The 9/11 Commission Report was published on July 22, 2004, three years after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The report was authored by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, or “9/11 Commission.” They were an independent, bipartisan group created on November 27, 2002, when President George W. Bush signed congressional legislation mandating that they produce a report exploring what really happened on 9/11. The 9/11 Commission Report studied U.S. preparedness and responsiveness to the attacks and provided recommendations to guard against future threats. The 9/11 Commission began its first hearings in New York City in the spring of 2003 and presented its findings in a public report released on July 22, 2004.
A series of images showing the planes hitting the towers on September 11, 2001.
Civilians bolt in the opposite direction as firefighters rush towards the Twin Towers of the New York City's World Trade Center after a plane hit the building on September 11, 2001.
In this handout provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, first responders on scene following an attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 in Arlington, Virginia. American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists who flew it in to the building killing 184 people.
A rescue helicopter uses Washington Boulevard outside the Pentagon to evacuate injured personnel after the terrorist attack on the building on September 11, 2001.
First responders pour water on the fire on scene following the attacks.
A screen at the San Francisco Airport announces flight cancellations. By 10:24 a.m. on 9/11, all transatlantic flights headed to the United States are diverted to Canada. U.S. airspace is cleared of all commercial traffic by 12:16 p.m.
The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
Smoke rises behind investigators as they comb the crater left by the crash of United Airlines flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania September 12, 2001. Flight 93 is one of four planes that were hijacked as part of a deadly and destructive terrorist plot against the U.S. September 11.
Policemen and firemen run away from the huge dust cloud caused as the north tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
Marcy Borders is covered in dust as she takes refuge in an office building after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York. Borders was outside on the street as the cloud of smoke and dust enveloped the area. Borders was diagnosed with stomach cancer in August 2014, which she believed was a side effect of the toxic dust she was exposed to during the 9/11 attacks. She died on August 24, 2015.
Members of the FDNY carry fellow firefighter, Al Fuentes, who was injured in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Captain Fuentes, who had been pinned under a vehicle on the west side highway, survived after his rescue.
A New York firefighter is seen alone amid the rubble of the World Trade Center following the attacks. "We had a very strong sense we would lose firefighters and that we were in deep trouble, FDNY Division Chief for Lower Manhattan Peter Hayden later told the 9/11 Commission. “But we had estimates of 25,000 to 50,000 civilians, and we had to try to rescue them.”
An NYPD patrol car, destroyed by falling debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center, sits amid the rubble at ground zero on the night of September 11, 2001.
The rubble of the World Trade Center smolders on September 12, 2001 as firefighters continue recovery efforts.
A piece of the outer frame of the building is all that is left standing in the ruined base of the World Trade Center.
Emergency workers and firefighters worked through the night searching for survivors.
This FBI photo shows a closer look at the damage to the building.
A piece of debris from American Airlines Flight 77 that was collected by the FBI on scene following the attacks.
Flyer asking for help in locating Matt Heard, a missing Morgan Stanley worker, surrounded by candles at a memorial for victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
In the days after 9/11 families of missing people put up thousands of posters with photos and descriptions of their loved ones. Parks like Union Square became gathering points for people to come together, share stories and lend support.
MTA workers assist in rescue and recovery efforts at the site of the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Mike Scott from the California Task Force-8 and his dog, Billy, search through rubble for victims of the September 11 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center September 21, 2001 New York City, NY.
An office space is destroyed and covered with debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center.
The rubble of the World Trade Center is shown smoldering one day after the September 11 attacks.
The wreckage of the World Trade Center smoulders in this aerial view of Manhattan taken September 15, 2001.
1 / 25: Sean Adair/Reuters/CORBIS
Birth of the 9/11 Commission
On November 27, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law congressional legislation authorizing federal funding for intelligence activities. The legislation also established the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States in order to (in Bush’s words) “examine and report on the facts and causes relating to the September 11th terrorist attacks.” Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was Bush’s choice to head the commission, while Democratic congressional leaders chose former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell as vice-chairman. Less than a month later, however, both men resigned from the 9/11 Commission, citing potential conflicts of interest. Mitchell did not want to sever ties to his law firm, while Kissinger–whom many considered too close to many national and international leaders to be objective–did not wish to disclose the identities of clients of his consulting firm.
Did you know? In early 2008, after it was revealed that that the CIA had destroyed videotaped interrogations of Al Qaeda operatives, 9/11 Commission leaders Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton wrote in the New York Times that the commission had asked the CIA repeatedly for information of the kind that would have been obtained in such interrogations; they called the agency's failure to disclose the existence of the tapes "obstruction."
To replace Kissinger, Bush tapped former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, a Republican. Congressional Democrats chose former Representative Lee Hamilton, Democrat of Indiana, to replace Mitchell. The 10-member commission included five Democrats and five Republicans. It was given a budget of some $3 million and a total of 18 months, or until the end of May 2004, to complete a full report of the circumstances surrounding the events of 9/11 and provide a number of recommendations to guard against future attacks.
Progress of the 9/11 Commission
Organizations representing the families of the 9/11 victims had been instrumental in the establishment of the 9/11 Commission, and closely monitored its progress. In March 2003, the 9/11 Commission sought $11 million in additional federal funding to complete its task in the allotted time period. Kean requested the funds as part of a $75 billion supplemental spending bill that Bush had submitted in order to pay for war with Iraq. Later that month, the Bush administration agreed to up the commission’s budget by $9 million.
