By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 12, 2002; Page A17

Democrats yesterday chose former House International Relations Committee chairman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) as vice chairman of the commission to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Hamilton replaces former senator George J. Mitchell (D-Maine), who said he was withdrawing because of work responsibilities.

In filling their five seats on the bipartisan 10-member panel, Democrats also chose Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.), who was defeated for reelection last month; Rep. Timothy J. Roemer (D-Ind.), an early advocate of the probe who did not seek reelection this fall; veteran prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste; and Jamie Gorelick, a former Pentagon and Justice Department official who is vice chair of Fannie Mae.

Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader, was originally chosen to serve under former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, picked by President Bush to chair the panel. But Mitchell said in a letter yesterday to House and Senate Democratic leaders that he concluded the commission would require "more time than I anticipated and more than I now can commit to."

Congress created the commission to follow up the House-Senate intelligence committee probe into why the United States was unable to prevent the hijacked-airliner attacks on New York and Washington. The commission will focus on transportation, immigration, border security and other issues as well as intelligence failures. Its report is due in 18 months.

Hamilton, 71, is director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a member of the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council. He served more than three decades in the House and held leadership positions on the foreign affairs and intelligence panels. He also chaired the select committee that investigated covert arms transactions with Iran during the Reagan administration.

Sunday is the deadline for commission appointments. Republicans have named only two of their members: Kissinger and former senator Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), who was tapped by Senate Republican leader Trent Lott (Miss.).

Gorton's appointment was controversial with groups representing families of Sept. 11 victims. They are urging the appointment of former senator Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), known for his aggressive investigative style, to the second seat that Lott will fill. Lott has indicated he does not intend to choose Rudman. But Rudman is also favored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). The two were given veto authority over one of Lott's choices in a compromise worked out to satisfy the family groups and other commission supporters.