WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of 9/11 families today
said they are angry that the White House has torpedoed a compromise bill that
would have created a 9/11 independent commission modeled on an amendment
passed overwhelmingly two weeks ago by a bipartisan majority in the Senate.
The compromise language was negotiated yesterday afternoon by the
intelligence committees' leaders: Senate Chairman Bob Graham (D-Fla.), House
Chairman Porter Goss (D-Fla.), Senate Ranking Minority Member Richard Shelby
(R-Ala.), and House Ranking Minority Member Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
But House and Senate conferees ended their meeting last night on the
Intelligence Authorization Act without agreeing to add the compromise language
to the act, reportedly because the House Republican leadership and the White
House refused to support the compromise. The conferees plan to meet again
next week.
The Campaign for a 9/11 Independent Commission received no information
last night about what changes the White House and House Republican leaders
want. But news reports this morning suggested that the White House is raising
objections on fundamental matters such as the composition, scope, and duration
of the commission. The commission's congressional supporters have tried for
weeks to negotiate compromises on these matters with the White House, but each
time they have tried, the White House has raised new objections.
The 9/11 families cannot understand why the White House has publicly
announced that it wants an independent commission, while apparently doing
everything in its power to prevent the commission from being established.
The members of the Campaign for a 9/11 Independent Commission are Families
of September 11, September 11th Advocates, the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, and
Voices of September 11th.
SOURCE Families of September 11
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Related links:
http://www.familiesofseptember11.org
CONTACT:
Stephen Push of Families of September 11,
office: +1-202-393-3996, or cell: +1-202-257-1252
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