Leaders Pick Up Urgency of 9/11 Panel

The pointed comments yesterday from Kean and his vice chairman, former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D), are the opening salvo in an aggressive campaign by the 10-member commission to lobby for its recommendations. Commission members, who are already appearing on television programs virtually around the clock, plan to fan out across the country in speaking engagements.

Kean said the group is working to enlist relatives of Sept. 11 victims to monitor and lobby federal lawmakers on a district-by-district basis. The panel, whose budget and existence expires by law next month, is also exploring ways to keep itself going independently to keep tabs on the government's progress, Kean said.

The effort is aimed at increasing the pressure on lawmakers and the administration to respond more directly to the commission's calls for reform, according to panel officials. "The status quo always has an army," Kean said. "To besiege that castle is very, very difficult, but that's what we've decided to do."

Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband Ronald Breitweiser died in the World Trade Center, said she and other Sept. 11 relatives "will do whatever we need to do" to push the commission's recommendations. She criticized lawmakers for preparing to recess at the same time U.S. intelligence officials are warning of an increased terrorist threat.

"Our elected officials, the president and Congress need to prove to the American people that they're making national security a number one priority," Breitweiser said.

The decisions by House and Senate GOP leaders to hold hearings next month came after Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) endorsed legislation to enact the commission's major recommendations. Democratic congressional leaders had signaled that they were prepared to seize on the issue if GOP leaders did not act.

Lieberman and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, said hearings will begin the first week of August.

Congress will return from its recess on Sept. 7 and is scheduled to wrap up work by early October. Collins and Lieberman said the legislation could be dealt with in early October or, failing that, in a post-election "lame duck" session.

Staff writers Mike Allen and Dana Milbank contributed to this report.