After the September 11th attacks, Progressives and Democrats in general focused somewhat more on reorganizing the government to face the terrorist threat than did the Bush administration or Republicans in Congress. This vote was one example of this emphasis. It concerned an amendment to the bill creating a Department of Homeland Security. Hollings (D-SC) proposed making the attorney general and the new secretary of homeland security full statutory members of the National Security Council. The amendment also would have made the director of the FBI an advisory member. The goal, supported by Progressives, was to provide clearer lines of communication than existed prior to September 11th. However, the amendment fell short of passage, 48-49.