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WH blamed for failed deal on 9/11 panelMcCain: Bureaucracies 'scared to death' of probe
From Dana Bash
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional proponents of an independent commission to investigate the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks blamed the White House Friday for scuttling what they thought was an agreement to create the panel. "The question we pose to the White House today is: 'Do you really want to allow this commission to be created? And if you don't, why not?' " asked Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Connecticut., an original sponsor of an independent commission. Lieberman, along with Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona., and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said they thought it was a "done deal" and were stunned that what they announced to the press with other key lawmakers Thursday had fallen apart. Pelosi blamed the "invisible hand" of the White House. "This isn't about partisanship and I'm afraid the White House is taking it in that direction in preventing this from coming forward," Pelosi said. But House Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss, R-Florida, suggested the announcement of a deal by his colleagues was premature. Goss, who was in Thursday's negotiations, told CNN that while there was agreement on the points of discussion at the time, there were still outstanding issues that had not yet been discussed. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president is supportive of the independent probe, but said issues relating to subpoena power and leadership of the commission are still in contention. "The president would be very disappointed if the Congress allowed these issues to keep the agreement from happening," Fleischer said. McCain said he believes the problem is the White House wants to limit the scope of the commission's investigation. "Every bureaucracy in this town is scared to death of an investigation, OK? When you limit the scope, you limit the damage to them," McCain said. Congressional advocates and the White House have been negotiating over the details of the commission since the administration abandoned its opposition and embraced creating an independent panel last month, bowing to pressure from victims' families and growing support in Congress. Key Intelligence Committee members, such as chairman Bob Graham, D-Florida, and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, had been lukewarm to the idea of a commission over the past year. Shelby and Graham have said they preferred to conduct their own investigation of the intelligence community. But as the Joint Intelligence Committee's probe neared its close, Graham, Shelby and others endorsed the idea of the independent commission in order to continue the investigation and broaden it to non-intelligence agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The 10-person commission as described Thursday would be appointed by the president and House and Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle. Its mission would be to review and evaluate the lessons learned from terrorist attacks regarding the structure and procedures of federal, state and local governments. Fleischer said the administration is concerned that if there are five Democrats and five Republicans, and only five member votes are required to issue a subpoena, the parties could use that power against each other. The subpoenas would "lead to paralysis and politics" instead of "solutions," Fleischer said. "And that is why this is an important issue that needs to be fixed and addressed." The administration also feels its one appointee on the commission should serve as the chairman. Both the House and Senate have passed legislation creating an independent commission. But since the Senate-passed measure was an amendment to Homeland Security legislation that has been bogged down for more than a month, advocates are hoping to get the commission language into the Intelligence authorization bill. Goss, in charge of that bill, said he supports the idea of an independent panel to look into apparent government problems leading up to last year's terrorist attacks, but he wants to make sure Congress and the courts also are examined and not just the executive branch. Negotiators are still trying to work out their differences and hope to get the bill to the president before Congress adjourns for the year.
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