FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Slaughter Calls for ABC to Come Clean on New 9-11 Docudrama

Divisive and Politicized Accounts of September 11th Attacks and National Security Issues Endanger Nation

Washington, DC - Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, today called for ABC to make clear to viewers that its upcoming television mini-series The Path to 9/11 is not a documentary account of the events and political decisions that preceded the terrorist attacks of that day.

"ABC has a responsibility to make clear that this film is not a documentary, and does not represent an official account of the facts surrounding the September 11th attacks," Rep. Slaughter said. "Disclaimers noting that The Path to 9/11 is a docudrama should be shown throughout its airing. We have yet to establish the impartiality and accuracy of the people behind this film and the claims it advances, and the American people need to know that."   

Rep. Slaughter also expressed concern over the timing of the mini-series, as well as recent Republican rhetoric on the issue of national security and its connection to the war in Iraq.

"But what is far more important is the timing of this movie," Rep. Slaughter continued. "The anniversary of the attacks is an emotional time, and it is wrong for anyone to play on those emotions and use them to advance a political agenda."

"This is, regrettably, what many top Administration officials are doing with the rhetoric we have heard of late," Rep. Slaughter said. "We have been told we are in a fight against a new kind of fascism, and that individuals who question our current path in Iraq are morally equivalent to Nazi appeasers and those who would justify slavery."

"Such claims are more than just morally reprehensible and deeply irresponsible. They are also damaging to our country, making it difficult, if not impossible, to have a serious, non-partisan discussion about how best to protect our nation."

"Democrats have always worked to promote a more peaceful and secure world, and we will continue to do so, regardless of this divisive Republican rhetoric," Rep. Slaughter said.

"The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that we stand for real security: real implementation of the 9-11 Commission's recommendations, a real commitment to securing threats against the homeland, and a real plan for the future American military commitment in Iraq - not just more wishful thinking and empty justifications, which are what this Administration has been content to offer us."

"What America needs is real security based on an honest view of the world and the threats against us, not more divisive, pre-election rhetoric that slanders political opponents while doing nothing to make our nation more secure."

BACKGROUND:

A FILM OF QUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY

• Director of The Path to 9/11, billed as "an objective telling of the events of 9/11," admits that film is "not a documentary": The director of the film, David Cunningham, posted on the show's official blog that his work was "not a documentary..." For unexplained reasons ABC has already taken down its blog promoting the show. [Think Progress, 9/2/06]

• the path to 9/11  makes numerous questionable claims - such as  that the clinton administration passed on a surefire chance to kill or capture bin laden - that have already drawn criticism: Reviews of the film have shown it to contain questionable claims. According the reviewers of the film, who include Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and now counterterrorism advisor to ABC, the film's distorted version of history is inconsistent with the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which it claims to be based. [Think Progress, 9/5/06]

• film's writer is a noted conservative activist:  The writer of The Path to 9/11 is an unabashed conservative named Cyrus Nowrasteh. Last year, Nowrasteh spoke on a panel titled "Rebels With a Cause: How Conservatives Can Lead Hollywood's Next Paradigm Shift." He has described Michael Moore as "an out of control socialist weasel," and conducted interviews with right-wing websites like FrontPageMag. [Think Progress, 9/1/06]

THE TIMING OF THE PATH TO 9/11  IS TROUBLING GIVEN VITRIOLIC AND IRRESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATION RHETORIC CONCERNING WAR ON TERROR

• Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld Compares War Critics to Nazi Appeasers: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has compared critics of the Bush administration to Nazi appeasers before World War II, warning that the nation is confronting "a new type of fascism." Speaking at the American Legion convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, Rumsfeld compared the skeptics of the Bush administration's foreign policy critics to American officials who had hoped to negotiate with Adolf Hitler.  [Julian E. Barnes, "Rumsfeld Says Critics Appeasing Fascism," LA Times, 8/30/06]
  
  

