US Senate Panel Approves 9 / 11 Commission Extension

February 26, 2004
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:46 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday approved a two-month extension for the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but the legislation faced an uphill battle because the leader of the House of Representatives opposes it.

The Senate intelligence panel on a voice vote approved a bill that would give The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9-11 Commission, an additional $1 million and shift its deadline to July 27 to complete its final report about the circumstances surrounding the hijacked plane attacks that killed about 3,000 people.

But the legislation faced opposition from House Speaker Dennis Hastert who does not want an extension beyond the current May 27 deadline because it would delay the recommendations and potentially politicize the findings which would be released in the heart of the presidential campaign, a spokesman for the Illinois Republican said.

"There is absolutely no reason for Speaker Hastert to hold up this extension," Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the intelligence panel, said in a statement. "By claiming that the independent, bipartisan commission's report may be used against the president in an election year, Speaker Hastert is prejudging the outcome of the commission's work," Rockefeller said. "It truly begs the question, what does he know and why is he intent on preventing the commission from thoroughly doing its job?"

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