National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) was established in the legislative branch as an independent bipartisan commission by section 601 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (116 Stat. 2408), approved November 27, 2002.

The purposes of the Commission were to examine and report upon the facts and causes relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurring at the World Trade Center in New York, New York, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon in Virginia; to ascertain, evaluate, and report on the evidence developed by all relevant governmental agencies regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding the attacks; to build upon the investigations of other entities, and avoid unnecessary duplication, by reviewing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Joint Inquiry of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives regarding the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and other executive branch, congressional, or independent commission investigations into the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, other terrorist attacks, and terrorism generally; to make a full and complete accounting of the circumstances surrounding the attacks, and the extent of the United States'' preparedness for, and immediate response to, the attacks; and to investigate and report to the President and Congress on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures that could be taken to prevent acts of terrorism.

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