SEPT. 11 COMMISSION Bush moves to fulfill suggestions

A group of victims' families is keeping a list of lawmakers who oppose changes.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration is moving quickly to enact some of the changes suggested by the Sept. 11 commission, with presidential approval expected by early next week.
Aides are finishing draft versions of executive orders on intelligence to present to President Bush, who is expected to adopt some or all of them soon, a senior administration official said.
The White House, pressed by victims' families and by Democrat John Kerry, is eager to show it is moving on the politically sensitive issue. A working group created by Bush to study the commission's recommendations met by videoconference twice Wednesday, once with Bush participating.
Any orders signed by Bush would immediately put into place some proposals made by the Sept. 11 commission.
Kerry, Bush's opponent in the presidential campaign, says Bush should implement the commission's proposals immediately. Kerry also wants the panel's life extended 18 months to ensure reforms are adopted.
Watching closely
The Family Steering Committee, activist families who lobbied successfully for an independent commission to investigate the attacks, stepped up pressure on lawmakers to take action on recommendations that need congressional approval. They said they would draw up a watch list of Congress members who oppose legislation to implement Sept. 11 commission recommendations.
"We're going to watch events unfold in Congress, and we want America to watch as well," said Lorie Van Auken, who lost her husband at the World Trade Center. "We need to have a list of the lawmakers. ... We need to follow who's opposing and disagreeing and why."
Talk of keeping public track of congressional opponents comes even before legislation has been offered to implement the recommendations, a sign of how intent some Sept. 11 families are to maintain the momentum of public opinion for quick changes.
"This watchdog list, this report card, it's a shame that it's come to this, but we want to work with everyone to ensure that people aren't just feigning cooperation," said Kristen Breitweiser, one of the most outspoken advocates among Sept. 11 families.
Already, pressure from the families has produced results.
When the commission released its 567-page report last week, Congress had planned to be away for all of August. But several committees quickly scheduled a return to Washington to hold hearings on the panel's findings.
More scheduled
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., announced even more Wednesday. He said at least six committees will hold at least 15 hearings in August on such issues as information sharing, terror financing, intelligence analysis and government reorganization. In a statement, he anticipated congressional action on legislative recommendations in September and October.
The commission's final report urges rapid fundamental changes in how the legislative and executive branches oversee the nation's intelligence apparatus, asking that oversight be consolidated into one group of lawmakers, with one person in the White House who answers directly to the president.
Bush, vacationing in Crawford, Texas, held his second videoconference in three days with the White House working group considering the commission's recommendations. Bush has said he will study the proposals but has stopped short of endorsing them.
Several of the working group members, including acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft, met a second time later Wednesday at the White House.