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UNITED

H. Kean

H. HamiltonC H A I Rd Ben-Veniste

F. FieldingS. Gorel ick

b KerreyF. Lehman

R oe m e rR . Thompson

D I R E C T O R

February 17, 2004

The Honorable Donald H. RumsfeldSecretary of Defense1010 D efense PentagonWashington, DC 20310-1010Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:I want to thank you for your thoughts on the work of the 9-11 Commission.You have given us some very valuable advice. The C hair and I will want tofollow your excellent advice on working toward a unanimous report,concentrating on a short and readable report, looking forw ard, and focu sing onactionable recommendations.I t is also impressive that you were ab le to implement the rule that noC omm issioner m ay take a minority view or footnote unless he or she canpersuade at least three others to agree to it. The C omm ission may w ant totake that page from your playbook as well.Your experience with commissions on complex topics, and your perspectivefrom several senior positions in public life, have already been of considerablebenefit to the C omm ission. You have been generous w ith your time, and theC omm ission looks forward to your pu blic testimony in late March.With best regards,

Lee H. Ham iltonVice C hair

7th Street SW, R oom 5125D C 20407

F 202.296.5545commission.gov

26 Federal PlazaSuite 13400N ew York, N Y 10278T 212.264.1505 F 212.264.1595

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To: Lee HamiltonFrom: Chris Kojm

9-11 Commission

Date: February 4,2004

FAX COVER SHEET cu-FaxNo.: (202)691-4205

Office TeL: (202)331-4060Unclassified Fax: (202)296-5545

Pages (including cover): 4

Cc: Deb Meyers (for Govetnor Kean)

www.9-1 Iconunissiotugov

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rEB . 5.2004J 5=42PMr\E SECRETARYO

WASHINGTQN

J A N : 2 1 2 0 0 4

Tlie Honorable Lee H. HamiltonCommission on Terrorists' Attacks Upon the United States301 7th Street, SW, Room 5125Washington, DC20407Dear Lee,

ftfCommission.

I pulled a few things together. Here they are, my friend. Ihope they are helpful.

Regan

Enclosure

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SENSITIVEJanuary 16, 2004

TO: The Honorable Lee HamiltonSUBJECT: Response to the Commission's Request for Some Thoughts on the

c v f the fientember II th Commission1 Do everything possible to have a unagjmjyigj^gport. Given the makeup of the

Commission, a unanimous Report will have real impact, If it is not unanimous,_ it will rnopt l ikely a a t f n c . r rUist em g h f t l v f t g and-be_fien simply as more partisandifferences.

2. One way to achieve a unanimous Report is for Commissioners to accept thereality that there really isn't much^if_any^jibilD^DJ^i^-QiiJdQ]^3Liii Qh^gd inThe essential task is to get the facts. Givenarise, the Commissioners must be assumed tobe differing as to what the facts actually are. And if Commissioners arcdiffering as to what the facts are, the only responsible course of action is tokeep having meetings, get more experts in, and find the facts, until everyCommissioner is working off the same set of facts. That was the approachused on the Ballistic Missile Threat Commission and it worked. It took timebut it did work.

3. Another way to help achieve a unanimous Report is to have the Commissionersagree up front that no Cunless he or she can persuade at least three other members to agree to it.4. Next, it is critically important that it be^eCo^miss^oners^^ort,not the- .....staffs Repoftr^oBTask the staff to drive^e^oi^5nEel5omrnission. Onlyset meeting dates that all Commissioners can attend. The Commissionersarethe ones who must put their names on the Report. Unless the Commissioners

themselves drive the work of the Commission and write the Report, thereinevitably will be irresolvable disagreements at the end. The Commissionersare the ones who have the statutory responsibility to get the facts right, tounderstand the facts, to write the Report and to present and defend it. Ifmembers cannot attend the meetings., it would be best if they were to step offthe Commission and allow a replacement to participate.5. The task is to get the facts right. Public debate over the accuracy of the Reportafter iTTin'ssueoTsTeTfairTtb destroy the Report's effectiveness.

I

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SENSITIVE

6 . W hen listening to testimony, consider wh at is said based on what theparticipants knew at the time aswelTaswhat^^^ theytook or failed to tmeiniiglrtof the "environment" in the country and in theworld prior to 9/1 1, not in terms of tod ay's dramatically altered securityenvironment.

7. The Comm ission has an o pportunity to help the country and the worldunderstand that the wa^nterrorismj^^'ar it is notajgjgujja^gliHjy thatcalls fo r law jnforceroent .S . \Varj^to_be forward-looking. Hie goal is to determine howoj j rcounf r i ' mightd