Time to Act: 14 Steps in 2007 to Further Implement the 9/11 Commission Recommendations

Publication Date: January 2007

Publisher: Center for American Progress

Author(s): P.J. Crowley

Research Area: Government

Type: Report

Abstract:

The leadership of the 110th Congress later this month plans to review the status of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations made to the Bush administration and Congress almost three years ago. The new Congress also intends to examine the current state of our national and homeland security. Such a focus is vital and needed—America is not as safe as it should be.

The Bush administration remains too deferential to corporate interests. The federal government is not taking steps to eliminate clear vulnerabilities, particularly in urban areas. And Congress has, up to this point, resisted threat-based funding, preferring set formulas that spread grants across all states to targeted programs.

To address these gaps, the Center for American Progress has drawn up 14 specific steps that Congress and the Bush administration can take in 2007 to follow up on the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and measurably improve the country’s emergency response capability, private sector preparedness, transportation system and critical infrastructure protection, border security, domestic intelligence, and non-proliferation efforts.