Gore 1996 Airline Commission brought to the attention of the 9/11 family members (DC Chapter Report)

Kristinn | April 14, 2004 | Kristinn

[tgslTakoma]

This morning before the start of the 9/11 Commission hearings, Kristinn went to the hearing room to meet with some of the 9/11 family members about the 1996 Gore Airline Safety Commission.

He went down there this morning because the 9/11 Commission had not talked about the Gore Airline Safety Commission in public, and it needed to be brought to the attention of the families.

He got down there about 8:30am. The hearing room only had a few dozen people in it, a far cry from the crowds that had been there last week for White House National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's testimony.

Kristinn spoke with Commission Chairman Thomas Kean as he entered the room surrounded by reporters. The reporters wanted to know when President Bush and Vice President Cheney would give their joint testimony before the Commission. Kean said that he could not tell them.

Kristinn asked Kean if the Commission had covered the 1996 Airline Safety Commission, chaired by Vice President Gore. Kean said that they had. He said that it had been brought up with Vice President Gore during his testimony and that it would be covered during the FAA hearings, later.

Kristinn gave a copy of a report on the Gore Commission, with two attachments, to Kean. The report was co-written several years ago by a DC Chapter member. Of the two attachments to the report, one was the decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ordering the Gore Commission to allow Victoria Cummock access to Commission documents that they denied her when she served on the Commission. The second attachment was a World Net Daily article from October 2001 reporting that Mrs. Cummock was still being denied access to classified material, in violation of the court order.

Kristinn went to the front of the hearing room and met with three of the 9/11 families. They asked for copies of the documents Kristinn had, and they commented that 9/11 would probably have been prevented if the Gore Commission's recommendations had been acted on. They knew who Victoria Cummock was, but were not well-versed in the story of her travails in the Gore Commission.

One of the family members suggested that he also speak with the Family Liason with the Commission, Ellie Hartz. Kristinn went outside the hearing room and spoke with Ms. Hartz. She accepted a copy of the documents, and they talked for a few minutes.

Kristinn explained to Ms. Hartz that while the DC Chapter of Free Republic is a partisan group and has no love for Clinton or Gore, they are also a "let the chips fall where they may" group. He said that he understood, after eight years of trying to hold Clinton and Gore accountable, how difficult it is to get the government to open itself up to accountability to the public.

They also talked about how the 9/11 family members have been conducting themselves during the hearings. Ms. Hartz acknowledged that it was becoming a problem, but that the family members were very emotionally involved. Kristinn told her that the family members are losing support from the American public because of how they have been acting during the hearings and because of what they have been saying to the media in interviews. Kristinn was trying to be as diplomatic as possible while making the point.

Another family member came up and interrupted the conversation because the hearing was about to start. Kristinn had to head off to work so he started making his way out of the building.

But on his way out he saw Michael Isikoff and gave him a copy of the Gore Commission documents.

:-)

[tgslTakoma]

Kristinn dictated this after-action report to me over the telephone as he was rushing to the subway to get to work on time, and I hurriedly typed this report so I could post it before I have to leave the house for my daily responsibilities... so please excuse any typos or misspellings.

[tgslTakoma]

Ping!

[hellinahandcart]

Good, good, very good.

[A.A. Cunningham]

BTTT

[ladyinred]

This is just terrific news. Kristinn and the DC Chapter have our thanks for always doing what it right! Looking forward to his report on this!

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Congrats to both of you for excellent work!

[Peach]

You are THE MAN!!

Your activism is outstanding and my hat is off to you. Kudos.

[Paradox]

Wow, great work! We aren't just whining about things here on FR, we are DOING something about it!

[marty60]

Thank Goodness he let that bunch know that their behavior is NOT appreciated by the normal people outside of DC. I find it incredible that the algore insistence that the FBI forgo background checks on foreigners entering this country pre 96 election has never been discussed. What I would like to know is how many of these terrorists came in during this open door? Besides Bin Laden being responsible for 9-11 terror, the Thing and the Things Vice-Thing are co-conspirators.

[Tijeras_Slim]

The DC Chapter are my heroes!

[goodnesswins]

GREAT job!!!!!

[Peach]

Ping.

Freeper Kristinn met with 9/11 family members and distributed copies of what Al Gore did and did not do when he served as chair on the commission served with airline security matters.

[Jewels1091]

Kristinn better watch out...they'll have him on the commission soon!

[The G Man]

And that's why Kristinn is a perennial, first team, FR All American.

[krunkygirl]

Let the truth be heard, by the 9-11 families and the public at large.
Thank you for this great effort.

[tgslTakoma]

THIS JUST IN!!

IMPORTANT CORRECTION!!!

I mis-heard Kristinn... he DID NOT give a copy of the report to Chairman Kean. He gave a copy of the report to New York Post reporter, Vincent Morris.

My sincere apologies for this error.

:-(

[ml/nj]

Way to go, Kristinn!

ML/NJ

[armymarinemom]

I didn't have family in the Pentagon on 9/11. My son was stationed at Quantico at the time and it was frightening enough just having a loved one at any government installation at the time. Thanks for speaking up.

[sultan88]

Wow. This is first class activism. Way to go, kristinn!