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Thomas H. Kean October 20, 2003

CHAIR

Lee H. Hamilton
VICE CHAIR
The Honorable John W. Snow
Richard Ben-Veniste Secretary of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Max Cleland
Washington, DC 20220
Frederick F. Fielding
Dear Secretary Snow:
Jamie S. Gorelick

Slade Gorton As you know, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States (better known as the 9-11 Commission) is directed by statute to prepare a
John F. Lehman full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11,
Timothy J. Roemer 2001 terrorist attacks, including the nation's preparedness for, and immediate
response to, the attacks. The Commission is also chartered to identify and
James R. Thompson evaluate lessons learned and provide recommendations to prevent future acts of
terrorism upon our nation.
Philip D. Zelikow
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Public Law 107-306 authorizes the Commission to secure needed information
directly from any agency. Thus far, with the strong support of you and your
Department, the Commission has compiled an extensive written record numbering
more than 2 million pages. Building on this record, meetings with senior
policymakers are essential to developing an authoritative narrative of the
September 11, 2001 attacks. Your perspective is vital to informing the
Commission's understanding of terrorist financing, and we are therefore writing
to request meeting with you during the week of January 18, 2004.

The Commission wishes to discuss a wide range of topics with you, including (but
not limited to) your description, analysis, and assessment of:

• USG efforts to identify, track, and disrupt al Qaeda financing, both overseas
and domestically. This should include, inter alia, an assessment of the
effectiveness of the USA PATRIOT Act.

• Treasury counterterrorism policy in general, with a particular emphasis on

current and future U.S. government interagency coordination mechanisms,
including the relevant presidential decision directives.

• The effectiveness and future direction of EO 1324, including Treasury

metrics.

301 7lh Street SW, Room 5125

Washington, DC 20407
T 202.331.4060 F 202.296.5545
www.9-llcommission.gov
The Honorable John W. Snow
October 20, 2003
Page 2

• Treasury's efforts internationally to ensure the cooperation of other countries

in the fight against terror financing, including your September 2003 trip to
Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan, as well as Treasury's efforts
in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and by the Office of Technology
Assessment.

• The relevant Principals' Committee meetings involving terrorist finance.

• The Department of Homeland Security reorganization (including the

reorganization of the U.S. Customs Service and U.S. Secret Service) on
Treasury's ability to identify, track, and disrupt the movement of money to
terrorist organizations.

You may wish to review notes and other documents to refresh your recollection of
these matters prior to the meeting.

We are, of course, interested in any other issues you deem relevant to the
Commission's understanding of 9-11 specifically and terrorist financing generally,
as well as your thoughts on policy recommendations for the future. Members of the
Commission and select staff will attend, and it is the general policy of the
Commission to record such meetings.

This proposed meeting is separate from your requested participation in a public

hearing to be held in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2004. You will receive a
separate invitation to testify in the coming weeks, and we hope that you will agree
to appear before the Commission for this important public forum.

Please have a member of your staff contact Daniel Leopold at (202) 331 -4064 to
indicate your availability for such a meeting and to relay any questions you or
your staff may have. Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation with
the Commission and its staff in this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas H. Kean Lee H. Hamilton

Chair Vice Chair

cc: Daniel Levin, U.S. Department of Justice

Thomas M. McGivern, U.S. Department of the Treasury