Congressman Stephen F. Lynch took to the House floor on October 6 to advocate for the implementation of the recommendations made by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission. Below, the text of his remarks, as supplied by his spokesman, Matthew Ferraguto.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. First and foremost, I would like to offer my deepest gratitude to the 9/11 Commission and the wives and families of those whose lives were lost on September 11th who participated in our hearings for your dedication to this process and to enhancing our national security.

Mr. Chairman, the 9/11 Commission was borne from the most brutal attack on our country's soil, and in our nation's history, and we should remember that the Commission was created and empowered with a noble purpose in mind: to investigate the weaknesses that allowed the attacks to succeed and to rebuild our intelligence system in a way that would prevent such attacks from ever happening again. The formation of the Commission carefully paired Republicans and Democrats equally to cancel out the tendencies towards partisan bickering.

Throughout this long process, to their credit, the work of the Commissioners has continually risen above petty politics in pursuit of this greater goal. As illustrated by the 9/11 Report, the Commission has never forgotten its mandate. Unfortunately, however, the bill before us today sets much of that good work aside. The changes in this bill have removed the accountability that the 9/11 Commission and families recommended and that any reliable intelligence system requires.

What this bill does reflect, however, is politics at its worst - and what it represents is a victory for small-minded bickering and petty turf-battles among intelligence agencies. In complete contrast to the standard set by the Commission and the bipartisan work of our colleagues in the Senate, this bill significantly departs from many of the 9/11 panel's key recommendations and accordingly, reflects the same weaknesses as the very system it seeks to repair.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues in this body to put partisanship and politics aside and for once, work together so that we can meet the highest expectations of the people that we were elected to serve. Let me remind you that the 9/11 Commission was agreed to by a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and signed by a Republican President. But right now, the 9/11 Commissioners and the 9/11 families are asking: why did we go through this process?

The Commission and the Administration have both expressed their support of the bipartisan legislation recently passed by the Senate. Consequently, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Menendez, which I believe closely accords with the extensive collaborative effort that has, until now, epitomized this process.