WASHINGTON — A panel that President Bush ordered to investigate the Virginia Tech shootings is scheduled to make its recommendations Wednesday on how the federal government can prevent future tragedies.

The report by the departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Education is expected to address some of the shortcomings that allowed Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho to skirt court-ordered mental health treatment and buy two handguns.

Cho killed 32 students and faculty before taking his own life in April in what was the worst massacre in modern U.S. history.

Cho should have been barred from buying the guns. But the state of Virginia never forwarded this information to the national background check system.

It also remains unclear whether Cho received the required follow-up counseling after returning to Virginia Tech from his court-ordered treatment.

The report was to be released Wednesday afternoon, just after the House passed what could become the first major federal gun control law in over a decade. The bill would improve state reporting to the background check database to stop gun purchases by prohibited buyers.

Shortly after the shootings, Bush dispatched Cabinet officials across the country, ordering them to meet with school officials, mental health experts and local leaders to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.

Mike Leavitt, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said the "Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy" will summarize what was learned in those meetings and make recommendations to the president.

A similar process is going on in Virginia, where the governor appointed a panel to review the state’s response to the shooting.