The 9/11 Commission and a National Counterterrorism Center: Issues and Options for Congress Page: 4 of 33
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The 9/11 Commission and a National
Counterterrorism Center: Issues and
Options for Congress
Background
In July 2004, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States (hereafter, the 9/11 Commission) published its Final Report after holding 19
hearings, taking public testimony from 160 witnesses, and reviewing over 2.5 million
pages of documents. Pursuant to P.L. 107-306, the report has been provided to the
President and Congress, and active congressional consideration of these
recommendations is ongoing. As one of its 41 recommendations, the 9/11
Commission recommended the creation of
a National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), built on the foundation of the
existing Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC). Breaking the older mold of
national government organization, this NCTC should be a center for joint
operational planning and joint intelligence, staffed by personnel from various
agencies. The head of the NCTC should have authority to evaluate the
performance of people assigned to the center.2
As recommended by the Commission, an NCTC would have two primary functions:
" Intelligence - The proposed NCTC would serve as a "knowledge
bank" of intelligence and strategic analysis for the entire U.S.
government. It would pool all-source information, both foreign and
domestic, about "transnational terrorist organizations with global
reach."3 The commission intends that the intelligence function of an
NCTC be built on the existing TTIC structure and absorb "... a
The commission has stated a preference that the 41 recommendations it made be
considered as a cohesive package; that the adoption of individual recommendations in
isolation from one another would somehow undermine the overall effectiveness of
intelligence reform. Although the recommendation to establish a National Intelligence
Director (NID) and the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center are two of the
commission's most far-reaching proposals, it does not necessarily follow that the idea of the
NCTC is inextricably linked to the formation of a NID. An NCTC could be established
without the creation of a NID or vice versa. For information and analysis relating to the
proposed NID position, see CRS Report RL32506, The Position of Director of National
Intelligence: Issues for Congress, by Alfred Cumming.
2 The Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States,
p. 403.
3 Ibid., p. 404
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Masse, Todd. The 9/11 Commission and a National Counterterrorism Center: Issues and Options for Congress, report, October 22, 2004; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822062/m1/4/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.