New York City – Today, families of 9/11 victims urged Mayor Michael Bloomberg to provide Federal investigators with documents critical to their investigation into the World Trade Center collapse.  Bloomberg reportedly has refused to turn over transcripts and tapes requested by investigators from the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the organization which is leading the inquiry.

Since its inception, the investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center has been hobbled by legal jousting, intra-agency in-fighting, and the destruction of key materials.  Last October, Congress passed legislation sponsored by Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) the National Construction Safety Team Act, to overhaul the way building collapse investigations are conducted.

Under the Act, experts at NIST have been given full authority to conduct the inquiry into the World Trade Center collapse, complete with the subpoena power.  For the past 13 months, NIST investigators have been pouring over Trade Center data to determine why the buildings fell, and whether more lives could have been saved.  They are expected to issue a final report in September of 2004, including recommendations on how to avoid similar disasters in the future.  Congress has provided NIST with $16 million to conduct the investigation. 

But Mayor Bloomberg has reportedly been withholding key evidence from federal investigators, including 9-1-1 tapes and transcripts of interviews with city emergency personnel.   Today, families of 9/11 victims, joined by Rep. Weiner, called on Bloomberg to turn over the materials without delay.

“We owe it to the victims of 9/11 to learn everything we can about why the World Trade Center collapsed, and what we can do to make sure it never happens again,” said Rep. Weiner.  “The best equipped agency to answer those questions is NIST, but it can’t do its work if it is denied access to critical documents.  The Feds should issue subpoenas if necessary. ”