Sen. Grassley is a co-sponsor of S.1867, the bill to create The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. He has conducted aggressive oversight of the FBI since 1996. Sen. Grassley is a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs.
Here is Sen. Grassley's comment:
"This is one of several incidents that raise more questions about what the FBI knew of terrorist plans before Sept. 11, and about how the FBI handled the information. No one can say whether following up on this warning or other information could have stopped the attacks of September 11. But we can't expect terrorists to advertise their nefarious plots against the United States.
"The FBI has to do a better job of connecting the dots when it comes to intelligence about terrorists. It's troubling if the FBI had only begun to discuss how to handle this warning rather than pursuing the matter aggressively as it now currently responds to terrorist-related information. This kind of response underscores how important it is for the FBI to focus on its most important task, preventing acts of terrorism, and not be distracted by matters that can be handled by other law enforcement agencies.
"I hope that the memo reported by the Associated Press and the circumstances surrounding how it was treated will be one of the many issues investigated by an independent commission examining the terrorist attacks on our country. Understanding what we could have done better will give us a better chance of stopping future terrorist attacks and saving American lives."