ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:95042504.POL
DATE:04/25/95
TITLE:SENATE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES ANTI-TERRORISM RESOLUTION
TEXT:
(Plans hearing on how to prevent another bomb attack) (810)
By Wendy S. Ross
USIA Congressional Affairs Writer
Washington -- The Senate April 25 unanimously approved a resolution
condemning "in the strongest possible terms, the heinous bombing
attack against innocent children and adults" in Oklahoma City.
The resolution, approved 97-0, supports the administration's efforts
to seek the maximum punishment -- including the death penalty -- for
those responsible. It also promises swift congressional action on new
legislation to help federal agencies prevent another tragedy like the
Oklahoma City bombing.
The resolution was sponsored by Oklahoma Republican Senators Don
Nickles and James Inhofe and cosponsored by more than 60 other
senators, both Republicans and Democrats.
Nickles said the passage of the resolution represented the first step
in a united commitment by Congress to do everything within its power
to combat terrorist activity.
"There are countless people whose lives have been irreversibly altered
by this inconceivable act," Nickles said. "I wish we had the power to
turn back the clock. But since we cannot, we must at least take steps
to be better prepared for the future."
The overwhelming support for this resolution, he said, "sends a clear
and hopeful signal that members of the United States Senate stand
together in our resolve to combat acts of terrorism in our country."
The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Republican Senator Orrin
Hatch, is scheduled to hold a hearing April 27 on the Oklahoma City
bombing and on legislation to help prevent another such act.
Witnesses will include Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director
Louis Freeh, Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, Treasury Under
Secretary Ron Noble, and terrorism experts Morris Dees of the Southern
Poverty Law Center, Robert Kupperman of the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, and Brian Jenkins of Kroll Associates.
Earlier April 25 Senator Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Judiciary
Committee's Subcommittee on Intelligence, said "the FBI should have
greater powers" to investigate groups suspected of terrorism.
In an interview on the "Fox Morning News" program, he said Congress
"can respect constitutional rights and still do a much better job in
dealing with terrorism, both domestically and internationally."
Under guidelines established by the Department of Justice, "it would
be entirely constitutional for the FBI to have surveillance, to have
infiltration" of possible terrorist groups, he said.
According to a member of Hatch's staff, Hatch and Senate Majority
Leader Bob Dole plan to introduce anti-terrorism legislation that
combines features of a crime bill they introduced earlier this year,
an administration anti-terrorism bill, and proposals President Clinton
outlined April 23..
Clinton wants to establish a Domestic Counterterrorism Center that
would be headed by the FBI and to create a special fund to be used to
infiltrate suspected terrorist organizations.
Hatch said the proposed legislation would stiffen penalties for acts
of terrorism in the United States and add conspiracy to the list of
terrorist offenses -- giving law enforcement authorities a way to stop
terrorist organizations as they emerge rather than only after they
commit crimes.
The bill also would make it a crime to provide material support for
groups identified as being engaged in terrorist activities.
On the international front, it would give the courts and law
enforcement authorities tools to deport foreign terrorists quickly.
The bill also would try to keep those who support terrorists or engage
in terrorist activities from entering the United States.
Under the legislation, the secretary of state could deny visas to
people from nations that sponsor terrorism and to individuals who
belong to organizations suspected of terrorist activities.
In a speech on the Senate floor April 24, Dole said he spoke for all
the Senate "when I say that we stand with all the people of Oklahoma,
committed to doing all that is needed to protect America from the
terrorist threat."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said all Senators, regardless of
their politics, "are united in their determination to do anything and
everything that we can do to ensure that the work goes on and that the
FBI and other law enforcement officials have the resources and have
the legal ability necessary to do what must be done."
However some Americans have expressed concern about the legislative
steps under consideration.
"Those of us who went through the civil rights movement, who went
through the anti-war movement know why restraints were placed on law
enforcement...to protect our constitutional rights as Americans," said
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.
And Democratic Representative Charles Schumer urged Republican leaders
to delay plans to vote on a repeal of the assault weapons ban in light
of the Oklahoma tragedy.
"It would send the wrong message to paramilitary extremists on one
side and ordinary people on the other," Schumer said in a letter to
Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
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