Nearly one week before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a report card, which highlights nine of the 41 recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission in July 2004 that remain unfinished. The report was authored by BPCs National Security Preparedness Group, under the leadership of former 9/11 Commission Chair Tom Kean and Vice Chair Lee Hamilton…Key unfinished recommendations include the need for increased coordination at a disaster scene, including a unified command structure. Congress should pass legislation to allocate the additional radio spectrum to improve radio interoperability for first responders, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with state and local governments, must work together to address gaps in unity of effort and accelerate emergency communications…The report also found that congressional oversight of the governments homeland security and intelligence functions remains as dysfunctional as it was when the Commission released its report in 2004. While strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most difficult of the Commissions recommendations to implement, Congress should immediately consolidate jurisdiction over DHS within the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees and establish separate subcommittees for funding the intelligence agencies. The formation of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board should also be a priority. While legislation was enacted to create this Board, it has been dormant for more than three years.”
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