From March 31 to April 1, 2003, the 9/11 Commission held its first public hearing in the United States Customs House, located not far from the World Trade Center site in New York City. Survivors of the 9/11 attacks and relatives of victims delivered their heart-wrenching accounts, and questioned the failures of American intelligence that had allowed such horrific attacks to occur. In a total of 12 public hearings over the next 10 months, the 9/11 Commission heard from a range of witnesses including Department of Justice experts, academics in the fields of terrorism and counterterrorism, and New York City Police and Fire Department representatives. Prominent leaders who testified before the commission included New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney gave private testimony (not under oath), as did former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore.
This pair of women’s heels belonged to Fiduciary Trust employee Linda Raisch-Lopez, a survivor of the attacks on the World Trade Center. She began her evacuation from the 97th floor of the South Tower after seeing flames from the North Tower. She removed her shoes and carried them as she headed down the stairs, reaching the 67th floor when the South Tower was stuck by Flight 175. As she headed uptown to escape, she put her shoes back on, and they became bloody from her cut and blistered feet. She donated her shoes to the museum.
This American Airlines flight attendant wings lapel pin belonged to Karyn Ramsey, friend and colleague of 28-year-old Sara Elizabeth Low, who was working aboard Flight 11, which crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Following the memorial service for Sara, Karyn pinned her own service wing on Sara’s father, Mike Low. Mike Low would refer to the lapel pin as “Karyn’s wings.” Watch this video to learn more.
This pager, recovered from Ground Zero, belonged to Andrea Lyn Haberman. Haberman was from Chicago and was in New York City on September 11, 2001 for a meeting at Carr Futures offices, located on the 92nd floor of the North Tower. It was Haberman’s first time visiting New York; she was only 25 years old when she was killed in the attacks.
On the morning of September 11, 55-year-old Robert Joseph Gschaar was working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower. At the time of the attack, he called his wife to let her know about the incident and reassured her that he would safely evacuate. Robert did not make it out of the tower alive. A year after the attacks his wallet and wedding ring were recovered.Inside his wallet was a $2 bill. Robert and his wife, Myrta, carried around $2 bills during there 11-year marriage to remind each other that they were two of a kind.
On September 11, FDNY Squad 18 responded to the attacks on the Twin Towers. Among this unit was David Halderman, who was a firefighter just like his father and brother. His helmet was found crushed on September 12, 2001 and given to his brother, Michael, who believes his death was due to the the collapse of the tower and a strike to the head. David Halderman’s body was not recovered until October 25, 2001.
This I.D. card belonged to Abraham J. Zelmanowitz, an Empire BlueCross BlueShield computer programmer. On the morning of the attacks, he was working on the 27th floor of the North Tower, along with a wheelchair-bound friend, Edward Beyea. Zelmanowitz decided to stay behind to remain by his friend’s side as the rest of the company began to evacuate. Coworkers who evacuated informed professional emergency responders that the two were awaiting assistance inside.FDNY Captain William Francis Burke, Jr. arrived at the scene on the 27th floor as the South Tower began to collapse. Burke, with the same bravery as Zelmanowitz, sacrificed his life to help others by telling his team to evacuate to safety while he stayed behind to try and help Zelmanowitz and Beyea. The three men would only make it as far down as the 21st floor, making phone calls to loved ones before their deaths.
This gold link bracelet belonged to Yvette Nicole Moreno. Bronx native Yvette Nicole Moreno was working as a receptionist at Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of the North Tower, after recently being promoted from a temporary position. After the North Tower was hit, she called her mother to let her know she was heading home. However, on her way out of the office she was struck by debris from the South Tower, dying at the young age of 24.
This baseball cap belonged to 22-year veteran of the Port Authority Police Department, James Francis Lynch. At the time of the attacks, James was off duty and recovering from surgery, but felt the need to respond. He had previously responded to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He died at the age of 47 that day, and his body was not recovered until December 7, 2001.
This police badge belonged to John William Perry, a New York Police Department officer with the 40th Precinct and a N.Y. State Guard first lieutenant. He was another off-duty officer who responded to the attacks. He had plans to retire from the police force to pursue a career as a full-time lawyer. He was 38 years old.
On March 30, 2002 a firefighter working at Ground Zero found a bible fused to a piece of metal. The bible was open to a page with fragments of legible text reading “an eye for an eye” and “resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Watch this video to learn more about the bible.
1 / 10: The National 9/11 Memorial & Museum
The 9/11 Commission Report
In its final report, published on July 22, 2004, the 9/11 Commission stated that the terrorist attacks of September 2001 “were a shock but they should not have come as a surprise,” as Islamic extremists such as Al Qaeda’s Osama Bin Laden had long declared their intentions to kill large numbers of Americans. The report outlined the failings of numerous government agencies, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pentagon and the National Security Council, in acting on existing intelligence in order to protect and defend the nation from such threats. Among a long list of recommendations designed to guard against future attacks, the 9/11 Commission advocated a comprehensive restructuring of U.S. intelligence agencies and an increased emphasis on diplomacy between the United States and the Islamic world.
Some critics have claimed that the 9/11 Commission was not truly independent, as its members were chosen by Congress and the Bush administration, and that it suffered from conflicts of interest due to connections between some of its members and key figures in the administration. Meanwhile, Kean and Hamilton have claimed that the commission was hamstrung by the time and budgetary constraints it was under, and that its effectiveness was hampered by misinformation given by organizations like the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration.
