Who Will Implement 9/11 Recommendations?

The 9/11 project quietly wrapped up its work late last week, having just issued its final report on the government’s ability to respond to and prevent terrorist attacks. But as the commission winds down, the daughter of a victim of the September 11 terrorist attacks is wondering if anyone will pick up the baton?

According to an opinion piece by Carie Lemack in USA Today, the report gave the government many failing grades on protecting us, including 17 Ds and Fs. Lemack, whose mother was killed on September 11, is co-founder of Families of September 11, a non-profit organization that includes family members, survivors and the public.

Lemack says it is elected officials’ reaction to the commission’s final report and the closing of the project that has caused her to wonder if anyone is listening to the recommendations made in the report.

“More than four years after the attacks, shocking gaps remain in our nation's defense against terrorism,” Lemack writes. “Keeping a watchful, skeptical eye on the government is in the best tradition of our republic.

“When the original report was released in 2004, all 10 commissioners agreed to maintain their unity and see their recommendations through,” Lemack adds. “They created the 9/11 project to keep pressure on Congress and the White House to overhaul the intelligence community.”

However, Lemack is concerned that now, as the commissioners are going their separate ways, no one will “champion” the reforms that have yet to be adopted. “This week, with their silent but graceful exit from the public square, they will put the hard work of self-reflection and reform back into our hands,” Lemack writes. “Will we, and our government, answer the call?”