A group of activist Sept. 11 families, whose members walked the halls of Congress for months pressing for passage of a law to overhaul the government's intelligence apparatus, said Tuesday it is disbanding.

The Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission said it is breaking up now that the law has been passed. Some members will continue to push lawmakers for further changes, it said.

"It didn't make a lot of sense to just keep it hanging there," said Carie Lemack of Boston, whose mother died aboard American Airlines flight 11. "It's hard and I think some people are probably more upset than others, but I think we're all still working toward the same goal of making the country safer."

The 12-member group, formed nearly three years ago, pressed for the creation of an independent commission to investigate intelligence failures preceding the 2001 terror attacks.

At the height of the legislative struggle over reforms backed by the commission, the group held almost daily press conferences, including vigils outside the White House in which members held pictures of their lost loved ones.

President Bush signed the bill in December. The law creates a national intelligence center and the position of national intelligence director to oversee the nation's 15 separate intelligence agencies.

It includes a host of other provisions, such as allowing wiretaps of "lone wolf" terrorists, improving airline baggage screening procedures, and boosting the number of full-time border patrol agents by 2,000 per year for five years. It also imposes federal standards on information that driver's licenses must contain.

Some members of Congress -- and another Sept. 11 family group -- complained the compromise bill did not do enough to toughen driver's license standards and strengthen immigration enforcement.

Family Steering Committee: www.911independentcommission.org

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