Thomas H.

Kean August 19, 2003

CHAIR

Lee H. Hamilton
VICE CHAIR
The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
Richard Ben-Veniste Secretary of Defense
Max Cleland
The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-0001
Frederick F. Fielding
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:
Jamie S. Gorelick

Slade Gorton Public Law 107-306 directs the Commission to investigate the facts and
circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including
John F. Lehman
the nation's preparedness for and immediate response to those attacks. We are
Timothy J. Roemer also mandated to identify and evaluate lessons learned and make
James R. Thompson
recommendations for the future. The statute authorizes the Commission to
secure needed information directly from any agency. The Commission has
thus made numerous requests for documents and discussions with officials
Philip D. Zelikow
EXE<~' T1VE DIRECTOR
from your department. Given the extraordinary character of the 9/11 events
and our mandate, the scope and sensitivity of our requests have few, if any,
precedents.

We are therefore all the more grateful for the efforts you and your colleagues
have made so far to deal with our many, necessary requests. With so many
other issues confronting you and your staff, we do understand how hard this
can be. We try to make appropriate allowances when we know people are
doing their best. In July the Commission issued an interim report on our
progress so far. hi that report we said the coming weeks would be critical.
We promised another report in September that would appraise whether the
level of voluntary cooperation is sufficient so that we will be able td"do the job
we are charged to do under the statute.

That time is now approaching. You are entitled to some advance notice of
what we need. To make such a decisive appraisal and properly evaluate your
department's cooperation, we will assess:

1. Your policy choices—one way or another—on every access issue posed by

our pending requests.

2. Whether we actually receive the most important categories of documents

that are already overdue. We will follow up to be sure our points of
contact know which overdue documents we regard as litmus tests for
effective cooperation.
301 7lh Street SW, Room 5125
Washington, DC 20407
T 202.331.4060 F 202.296.5545
www.9-llcommission.gov
The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
August 19,2003
Page 2

We understand that you and your staff may need a few more weeks to finalize
policy choices and push through delivery of key documents. Therefore we
think it is reasonable to wait and assess the situation based on positions
communicated with us and documents that have actually been delivered or
otherwise made available to us by COB on Friday, September 5,2003.

As the second anniversary of the devastating attacks on our country

approaches, we thank you for working with us to meet the challenge of
understanding how and why America suffered such a devastating attack, and
how to prevent another.

Sincerely,

Thomas H. Kean Lee H. Hamilton

Chair Vice Chair

cc: The Honorable Steve Cambone

Pat Downs
 August 26, 2003

Thomas H. Kean MEMORANDUM

CHAIR

Lee H Hamilton
VICE CHAIR To: Pat Downs, Department of Defense
Richard Ben- Veniste
From: Daniel Marcus, General Counsel
MaxQeland

Fred F. Fielding Subj: Most Important Overdue Documents

Jamie S. Gorelick

Slade Gorton As a follow-up to the letter to Secretary Rumsfeld dated August 19,2003,
here are the most important categories of documents requested by the
John Lehman
Commission that are overdue:
TimothyJ. Roemer
DOD Document Request No. 4 - Items 1 through 16, to the extent not
James R. Thompson
already produced
Philip D.ZeliW
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DOD Document Request No. 6 — Items 1, 2, and 4

We look forward to the Department's prompt production of these

overdue items, as well as positions on access to all of the documents
responsive to all of our outstanding requests, as set forth in the August 19
letter. If you have any questions, please give me a call.

cc: Dan Levin, DOJ

TEL (202) 331-4060

FAX (202) 296-5545
www.9-1 lcommissiDn.gov
 SEP-08-2003 19:43

UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

5OOO DEFENSE PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 2O3O1-5OOO
SEP 8 ?003

INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL
COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON
THE UNITED STATES

Dear Phil:

The Secretary of Defense has asked me to respond to the August 19, 2003
letter from the Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission and to the August 26, 2003
memorandum from the General Council of the Commission.

Based on our review of documents as requested by the Commission, we have

granted access to all documents responsive to the Commission's requests and are
not aware of any responsive documents to which we have not granted access,
included extraordinary access to extremely sensitive classified and deliberative
documents to which you seek. The Components within the DoD have made a
vigorous effort to meet the needs of the Commission.

With respect to the documents identified in the August 26, 2003

memorandum:

1. Document Request 4 (Items 1 through 16 to the extent not already

produced)

The Commission has received all available documents responsive to these

Items, with the exception of Items 4-6 and 4-7. Regarding 4-6 and 4-7, NORAD
retasked the responsible component commands to exhaust all possible search
avenues. NORAD believes that some commands may no longer have tfiese
materials. NORAD will provide a complete accounting and closeout of these items
by mid-September.

With regard to 4-8 and 4-9, Commission staff members have previously
raised concerns over the non-existence of personal pilot logs and various flight
strips. NORAD has confirmed that the pilot logs do not exist and the 9/11 flight
strips were routinely destroyed in accordance with standard operating procedure.
(The classified memorandum from NORAD dated September 3, 2003 will be
forwarded under separate cover.)

TOTfiL P. 02
SEP-08-2003 19=27 P.03/03

In addition, the Commission staff sent an informal supplemental request to

Item 4-1, asking for a transcript of the 9/11 NOIWON conference call initiated by
CIA. CIA did not record that conference call. Initial searches by the NMCC/
NMJIC did not turn up a recording but we are continuing to search and are also
querying other DoD components that may have recorded the conference call.

2. Document Request 6 (Items 1, 2, 4)

Numerous materials responsive to this request have been consolidated and are
being processed and reviewed. Among those documents are a number of White
House- and National Security Council-originated documents that are being turned
over to the Department of Justice for review. We are working to expedite the
collection and processing of any remaining DoD documents. Those materials that
contain infonnation relevant to the Commission's work will be made available as
quickly as possible. I anticipate that we will complete our review of the
consolidated materials within the next week.

The Department is committed to cooperating with the Commission as it

continues its important work. Please do not hesitate to call me to discuss any
concerns you may have.

Stephen A. Cambone

TOTPL P.03