganization of the Federal government since 1947 by creating the Department of Homeland Security, bringing unparalleled focus and resources to homeland security efforts.
Dramatically increasing security on airplanes and other transportation systems, on our borders, and in our ports - and providing significantly increased support for America's first responders.
Breaking down the unnecessary "wall" between intelligence and law enforcement with the USA PATRIOT Act and internal procedural and guidelines reforms. Already, the USA PATRIOT Act has been instrumental in helping to break up terror cells and plots in Portland, Oregon; Buffalo, New York; Northern Virginia; and elsewhere.
Closing dangerous gaps between counterterrorism intelligence collected abroad and at home by creating the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) and consolidating all U.S. government watchlist information on suspected terrorists in the new Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).
Creating U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), establishing a four-star unified military commander with a principal responsibility for defending the homeland with capabilities and resources that did not exist before 9/11.
Establishing robust biodefense capabilities to detect attacks and provide countermeasures.

The Commission's report suggests ways to strengthen many of the reforms that are already underway under the President's leadership. For example, President Bush has called for intelligence reform and has laid out the guiding principles for reform, including:
1) increasing both the quality and quantity of human intelligence collection to disrupt terrorist attacks;

2) investing more in our technical intelligence capability so that we stay ahead of our enemies' changing communications technology and tactics; and

3) ensuring the most effective and coordinated use of these resources and personnel, because there are multiple agencies with intelligence responsibilities.

President Bush is also committed to ensuring that our law enforcement and intelligence officers have the information and authorities they need to detect and prevent terrorist attacks.

The Commission report provides useful ideas for strengthening our intelligence capabilities. The Commission has provided a number of important recommendations that should help to guide the reform debate in the Administration and Congress. President Bush and his team will closely study the Commission's report, along with the recent Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report and the work of other independent studies, as we prepare to take the next steps on intelligence reform.

The Bush Administration provided unprecedented access and cooperation to enable the Commission to do its work. In his remarks today, Chairman Kean, speaking on behalf of the Commission, thanked the President "for unprecedented access to documents, and cooperation from [the] administration." Chairman Kean noted that "We were able to see things that no commission or no member of Congress had ever seen . . . ." In response to more than 500 separate information requests from the Commission, the Administration provided more than 900 interviews with current officials, including the most senior officials of the Federal government; almost 50 current officials for public hearings; 2.5 million pages of documents, including, by far, the most comprehensive outside review of sensitive documents in our Nation's history; more than 1,000 audio tapes and CDs; and more than 170 briefings.

As the Commission notes, there is no such thing as perfect security in our vast, free Nation - but the Bush Administration is committed to taking every necessary step to protect America and bring the terrorists to justice.