Terry Everett, August 16, 2004

Since the release of the 9/11 Commission report last month, the national media and many politicians on the left have lost little time in calling for immediate implementation of all the report's 37 recommendations. This all-or-nothing approach - which appears to be driven by politics - is short-sighted and ignores major progress already made in the war on terror.

No one wants America to be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, yet some choose to suggest that quick adoption of the 9/11 Commission report is the only way to guarantee we'll be safe. First of all, they operate from a false assumption. No manner of security measures implemented can totally guarantee that there will never be another terrorist attack. One only needs to look to Israel for proof. That nation has the ability to quickly shut down civil liberties and wall off its citizens, yet it remains a continual terrorist target. Measured action and long-term planning against terror and its sources are the best methods to reduce risk at home.

For the last two weeks and continuing through August, Congress is holding public hearings on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to increase domestic security. Two of my four committees, Armed Services and Intelligence, have already interviewed the chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission during public hearings and I had the opportunity to question them.

During an August 11 Intelligence Committee hearing, I posed the question of the effectiveness of current efforts to prevent terrorist attacks to 9/11 Commission chairman Thomas Kean and vice chairman Lee Hamilton. Both agreed that efforts undertaken by the Bush Administration since September 11, 2001 have helped to make the nation safer. Kean even repeated my assessment that "we must be doing something right."

Hamilton admitted that a lot of progress has been made in many areas, including hurting Al Qaeda and inhibiting their ability to respond, while also beefing up security here at home. In fact, it has been disclosed that our security efforts have since prevented several post 9/11 terrorist incidents. And that is a key point. America is safer today because of efforts already underway. These enhancements already in place should be thoughtfully taken together with the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission report in any decision to improve upon homeland security.

Something that is often ignored in media reports is just how many of the 9/11 Commission report's recommendations overlap with current Bush Administration anti-terror efforts. For starters, we have already taken action to eliminate safe havens for terrorists in foreign lands - including Al Qaeda's top sanctuary, Afghanistan. We are also already at work tracking and shutting off terrorists' sources of funding with a number of successes which have decreased Al Qaeda's revenue stream.

Additionally, we have made progress in blocking sources of weapons of mass destruction from terrorists, including the elimination of the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network and Libya's WMD and long range missile programs. Furthermore, we have beefed up border security at the Canadian and Mexican borders, and established the Terrorist Threat Integration and Screening centers to speed up intelligence information to border officials.

There is not enough space to list all the security enhancements underway to protect Americans. The 9/11 Commission report, which is the latest in a series of evaluations of America's vulnerabilities, should be carefully scrutinized and its useful recommendations should be added to ongoing anti-terror efforts.

Congressman Terry Everett, a Republican, represents Alabama's Second Congressional District, which includes the state capitol, Montgomery.