Thomas H.

Kean October 20, 2003

CHAIR

Lee H. Hamilton
VICE CHAIR
The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta
Richard Ben-Veniste Secretary of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, SW
Max Cieland
Washington, DC 20590
Frederick F. Fielding
Dear Secretary Mineta:
Jamie S. Gorelick

Slade Gorton As you know, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States (better known as the 9-11 Commission) is directed by statute to prepare a
John F. Lehman full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11,
Timothy J. Roemer
2001 terrorist attacks, including the nation's preparedness for, and immediate
response to, the attacks. The Commission is also chartered to identify and
James R. Thompson evaluate lessons learned and provide recommendations to prevent future acts of
terrorism upon our nation.
Philip D. Zelikow
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Public Law 107-306 authorizes the Commission to secure needed information
directly from any agency. Thus far, with the strong support of you and your
Department, the Commission has compiled an extensive written record numbering
more than 2 million pages. Building on this record, meetings with senior
policymakers are essential to developing an authoritative narrative of the
September 11, 2001 attacks. Your perspective is vital to the Commission's
understanding of 9-11 and its immediate aftermath, and we are therefore writing
to request a meeting with you during the week of December 14, 2003.

The Commission wishes to discuss a wide range of topics with you, including (but
not limited to) your description, analysis, and assessment of:

1) The Department of Transportation's role in setting and enforcing civil aviation

security policy during your tenure as secretary, specifically:

• Intelligence information you received from sources such as your Daily

Security Briefings in the months leading up to September 11, 2001.
• How you assessed the threat information you received from intelligence
reports provided to you by the Director of Security and Intelligence and
other sources.
• Your actions in response to information you received about threats to civil
aviation and about vulnerabilities in the civil aviation security system.

301 7 lh Street SW, Room 5125

Washington, DC 20407
T 202.331.4060 F 202.296.5545
www.9-llcommission.gov
The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta
October 20, 2003
Page 2

2) The Department of Transportation's response to the terrorist hijackings on

September 11,2001, specifically:

• Your role and responsibilities with respect to the hijacking of commercial

aircraft in the United States.
• Your actions and decisions that day, including any orders for the U.S.
military to "shoot down" commercial aircraft; the order to shut down the
National Airspace, and instructions to conduct other activities in response
to the plot as it was unfolding.
• Your actions to ascertain the facts surrounding the events of September
11,2001, to assess the performance of the civil aviation security system on
that day, and to assure that the proper counter-measures were taken prior
to reopening the National Airspace.

3) The Department of Transportation's current role with respect to transportation

security policy.

You may wish to review notes and other documents to refresh your recollection of
these matters prior to the meeting.

We are, of course, interested in any other issues you deem relevant to the
Commission's understanding of 9-11 specifically and civil aviation security policy
generally, as well as your thoughts on policy recommendations for the future.
Members of the Commission and select staff will attend, and it is the general policy
of the Commission to record such meetings.

Please have a member of your staff contact Daniel Leopold at (202) 331-4064 to
indicate your availability for such a meeting and to relay any questions you or
your staff may have. Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation with
the Commission and its staff in this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas H. Kean Lee H. Hamilton

Chair Vice Chair

cc: Daniel Levin, U.S. Department of Justice

Rosalind A. Knapp, Acting General Counsel