The Family Steering Committee (FSC) for the 9/11 Independent Commission is comprised of relatives of some 9/11 victims.

In its FSC Statement Regarding 9/11 Independent Commission of February 20, 2004, several key points are raised, including access to PDB by all commission members, extension of the commission's deadline until early '05, a request for the Senate Intelligence Committee to hold hearings on the 9/11 Commission, and a letter to Senators Rockefeller and Roberts, which begins with this statement:

We write to you out of our frustration with the course of the 9/11 Independent Commission. The Family Steering Committee (FSC) feels that the Independent Commission’s progress has been substantially compromised. Currently, the Commission has less than optimal access to Executive Branch documents, limited time to complete their investigation, and limited cooperation on behalf of certain high ranking officials to testify under oath in public hearings.

Earlier, on Feb. 16, the FSC issued a statement including the following recommendation:

Before an audience of the American people, the Commission must ask President Bush in sworn testimony, the following questions:

[...]

3. What defensive action did you personally order to protect our nation during the crisis on September 11th? What time were these orders given, and to whom? What orders were carried out? What was the result of such orders? Were any such orders not carried out?

4. In your opinion, why was our nation so utterly unprepared for an attack on our own soil?

5. U.S. Navy Captain Deborah Loewer, the Director of the White House Situation Room, informed you of the first airliner hitting Tower One of the World Trade Center before you entered the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. Please explain the reason why you decided to continue with the scheduled classroom visit, fifteen minutes after learning the first hijacked airliner had hit the World Trade Center.

[...]

7. What plan of action caused you to remain seated after Andrew Card informed you that a second airliner had hit the second tower of the World Trade Center and America was clearly under attack? Approximately how long did you remain in the classroom after Card’s message?

Yes, these are tough questions, but reasonable ones, imo, if our nation is to be secure from a repeat of the horrors of Black Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when 19 men managed to defeat the entire defensive apparatus of the world's most powerful nation.

S