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Equates IRAQ War Critics TO Slavery Supporters: Secretary of State Rice compared the Iraq war with the American Civil War, telling a magazine that slavery might have lasted longer in this country if the North had decided to end the fight early. "I'm sure there are people who thought it was a mistake to fight the Civil War to its end and to insist that the emancipation of slaves would hold," Rice said in the new issue of Essence magazine. [Bill Hutchinson, New York Daily News, "Condi Uses Civil War to Slap Iraq Critics," 9/5/06]

A FAILED HISTORY OF NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY: House Rules Committee RECORD Reveals that Republicans have Repeatedly Refused to Consider Important 9/11 Commission Proposals and Homeland Security Reform Amendments

Numerous common-sense Democratic amendments based on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that would have heightened American national security have been blocked by Republican members of the House Rules Committee, among them:

• Rule for H.R. 418, REAL ID Act of 2005-February 9, 2005:

Ruppersberger - support and enact section 5202 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 calling for the addition of 2000 new border patrol personnel each year for the next five years and includes proposed budget funding for 2010.

• Rule for H. R. 2360-Department of Homeland Security Appropriations May 16, 2005:

Obey - funds the additional border agents, immigration investigators, and detention beds Congress and the President called for in last year's 9/11 bill.  It also provides states $100 million to implement the federal mandates in the REAL ID bill.   The Obey amendment offsets these expenditures by capping the tax cut people making over $1 million this year will receive at $138,176. 

• Rule for H. R. 1815, the National Defense Authorization Act-May 24, 2005:

Spratt - Adds $80 million to DoD and DoE nonproliferation programs to secure and dispose of vulnerable nuclear material.  Offset by modest decreases to future silo construction of ground-based missile defense over and above missiles already scheduled for deployment.

Tauscher - Creates an Office for Combating the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the White House to better coordinate and budget for nonproliferation efforts resident in multiple agencies.

Woolsey - Requires the Secretary of Defense to replicate with Libya and Pakistan the Cooperative Threat Reduction program in which the U.S. works with the Russian Federation and states of the former Soviet Union to dismantle nuclear warheads, reduce nuclear stockpiles, and secure nuclear weapons and materials.

• Rule for H.R. 2601 - Foreign Relations Authorization Act FY06-07-July 18, 2005:

Markey -prohibits nuclear cooperation with or exports or transfers of controlled nuclear goods with any state that is not a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and which has exploded a nuclear device, or with any state sponsor of terrorism.

• Rule for H..R. 1279, Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005-May 10, 2005:

Jackson Lee- makes it illegal to transfer a firearm to any individual that the federal government has designated as a suspected or known gang member or terrorist.

Crowley- prohibits those on the Violent Gang and Terrorist Organizations File from purchasing firearms, ammunition, and explosives by means other than in person and to require records to be kept of the means by which the purchases are made

• Rule for H.R. 1817-Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2006 - May 17, 2005:

Barrow and Markey -  directing DHS to upgrade the security associated with transporting extremely hazardous materials;

Oberstar - authorizing funds to develop and implement a railroad security assessment, a railroad security plan, and prioritized recommendations for improving railroad security

Markey - Requires the Secretary of DHS to establish, not later than 3 years after enactment of the bill, a system to physically inspect 100% of the cargo carried on passenger planes. The system shall, at a minimum, require that the equipment, technology, and personnel used to inspect the cargo meet the same standards established to inspect passenger baggage: 35% of cargo on passenger aircraft must be inspected by the end of FY 2006; 65% by FY 2007; and 100% by FY 2008.

Markey - Requires DHS to establish regulations to upgrade security of chemical facilities at which a worst-case terrorist attack or accident could harm more than 15,000 people.  Includes whistleblower protections for those who are retaliated against for disclosing chemical security flaws.

Markey - Provides whistleblower protections for any government, contractor, or private sector employee who is retaliated against for disclosing national or homeland security flaws to Congress, the Federal government, or their employer.

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