Gottheimer, bipartisan House task force release 9/11 review with 20 national security recommendations
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer and other members of a bipartisan House Intelligence Committee task force have released a report reviewing the federal government’s implementation of recommendations made after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and proposing 20 new recommendations to address evolving national security threats.
Gottheimer, D-N.J., co-chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s bipartisan 9/11 Review Task Force, released the report with committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark.; Ranking Member Jim Himes, D-Conn.; and task force Co-Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
The report comes as the nation prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Over the past year, the task force held hearings and briefings examining how the U.S. Intelligence Community implemented reforms recommended in the original 2004 9/11 Commission Report.
Those reforms included the creation of the National Counterterrorism Center and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as well as changes to congressional oversight and information sharing.
The task force found that while many of the reforms have made the country safer, gaps remain as national security threats have become more complex. The report examines challenges including competition with China and Russia, cyberattacks, foreign influence campaigns on social media, economic espionage, drones and artificial intelligence.
“This morning, we had the heart-wrenching experience of visiting the Flight 93 Memorial and hearing from the first responders and family members of the heroes of Flight 93 – the brave forty men and women who put the lives of other Americans, and of our country, ahead of their own on the morning of September 11th,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Co-Chair of the House Intelligence Committee’s 9/11 Review Task Force. “The fight against terror isn’t static – our adversaries and their weapons of war are always evolving, and we must evolve too. That is why, after the last year of work, we are proud to release our bipartisan twenty-five-year review of the original 9/11 Commission Report, and I’m proud to have led this effort with my colleague Representative Elise Stefanik.”
Based on its findings, the task force issued 20 bipartisan recommendations aimed at preparing the Intelligence Community for national security threats over the next 25 years while protecting Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.
The recommendations call for intelligence agencies to improve and accelerate information sharing, expand training across agencies and increase the use of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and open-source intelligence.
The report also recommends strengthening defenses against foreign espionage and expanding partnerships among federal intelligence agencies, state and local governments and the private sector.
The task force said the recommendations are intended to build on the changes made following the Sept. 11 attacks while adapting the nation’s intelligence capabilities to emerging threats.
