John McCain and Joe Lieberman, the two senators who authored the bill creating an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 attacks, are expected introduce legislation this week to extend the panel's deadline by eight months, to next January.
The 10-member bipartisan commission, officially called the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, has a May 27 deadline, but last week commissioners said that "much work remains" to be done, and requested a two month extension to ensure that they do "the best possible job." The Bush administration has made it clear that it would oppose such an extension, fearing that the commission's report, if released at the height of this year's presidential campaign, could do Republicans political harm by revealing that the White House and the intelligence agencies could have done more to prevent the attacks.
