Key Legislative Events Since 9/11 Attacks


 Associated Press

Some of the major events leading to the intelligence legislation:



_ Sept. 11, 2001. Al-Qaida terrorists hijack four airliners, crashing them into the two towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon (news - web sites), and a Pennsylvania field. Nearly 3,000 are killed in the worst terror attacks in American history.

_ Oct. 14, 2001. A letter containing anthrax is found in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, coinciding with anthrax attacks in other parts of the country. Senate office buildings are closed for up to three months to clean up the poison. Five people are killed elsewhere.

_ Oct. 26, 2001. President Bush (news - web sites) signs the USA Patriot Act, which gives law enforcement new surveillance and wiretap powers and authority to detain people suspected of terrorist activities. The legislation raises concerns among some who say it undermines civil liberties.

_ Nov. 19, 2001. Bush signs the Aviation Security Act, which creates the Transportation Security Administration and puts airport screening in the hands of federal workers. It includes provisions to fortify cockpit doors, increase air marshals on flights, upgrade screening technology and ensure that all checked baggage is inspected.

_ Nov. 15, 2002. Congress approves legislation creating the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States, the Sept. 11 commission.The panel's mission is to probe the failure to anticipate the attacks.

_ Nov. 25, 2002. The president signs the Maritime Transportation Security Act. The bill requires the nation's 361 seaports to develop security plans, creates a sea marshal program and sets new standards to make container seals tamperproof.

_ Nov. 25, 2002. The president signs into law legislation creating the Homeland Security Department. He also names Tom Ridge, former Pennsylvania governor and the White House homeland security adviser, as its first secretary.

_ July 8, 2004. The House fails, on a 210-210 vote, to amend a part of the Patriot Act that helps the government investigate people's reading habits.

_ July 9, 2004. The Senate Intelligence Committee issues a scathing report on the intelligence services, concluding that the CIA (news - web sites) provided unfounded assessments of the threat posed by Iraq (news - web sites) that the Bush administration relied on to justify going to war.

_ July 21, 2004. The president signs Project Bioshield into law. The $5.6 billion bill provides incentives to the drug industry to develop and stockpile vaccines and antidotes for chemical and germ warfare weapons.

_ July 22, 2004. The Sept. 11 Commission issues its report, concluding that America's leaders failed to grasp the gravity of terrorist threats before Sept. 11. It recommends the creation of a national intelligence director to oversee 15 civilian and military intelligence agencies and a national counterterrorism center.

_ Sept. 22, 2004. Porter Goss, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wins Senate confirmation as CIA director.

_ Dec. 8, 2004. Congress completes legislation for the president's signature carrying out the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission and enacting the most far-reaching changes in the structure of the national intelligence community in half a century. The House approved the bill the previous day, culminating months of debate that began with rare hearings during the August recess.