WASHINGTON, DC - The Chairs of the 9/11 Commission Caucus, who were the House sponsors of the Collins-Lieberman legislation, are eagerly anticipating the signing of the 9/11 Commission bill and looking forward to further action on the commission’s recommendations next year. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), who introduced a change to the House Rules to reorganize the oversight of intelligence and homeland security (H Res 837) , said today that they will reintroduce that proposal early next year.

The Maloney-Shays proposal would create permanent, full Intelligence and Homeland Security committees, as well as a 14th Appropriations subcommittee for intelligence. Furthermore, it would stipulate that one third of the members on the Intelligence Committee must also be on Appropriations.

Shays and Maloney released the following joint statement:

“Tomorrow will be the day we dreamed of when the 9/11 Commission first released its report in July. The 9/11 families, the Commission, many in Congress and the President deserve thanks for such responsive action on this bill, which will begin to make our nation safer.

“For our security, there is still work that remains. Most notably, the 9/11 Commission bill enacts two of the commission’s self-described three most important recommendations, but it does not strengthen Congressional oversight of intelligence and homeland security. We have proposed the necessary Congressional reorganization this year, and we will do so again early in the next session. We hope that the first action the 109th Congress takes is to reorganize itself for better oversight of security issues.”

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