WASHINGTON - An oft-delayed bill establishing a new commission to examine last year's terrorist attacks won final congressional approval yesterday and soon will become law.
The creation of the commission ensures a continued focus on the intelligence and policy failures that preceded the strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The commission is modeled after panels that investigated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Advocates hope it will take a broader and deeper look at the government's lapses than the previous inquiries by Congress and the Bush administration.
The legislation was championed by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat, and John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, as well as many other lawmakers who are sympathetic to persistent demands for an outside investigation.
President Bush first resisted the proposal, saying a commission could prove little more than a distraction to his war on terror.
Later, though, he embraced the legislation and molded it to his liking. The final bill, for instance, lets the president name the chairman of the 10-member panel, which will consist of five Democrats and five Republicans.
Early yesterday, the House approved the final bill authorizing the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. Hours later, the Senate gave its unanimous consent. The bill, which Bush is expected to sign, was attached to annual intelligence legislation.
Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey, whose husband, Ronald, died in the World Trade Center, said she hoped the commission would focus on preventing further attacks.
"My husband's dead. He's not coming back," she said. "What I want the commission to do is plug the holes, fix the problems, so that I know my daughter and I are safe."
The commission will have the power to issue subpoenas upon agreement of the chairperson and vice chairperson or a majority of members.
The panel is to report findings and recommendations to the president and Congress after 18 months.
Nick Anderson is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.