Pelosi Statement on Decision to Allow Rice to Testify Before the Joint 9/11 Inquiry

March 30, 2004

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the decision by the White House to allow National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify in public under oath before the independent commission investigating the September 11 attacks:

"The Bush Administration has finally come to its senses on what should have been a simple issue by reversing its previous refusal to allow the National Security Advisor to testify in public under oath. The Bush Administration needs to understand that the independent 9/11 commission seeks truth, not blame.

"The independent commission is charged with investigating the failures that allowed the horrific attacks of September 11 to happen, what our immediate reaction to it was, and how we can prevent future attacks. The National Security Advisor is a key figure in that investigation, and it is critical that she testify in public.

"Full and open cooperation from the Bush Administration is needed to put to rest the many questions surrounding the security failures before September 11. We must provide the American people the most complete understanding of decisions made before and after the attacks. The families of September 11 deserve no less."

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