Sept. 11 families push government for reform

WASHINGTON -- Sept. 11 families spent the week pleading, screaming, and in some instances weeping for Congress to pass intelligence reforms needed to prevent another such attack, but election year politics put some of them on different sides of the debate.

Several groups of families have trooped the hallways of Congress in the past two weeks, their ranks growing as lawmakers get closer to passing legislation that would create a new national intelligence director.

The most prominent family groups, like the Family Steering Committee, are working to pressure House members to support the Senate reform legislation. They criticized a bill offered Thursday by House Republicans, saying it had too many amendments unrelated to reforms recommended by the 9-11 commission.

"These last 1,000 days plus have been sacred days," said Donald Goodrich of Bennington, Vt., who lost his son Pete Goodrich on Flight 175, the second plane to crash into a World Trade Center tower. "This is a time for Republicans and Democrats to talk to each other."

Some family members, however, support the House bill and oppose the Senate version, citing what they consider overriding problems with border security and immigration, which the House bill addresses.

Peter Gadiel of northern Connecticut, who lost his son James in the World Trade Center, said the Senate version is "only half a bill."

"It's beyond me why they would settle for that," said Gadiel, who formed 9-11 Families for a Secure America.

Goodrich and others say immigration issues can be tackled later, and debating it now will only delay the more important work of overhauling intelligence.

Even as the legislative battle plays out in Congress, presidential politics are never far away. Debra Burlingame, who offered a poignant tribute to her slain brother at the Republican National Convention, criticized Democrats for what she saw as trying to grab Sept. 11, 2001, reforms for November 2004 votes.

"Certain members of Congress want to claim the 9--11 family brand for their own product, and I think that's outrageous...," Burlingame said. "I think there's a jockeying race to reform to see who can claim victory first, and I frankly think the families are being used in this partisan game."

Many who lost loved ones in the terror attacks have already lined up on opposing sides of the presidential contest.

Three family members spoke at the Republican National Convention, while a number of 9/11 widows publicly endorsed Democrat John Kerry last month. A separate group of about 100 Sept. 11 relatives endorsed Kerry in New Jersey on Thursday.

Another group of families came to Washington this week to urge the Bush administration to unseal 28 pages from a joint congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks. The pages dealt with foreign support for the hijackers.

Despite the occasionally different goals and agendas, the families have maintained a sort of unspoken agreement not to openly criticize each other even on those rare issues of disagreement, like immigration law changes.

"Sept. 11 encompasses so much, so it takes a lot of us, working on a lot of different things," said Rosemary Dillard, whose husband died on the flight that struck the Pentagon.

Among the most outspoken activist families, there is little expectation that votes this week will end their role as amateur lobbyists.

"I'll sleep on the couch in your office if I have to," Sept. 11 widow Beverly Eckert joked to Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

Through all the calculated political strategy, there are still fresh reminders of why the family members care so deeply about what Congress does in the coming days, months, and years.

Speaking out Thursday in favor of the Senate version, Mary Fetchet of New Canaan, Conn., said she had received word just days ago that medical examiners, through DNA testing, had identified more remains of her son Brad, who died in the World Trade Center.

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On the Net

• Family Steering Committee: www.911independentcommission.org
• Families of Sept. 11: www.familiesofseptember11.org
• 9/11 Families for a Secure America: www.911fsa.org