The high profile testimony didn't happen until last spring, but they were an entity at that point.
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission)
excerpt:
created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002
And to go back to my previous point, that August 2001 PDB was leaked and the "Bush Knew" headline appeared in May 2002. Around the time the idea of this commission was starting to be bandied about and the dems were crying "cover-up" because the Bush administration didn't sign onto the idea immediately.
Ah!! Thanks for the info and the link!!