"We have some planes."

9/11 Commission Full Report

KEY FINDINGS

U.S. leaders did not understand the "gravity of the threat."

The United States wasn't prepared to meet al Qaeda's challenges.

Terrorism wasn't the chief security concern of the Bush or Clinton administrations.

Failures to thwart 9/11 highlight agencies' inability to adapt to new problems.

CIA effectiveness was limited by use of intermediaries to pursue Osama bin Laden.

Information and analysis wasn't shared across agencies.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Establish a Cabinet-level intelligence director

Establish a single counterterrorism center

Create a single, joint congressional committee to oversee homeland security

GOP sides with Pentagon, blocks 9/11 panel proposals
Philip Shenon and Carl Hulse, New York Times, November 21, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Republican leaders blocked and appeared to kill a bill Saturday that would have enacted the major recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, refusing to allow a vote on the legislation despite last-minute pleas from President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to Republican lawmakers for a compromise before Congress adjourned for the year.