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This Bill may be cited as “The Investigation of Structural Failures of New York City’s World Trade Center Building No. 1, 2, and 7 (WTC 1, 2, 7) Act.”
SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS
(a) Purposes – The purpose of this Act is to establish a committee of independent experts in science and technology to perform a detailed and comprehensive examination of the array of widely reported, but heretofore unexamined evidence and hypotheses concerning the cause of the collapses of WTC 1, 2, and 7; and to issue a report of its findings to the President and to the Congress, which shall also recommend legislative action and regulatory changes governing the construction and maintenance of steel-framed high-rise structures in the United States.
This investigation will provide total focus on areas beyond the limitations governing the 9/11 Commission because there were no scientific nor technical experts empaneled. Such limitations are a likely source for the high rate of public disbelief (81% in a 2006 CBS/New York Times poll) concerning the Commissions’ conclusions about WTC destruction. Data did not include an examination of evidence concerning the collapse of Building No. 7, a 47-story structure; it was never hit by aircraft, but suffered small fires and sank into its footprint within 6.5 seconds at 5:20 p.m. September 11, 2001.
Despite recommendations to modify existing codes in steel-framed high-rise buildings, to date none have been made in the United States either for construction or materials.
With important evidence surrounding the collapses left largely unexamined, speculation about these events has grown exponentially in many scientific and technological circles as well as with millions of Americans.
Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the 9/11 Commission, admitted that panel’s shortcomings and has strongly recommended a continued investigation. FBI director Louis Freeh (1993-01) was among several officials suggesting the Commission itself was engaged in a “cover-up.”
Moreover, the Commission did not include a single scientist, engineer, or first responder (firefighters, police, volunteers) to provide expertise, vital for any definitive conclusions about the collapses. Commissioner Timothy Roemer did cite the remark of the “premiere collapse expert in the country,” Fire Chief Ray Downey who died under the North Tower. Downey was convinced “there were bombs up there [the South Tower]” because, he told others, its collapse was “too even.”
The WTC’s senior project design engineer for electrical systems, Richard F. Humenn, PE, has demanded a structural investigation of all seven WTC buildings. A lawsuit is being filed against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by engineering professor Judy Wood, Ph.D. who challenges the science underlying its conclusions about the collapses. A former NIST chief of the Fire Science Division, James Quintiere, Ph.D., has asked for an independent inquiry.
So has world-renowned scientist Lynn Margulis, Ph.D., board member of the National Academy of Sciences and holder of the National Medal of Science, America’s highest honor for scientific achievement.
The international community wants a new investigation. In January 2008, Yukihisa Fujita, a spokesman for the main opposition party in the Japanese Parliament, accused the prime minister and the Bush Administration of lying about 9/11 and demanded a new inquiry. A month later, members of the European Union’s (EU) Parliament began exploring the establishment of an independent international 9/11 “Commission of Inquiry.”
Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, one-time leader of a NATO intelligence network, told a major Rome newspaper in December 2006 that 9/11 had been planned and executed by the Central Intelligence Agency and Israel’s counterpart, the Mossad. He added that his was a widely held view in Europe. However, it’s possible an EU inquiry would clear Israel of any allegations of complicity in the WTC events on 9/11.
In Canada, Parliament member Libby Davis recently demanded another investigation about the WTC collapses on behalf of the 24 Canadians who died in the Towers.
Former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel, a 2008 presidential candidate, has endorsed petitioners seeking a New York City initiative for the November 2008 ballot that demands another 9/11 investigation about 9/11. A Republican Senator in the Arizona legislature, Karen S. Johnson, in a June 10, 2008 floor speech declared she and “millions of other people” did not believe the findings in the previous probe. Displaying photographic exhibits of the collapses and other documents, she demanded Congress launch a thorough independent “real investigation.”
Minnesota’s former Gov. Jesse Ventura, a Navy Seal expert on demolitions, told a television audience in April 2008 that the collapses were attributable to controlled demolitions. In addition, nearly 280 engineering and architecture professionals have petitioned Congress for a scientific and technical investigation about the structural failures.
Last, the families of those who died in the Towers are demanding a new investigation. First responders have lobbied extensively to have their testimony of events inside all three buildings included in
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