Dear Congressman Himes:

We have probably shared the same train and walked up those same subway steps that you mentioned when you wrote, “Remembering the way we felt on 9/12″. Those days and memories have affected all of us, and indeed some more than others and I commend your government service that has come as a result of it. Similarly, my own priorities have changed and evolved along a different, but perhaps parallel path. The importance now is that you are in a position of leadership where choices you make can and do make a difference.

You speak of your work on the Homeland Security Committee and the seriousness of that work, and it is in this regard that I am writing to you now. I would like to urge you to speak up and use your influence to urge the President to reverse Attorney General Holder’s August 24 decision to re-open the criminal investigation of CIA interrogations that took place following the attacks of September 11, as stated in the open letter to the President from the former Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency.

My reason for asking this of you is straightforward.

The letter to the President speaks for itself, and I am sure that you are familiar with it. In your 9/12 piece you stated; “While we have learned much and adapted, we still have hard work to do, both at home and abroad.” surely there is much wisdom to be learned and listened to in the collective opinion of those that led our intelligence agency for the past 35 years. The message is summed up loud and clear by your colleague and Connecticut’s own Sen. Joe Lieberman, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Committee, “We cannot take for granted the fact that our homeland has not been attacked since September 11, 2001. That has occurred only because of the constant vigilance and unflinching efforts by those brave individuals in our military, civilian homeland security and counterterrorism agencies, and the intelligence community. These public servants must of course live within the law but they must also be free to do their dangerous and critical jobs without worrying that years from now a future Attorney General will authorize a criminal investigation of them for behavior that a previous Attorney General concluded was authorized and legal.”

Many of these men and women that Senator Lieberman refers to also found the call to action in the events of September 11, 2001 just as you did. President Obama has made it clear that he disagrees with many of the methods and practices used in the aftermath of the attack, and as a result the laws surrounding the collection of intelligence and the prosecution of the War on Terror have changed to reflect that. However, as has been pointed out, there have already been investigations by non-partisan career prosecutors, which found only one instance where a prosecution was warranted and in that case a conviction was obtained. The hard work that you mention needs to be done begins at the door to the committee room for the Homeland Security Committee.

There is no room on that committee for partisan bickering or politics as usual, instead the members of that committee must draw from the memory which you clearly articulated and follow the example set by all of those that were downtown on that horrible day. Your committee must pull together in the best interests of the security of our nation. You must do what is right to secure our safety and freedom, and just as importantly you must protect the men and women on the front lines fighting for it. You are unique in all of Congress, for there can’t be many members who were working downtown on that fateful day, not many who witnessed first hand the horror and destruction, or the heroism and unity that sprang forth in response. Just as you and I most likely shared a train and a subway, so too did many of our neighbors and your constituents. As our elected voice, with the responsibility of that all important committee, please exercise leadership now on this issue.

As a Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee you have a unique voice which the President should listen to. This is the time as you say to “set aside our narrow interests to pursue a common purpose”, to be neither a democrat nor a republican but a leader. Urge the President to not look back and set a horrible precedent for all future administrations, instead to set the example for all of those fighting for our safety by looking forward under a changed philosophy and set of rules. The responsibility falls on you to ensure that doesn’t happen, please listen to yourself as you “Never walk into the committee room without thinking of 9/11 and the vulnerabilities exposed that day.” With your help in the House and Sen. Lieberman in the Senate, Connecticut can lead the way in setting an example for how to keep our nation safe.

Sincerely,

Christopher D. Meek

Stamford, CT