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FAMILY STEERING COMM ITTEE FOR THE9/11 INDEPENDENT COM MISSIONwww.911indeDendentcommission.ora

*Report Card - 9/11 CommissionOur purpose in providing this report card is to motivate the Independent Com mission tobetter serve the pub lic interest by inform ing them of their progress and work.Our hope is that the Comm ission will view this mid-term Repo rt Card and act upon areasof weakness. A nd, in doing so, better assure the American public that they are doing thejob that needs to be done.* W e understand that much of the Commission's work is done behind closed doors. Thismid-term report card reflects the limited information that we have gleaned from open-hearings, meetings and conversations with the 9/11 Commission staff director and 9/11Commissioners. We are publishing this report card due to requests for information on theCommission's progress from victims' families and concerned citizens, alike.

Investigative. Informative Open Hearings DThe topics and content of the prior three open hearings were disappointing. Both theselection of witnesses and the probing by Commissioners in public forum fell short of ourexpectations.Preparedness an d critical thinking/questioning is a keystone of a thorough an dworthw hile hearing, and in turn, an effective commission. Because the Commissionerseither lacked the informa tion and education on certain issues (namely the FAA andN O R A D protocols, the timeline of 9/11, the evacuation an d emergency responseprotocols of the City of NY), or simply did not have the will, the Commissioners,individually and as a whole, did not carryout the necessary hard-hitting lines ofquestioning, cross-examination and crucial follow-up questioning all of which are criticalin unearthing th e truth.The FSC feels that expert witnesses invited to testify before the Independent Commissionshould hold valuable an d pertinent information that w ill yield fruitful insights into thesystemic government failures that occurred on 9/11. As an example, in the mo st recentopen hearing, w e had an "expert" witness testifying on Iraq and no expert witnesstestifying about Saudi Arabia. The FSC would like to draw attention to the fact that 15 ofthe 19 hijackers were Saudi, and none were from Iraq. Additionally, the 900-page JointInquiry Report shows no Iraqi connection to 9/11.

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The FSC did attempt to recommend both Open Hearing topics and Open Hearing expertwitness lists. Our requests were left unanswered. W hen invited to do so, the FSC has alsosupplied information and questions to the Commissioners for each open hearing. We willcontinue to do so. However, whether the Comm issioners choose to use our line ofquestioning remains in their sole discretion.

Frequency of Hearings C-This Commission has been established for over nine months. Yet, there have only beenthree open hearings. At its inception, the Commission promised the FSC that there wouldbe one open hearing per month.To date, the FSC has expressed concern about the infrequency of open hearings. We havealso requested that certain m onths "double up" on hearings. These requests remainunanswered.The purpose and power of open hearings was illustrated during the Joint Inquiry'sinvestigation. Open hearings inform the public. Open hearings provide the impetus forchange by shedding sunlight onto problems and failures. Perhaps, most importantly, openhearings ensure that not all of a comm ittee's work remains classified.

Family Member Testimony B-The FSC had hoped to have more than one opportunity to testify before the IndependentCommission. The purpose of family mem ber testimony is to draw better attention to areasthat the Independent Comm ission is unwilling to address.To date, the FSC has requested the opportunity for family member testimony at eachhearing. These requests have remained unanswered.

Staff Director Interim R eports DThe legislation m andating the Independent Co mm ission does not require Staff DirectorInterim R eports. The FSC has requested public interim reports be given by Ph ilipZelikow, much in the same way that Staff Director Eleanor Hill gave interim reportsduring the Joint Inquiry's investigation. M r. Zeliko w has denied such request.One of the FSC 's goals for this commission was to better inform the public. It is evidentthat public aw areness saves lives. United Airlines Flight 93 and Richard Reid the "shoe-bomber" are excellent examples of the power and importance of pu blic awareness.

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Interim reports are critical in making the public more aware. Two years have passed sinceSeptember 11th. Nine months have passed since this Commission has been established.And yet, the public still remains very much in the dark.

Structure and Conduct of Open Hearings DThis commission was established as an "independent" body of individuals to conduct anindependent, non-political, bi-partisan, andunbiased inquiry into the failures thatoccurred on 9/11.The FSC is shocked with the use of "minders" in the interrogatory process. And, despitethe Commissioner's similar objection to "minders", as stated at the last press conference,"minders" continue to be present during witness examination and questioning. The FSCdoes not want "minders"present during any witness examination and questioning; it is aform of intimidation and it does not yield the unfettered truth.Also a concern of the FSC is the failure of this Commission to swear witnesses in prior totheir testimony. Without sworn testimony, witnesses cannot be held accountable forwhatthey testify about before the Commission. While given assurances by the Staff Directorthat prior witnesses would be brought to task for their inaccurate statements made duringopen hearings, the FSC has been given no evidence that has been done.The FSC has additional concerns regarding the Commission's reticence to subpoenawitnesses. The FSC had wanted the Independent Commission to "subpoena early andoften."

The Commission's failure to subpoena, while polite, prohibits the ultimate claim by theCommission that they, themselves, were the victims of "stonewalling" by the agencies,organizations and councils. Nine months into their investigation, the Commission mustuse every avenue possible to gain the information and access to witnesses needed to maketheir investigation a success.

Understanding of the Commission's Mandate incompletePublic Law 107-306, which established this commission states that "the function of thiscommission is to conduct an investigation that investigates relevant facts andcircumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, including anyrelevant legislation, Executive Order, regulation, plan, policy, practice, or procedure; andmay include relevant facts and circumstances relating to intelligence agencies; lawenforcement agencies; diplomacy; immigration, non-immigrant visas, and border control;the flow of assets to terrorist organizations; commercial aviation; the role ofCongressional oversight and resource allocation; and other areas of the public and privatesectors determined relevant to the Commission for its inquiry.

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The Comm ission is to identify, review, and evaluate the lessons learned from the terroristattacks from September 11 th, 2001, regarding the structure, coordination, managementpolicies, and procedures of the federal government, and, if appropriate, state and localgovernments and non-governmental entities relative to detecting, preventing, andresponding to such terrorist attacks."Our interpretation of the Independent Com mission's m anda te is that the C ommissionwould have investigated the Timeline of events that transpired on the m orning of 9/11.There are a finite amount of facts that revolve around 9/11. These facts reveal a finiteamount of glaring failures that occurred on behalf of our government and its agencies andinstitutions.If the Independent Commission's open hearings are evidence of the Com mission'sunderstanding of their m andate, then the Independent Commission's obligation asrequired under law will not have been met. This failure will not only be for the 9/11victims' families, it will be a failure for all of the American people.

The Family Steering CommitteeCarol AshleyMother of Janice Ashley, 25Kristen BreitweiserWidow of Ronald Breitweiser, 39Patty CasazzaWidow of John F.Casazza, 38Beverly EckertWidow of Sean R ooney, 50Mary FetchetMother of Bradley James Fetchet, 24Monica GabrielleWidow of Richard Gabrielle, 50

Bill HarveyWidower of Sara Man ey Harvey, 31Mindy KleinbergWidow of Alan Kleinberg, 39Carie LemackDaughter of Judy LarocqueSally RegenhardMother of Christian Michael Otto Regenhard, 28Lorie Van AukenWidow of Kenneth Van Auken, 47Robin W ienerSister of Jeffrey W iener, 33

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