Sen. Seeks to Declassify Key 9/11 Data
— -- Sen. Seeks to Declassify Vital 9/11 Information
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct 21 — U.S. Senate IntelligenceCommittee Chairman Bob Graham said he is seeking todeclassify "the most important information" obtained in acongressional probe of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Florida Democrat described the material as a key towardbetter protecting the United States.
Graham's panel and the House Intelligence Committee haveconducted a joint investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks,holding a series of open and closed hearings.
The committees are to issue a draft report by the end ofthis year, with a final report due in February. In themeantime, they are seeking to declassify much of what theylearned.
"Frankly, there is a piece of information which is stillclassified which I consider to be the most importantinformation that's come to the attention of the jointcommittee," Graham said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation.
"We hope that it will be declassified," Graham said. "Ithink it is an important part of our judgments as to where ourgreatest threats are and what steps we need to do to protectthe American people here at home."
Graham said: "There's been a pattern in which informationis provided on a classified basis, and then what isdeclassified are those sections of the report that are mostadvantageous to the administration."
— Reuters
Elder Bush: Son Faces Toughest Times
D E S M O I N E S, Iowa, Oct. 21 — President Bush is facing the toughestset of challenges of any president since Abraham Lincoln because ofthe shadowy nature of terrorism, his father said.
Former President George Bush said problems his son are dealingwith even exceed those of President Roosevelt and World War II.
"Roosevelt of course faced World War II," the elder Bush said Sunday. "There,we knew who the enemy was and we knew what we had to do to get ridof them. There was massive motivation."
The former president was the main speaker at a fund-raising dinner forU.S. Rep. Greg Ganske, who is seeking to oust Sen. Tom Harkin, butmuch of his speech focused on the problems his son has beenwrestling with since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"The enemies we face today are very, very different," saidBush. "They're shadowy. They are a terrible new problem."
Though the nation was forced to fight a four-year war on twofronts with hundreds of thousands of casualties during World WarII, Bush said the country had been energized by the attacks onPearl Harbor and acted as one in dealing with the threats.
Bush said he thinks little of issues when watching his son inthe White House.
"I really think more about family than I do about issues,"said Bush. "The president is facing enormous problems."
The elder Bush said there were pragmatic reasons for stumping for Ganske,because Democrats control the Senate by a single vote and haveeffectively blocked much of his son's agenda.
During his four years in the White House, the senior Bush said,he was confronted with a Congress where Democrats controlled bothchambers.
"You have to compromise and deal with somebody else'slegislation," said Bush.
Bush also noted that Harkin had voted against the resolutionauthorizing force in the Gulf War in 1991.
"He was not there on that and many other issues," said Bush.
The former president did not mention that Republican Sen.Charles Grassley — who was in the audience — also voted againstthat resolution.
Bush, 78, said the Harkin-Ganske matchup is pivotal for decidingwho runs the Senate after the Nov. 5 election. He conceded thatmost polls have given an edge to Harkin but said the race is"closing and it's closing fast."
Ganske was elected to Congress in 1994, and is giving up hisseat to challenge Harkin. Harkin was elected to the Senate in 1984,after serving 10 years in the House.
Harkin issued a statement welcoming Bush to the state, noting"we understand the president has to do what he has to do."
Harkin campaign manager John Frew noted that Bush had givenHarkin a medal for his work authoring the Americans withDisabilities Act.
"We also want to thank the former president for signing 17pieces of legislation written or sponsored by Senator Harkin,"said Frew. "We would like to welcome President Bush to Iowa andthank him for being such a strong partner with Senator Harkin."
About 800 people attended Sunday's fund-raising dinner,generating $200,000 for Ganske's campaign. Harkin has raised $8.1million, while Ganske has raised $4.3 million.
— The Associated Press
Survey Shows More People Staying on Ground for Short Trips
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 21 — Security checks, random searches, new airlineticket fees and other hassles since the Sept. 11 attacks have keptmany people off planes and on the road, particularly for shorttrips.
The number of people flying commercially between 200 miles and400 miles dropped 22 percent in the year after the attacks,according to a survey by D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. in FallsChurch, Va.
"It's just easier to get into your car and go," said ChiefExecutive Doug Shifflet, whose agency surveys 45,000 householdseach month to assess their travel patterns.
AAA, formerly American Automobile Association, says the numberof TripTiks — personalized trip routings for club members — prepared rose by almost one-quarter in the first six months of thisyear.
