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Can Public Pensions Play a Role in Fighting Terrorism?
 The terrorist attacks of 9/11 hold lessons for leaders in government and the private sector, according to former member of Congress and national security expert Tim Roemer.
Roemer was the key author of the legislation, in the House of Representatives, to establish the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. He was later appointed to the Intelligence Committee's Task Force on Homeland Security and Terrorism.
During his general session keynote address, Roemer talked about his service on the bipartisan Joint Inquiry and the report it issued on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He focused his remarks on several of the Commission's recommendations.
The biggest mistake Americans made before 9/11, Roemer said, "was a failure of imagination. We failed to see an early attack on the World Trade Center as an indication of a threat to the United States. We could not imagine someone flying planes into high-rise buildings or government structures. We could not see Osama Bin Laden as anything other than the financier of terrorism, not as the mastermind of a well-trained organization that would wage war against the U.S."
Roemer pointed out the problems that occurred because the many government entities assigned to monitor terrorist organizations and foreign affairs failed to share information. Such communication failure can hurt the effectiveness of any organization, including those in the private sector.
Roemer also encouraged the fund managers in the audience to carefully consider the lessons learned from 9/11. He encouraged those attending to read the 9/11 Commission Report and talk with their elected officials about how the country should respond to security threats that also could endanger the financial stability of the U.S. economy-including the return on investments by pension programs.
"You and all of the American people must take part," Roemer said. "You must lead the effort to change the way we approach national security."
Tim Roemer is president of the Center for National Policy and a distinguished scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a nonprofit research and educational institution dedicated to improving public policy outcomes. From 1991-2003, Roemer represented the Third District of Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Science.
To view a portion of this presentation click here.
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