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Panels offer similar ideas to fight terrorismBoth raise issue of domestic intelligence agency
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The swift creation of the Department of Homeland Security has been followed even more quickly by recommendations from two panels that would work outside the new department to beef up U.S. defenses against terrorism. Although the recommendations share a common thread -- a focus on repairing shortfalls in intelligence-gathering – they come from notably different sources.
The most recent report was made Monday by the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, also known as the Gilmore Commission. Its most prominent recommendation was the creation of a domestic intelligence agency to collect and analyze information about terrorist threats within the United States. (Full story) The panel, headed by former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, was created in 1999. It was due to disband April 17, 2002, but its term was extended after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. According to its Web site, the group's objective is to "assess the capabilities for responding to terrorist incidents in the U.S. ... at the federal, state and local levels ... with a particular emphasis on the latter two." Its 21 members include local fire, police and public health officials, a former secretary of the Army, and a former commander of the Army's elite Delta Force. Monday's report is the fourth issued by the panel. Congressional panel's reportLast week, a joint House-Senate intelligence committee came out with its own recommendations after a 10-month investigation. It urged the establishment of a Cabinet-level director of national intelligence and a congressional study into the feasibility of creating a domestic intelligence agency. (Full story) The bipartisan panel, comprising 37 House and Senate members, is co-chaired by Sen. Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat; and Republican Rep. Porter Goss, also of Florida. After its first meeting in June, the panel issued a statement in which it stated its goals as, in part, "to reduce the risk of future terrorist attacks ... and to lay a basis for assessing the accountability of institutions and officials of government." The statement said the joint inquiry would investigate the evolution of international terrorist threats against the United States; what the intelligence community knew before September 11; what it has learned since; and whether there is any evidence of systemic problems that might have hindered intelligence agencies from learning of or preventing the attacks.
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