The air travel industry has yet to fully recover from theattacks. From January to September of this year, the major carriershad 397.4 million passengers, 8.3 percent fewer than the 433.3million reported during the same nine-month period a year earlier.The industry also has cut 80,000 jobs.
While some of the drop in passengers is due to fear, experts saymany others are choosing ground transportation over planes to avoidairport hassles.
A 250-mile trip over interstate highways takes about 4 ½ hours bycar. A plane makes the trip in under an hour. But if a passengerhas a 30-minute ride to and from the airports and must arrive twohours early, the time savings is minimal.
Then there are other air travel headaches: restricted parking,vehicle searches, $30 extra for a third bag, security fees,security checkpoint lines, random searches at the gate and more.
Daniel Stillman, an operations contractor for Verizon GlobalSolutions, recently sat in the waiting area at Washington's maintrain station, Union Station, and ticked off the reasons he was notflying back to his home in Edison, N.J.
The train is faster because he does not have to leave time towait in security lines, he said, and he can book a trip at the lastminute without paying more. He can use his time better on a train.
And, he added, "We all know the terrorists could attack in a trainstation, but people feel a bit more safe when they're on theground."
Since Sept. 11, 2001, Amtrak has been carrying more passengers betweenNew York and Washington than the airlines.
Donald Carty, American Airlines' chief executive, told Congresslast month that the industry is losing an estimated $2.5 billionannually "due to the many air travelers that have often decidednot to fly in order to avoid the much publicized security hasslesat airports."
The news is not all bad for air travelers. Flight delays aredown, largely because the number of flights has fallen, from710,000 in June 2001 to 664,000 the following June, according tothe Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
But Michael Wascom, spokesman for the Air Transport Association,representing large airlines, said the industry recognizes it has apublic relations problem and is looking for ways to improve travel.
Airlines want the government to approve a program that wouldgive "smart cards" — ID cards with embedded computerchips — to passengers who have submitted to background checks,allowing them to pass more easily through security checkpoints, hesaid.
"Everyone is not an equal threat," Wascom said.
The Transportation Security Administration, created in responseto the terrorist attacks, is trying to balance security withcustomer service.
Since taking over the agency in July, agency chief James Loy haschanged the rules to allow air travelers to carry drinks throughmetal detectors and eliminated the requirement that ticket agentsask passengers if they have packed and kept a close eye on theirbaggage.
The agency also is working on a pilot program to eliminaterandom gate screenings.
As the government deploys a new federal work force at 425 of thenation's 429 commercial airports, screening should become asmoother, more predictable experience, the agency says.
It is hard to know now what to expect.
Passengers may or may not face vehicle searches, long lines atpassenger screening checkpoints or random searches at the gate.Carryon items that make it through security at one airport getinspected at another.
David Tulin, a diversity consultant from Philadelphia, preferstaking Amtrak between Boston and Washington to flying because ofhassles.
"You've lost the predictability of when you arrive at airportsand how you're going to be treated," he said as he settled intohis seat on a New York-bound Acela Express car, laptop andpaperwork spread out on a small table in front of him.
Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant and president of The BoydGroup in Evergreen, Colo., believes all the security and otherstipulations placed upon air travel — such as requiring passengersbe at the gate up to 30 minutes before departure — are overkill.
"It's open season on passengers," said Boyd, who plans todrive the 925 miles from Denver to Phoenix this Christmas.
— The Associated Press
NYC Fireman Finishes Ironman Triathlon in Memory of Fallen Brothers
K A I L U A-K O N A, Hawaii, Oct. 21 — His race number said it all — 343,the number of firefighters who died in the Sept. 11, 2001,terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Firefighter Larry Parker, of Ladder 129 in New York City said343 sets of wings carried him through the grueling IronmanTriathlon World Championship.
"There were some rough spots, and they carried me," saidParker, 39, of Amityville, N.Y., after finishing the 2.4-mile oceanswim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile marathon in 10 hours and17 minutes on Saturday.
Tim DeBoom, 31, of Lyons, Colo., won the triathalon bycompleting it in 8 hours, 29 minutes and 56 seconds.
Parker's time was 8 minutes faster than his finish in the 2000race.
"It wasn't for me this time, so it didn't matter how I did,"he said. "It as very emotional. I got too emotional three times onthe course and hyperventilated."
Parker was on vacation here training for last year's race at thetime of the terrorist attack. He spent the next two weeks helpingin the rescue effort at the trade center. He canceled that race andthen had trouble getting motivated to try again this year.
The 343 who perished gave him inspiration.
"I'll never forget these guys," he said, "I knew a lot ofthem."
— The Associated Press