COBLE TO CHAIR HEARING MONDAY ON 9/11 RECOMMENDATIONS

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)----The chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terrorism will chair a hearing Monday on recommendations cited by the 9/11 Commission. U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) will open the hearing Monday, August 23, 2004 at 10 a.m. in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Rep. Coble, who chairs the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the ranking member of the subcommittee, will conduct the oversight hearing Monday. Chairman Coble said the hearing will focus on five components of the 9/11 Commission recommendations. "Our hearing will investigate the need to create a National Intelligence Director," Coble said, "plus tightening U.S. borders, preventing identity theft and fraud, creating a specialized and integrated national security workforce at the FBI, along with targeting the networks that provide material support to terrorists. I think we have a compiled an excellent lineup of witnesses who will illuminate these issues for our subcommittee." Chairman Coble said the following witnesses are scheduled to testify on Monday:

1. Christopher Kohm, Deputy Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission;

2. John Pistole, Executive Assistant Director for Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism at the FBI;

3. John Brennan, Director of Terrorist Threat Integration Center;

4. Greg Nojeim, Deputy Director of American Civil Liberties Union.

In addition to these witnesses, there is expected to be testimony on progress made by the U.S. Department of Justice on its implementation of the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

Chairman Coble will conduct the hearing just one day following his return from a four-nation tour of South America focusing on antidrug and antiterrorism issues. Chairman Coble visited Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. Coble is scheduled to return to North Carolina shortly after the conclusion of Monday's hearing.

Paid for by Coble for Congress