National Association of Arab Americans
STATEMENT OF EHALIL E. JAHSHAN,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ARAB AMERICANS (NAAA),
BEFORE THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
June 13, 1995
The National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) is
pleased to present testimony before this distinguished panel
on the subject of counterterrorism legislation. As the
principal lobbying organization of the Arab American
community, we welcome efforts in Congress to strengthen the
counter terrorism capabilities of law enforcement agencies
in the United States. Like all Americans, we want to ensure
that acts of terrorism can be prevented and, when such acts
do occur, that the perpetrators -- regardless of their
identity--can be apprehended and severely punished. Strong
and effective legislation, however, must ensure an equitable
balance between the nation's legitimate and very pressing
security needs and the constitutionally protected freedoms
on which our democracy is based.
NAAA and its members throughout the United States join
the rest of the nation in mourning the dead and consoling
the survivors of the tragic bombing in Oklahoma City on
April 19, 1995. NAAA was among the first Arab-American
organizations to condemn that barbarous act and express
horror and disgust at the wanton destruction of innocent
human life that resulted. We are confident that the
perpetrators and masterminds of the attack in Oklahoma will
be brought to justice.
At the same time, Mr. Chairman, Arab Americans were
extremely concerned at the tendency of the media and many
so-called experts on terrorism to speculate prematurely at
the identity of the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City
bombing. Early reports that the attack might have been
linked to the incident in Waco, Texas, two years before gave
way to endless speculation that the perpetrators were
"Middle Eastern" in origin. No apologies were proffered when
the speculation proved erroneous.
The public was not served by these
race-and-religion-based innuendoes. By reinforcing
stereotypes and implying collective guilt, the rumors
induced a backlash against the Arab and Muslim communities
and caused considerable anguish and pain for many Americans
of Arab descent.
It is precisely this tendency to blame ethnic groups
rather than individuals for acts of terrorism that causes
our community to oppose certain
Statement of Khalil Jahshan
June 13, 1995
Page 2
provisions regarding fund raising and deportation of aliens
that are found in the Comprehensive Anti terrorism Act of
1995 (H.R. 1710), introduced by the distinguished chairman
of this Committee, the Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention
Act of 1995 (S. 735), introduced by the Senate Majority
Leader, and the Administration-backed Omnibus Counter
terrorism Act of 1995 (S. 761). We believe that certain
provisions in each of these bills would tip the balance in
such a way as to invite abuse.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear. We hold the
current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
the Attorney General in the highest esteem. We were
heartened that, in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City
bombing, Administration and law enforcement officials,
including President Clinton, declined to encourage media
speculation as to the identity of the perpetrators.
Nevertheless, the legislation that Congress is
considering should be designed to be in force and effective
long after the current officials are replaced. As has been
seen in the past, the nation's top law enforcement officers
have on occasion violated civil liberties and severe
restrictions of their powers were imposed upon them as a
result. We therefore urge this Committee to resist the
temptation to rush to enact counter terrorism legislation
without serious and thoughtful deliberation to avoid
swinging the pendulum too far in the opposite direction.
Mr. Chairman, we believe that American citizens or
resident aliens in the United States who engage in or
conspire to commit terrorist activities should be punished
to the fullest extent of the law. We are concerned, however,
that the legislation being considered in this Congress
contains provisions which are designed not to prevent or
punish terrorism but to criminalize activities which are not
only protected but guaranteed by the Constitution. We
believe that certain provisions in H.R. 1710, S. 735 and/or
S. 761 should be opposed in their current form. Among these
are provisions that would:
. broaden the definition of terrorism to include
constitutionally protected activities, including the right
of association, which would otherwise be legal.
ù violate the Constitution by permitting the U.S. government
to deport aliens without due process, based on secret
evidence that is not disclosed to the defendant.
ù invite selective enforcement based on political
considerations, such as opposition to the Middle East peace
process, that targets certain ethnic or religious groups,
including Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Arab and
Muslim immigrants.
Statement of Khalil Jahshan
June 13, 1995
Page 3
ù permit the President to designate organizations as
terrorist without review by the courts.
. enable the President to bar fund raising for humanitarian
and other lawful activities of organizations that may be
politically affiliated with the organizations designated as
terrorist.
. allow foreign governments to carry out surveillance in the
United States on U.S. citizens in some circumstances.
Fundraising
We believe that the fund raising provisions of much of
the counter terrorism legislation under consideration by
Congress, including H.R. 1710, are overly broad and violate
the Constitution by prohibiting fund raising for lawful
humanitarian and philanthropic activities. Current law
already prohibits the providing of funds for terrorist
activity and should be vigorously enforced. The broad
prohibition under the pending legislation, however,
penalizes individuals for providing funds, even unknowingly,
to groups that the President deems to be terrorist. Although
there are certain exemptions that may be granted, the
requirements to obtain these exemptions are almost
impossible to fulfill and are therefore illusory.
Arab Americans, like members of all ethnic communities
in the United States, send funds to their countries of
origin. Many Arab Americans contribute to humanitarian and
philanthropic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the
West Bank and Gaza and in Lebanon. Most, if not all, of
these NGOs are politically affiliated and are a function of
political factions. Thus, groups like Fatah, Hamas, DFLP,
and PFLP, some of which are designated as terrorist
organizations in the President's executive order of January
24, 1995, engage in a host of educational, health, social
and other humanitarian activities that are desperately
needed in Palestinian society.
Cutting off fund raising to the legitimate
non-terrorist and non-violent activities of such groups will
deprive Palestinian society of vital services that cannot
easily be provided by the Palestine National Authority or
any outside source at this time. Such an economic disruption
will destabilize the region, undermine the already
precarious peace process, and threaten the democratic
institutions that are currently emerging in the West Bank
and Gaza.
We are also concerned that the broad prohibitions of
the fund raising provisions will have a further chilling
effect on humanitarian and philanthropic fund raising in the
United States because of their vagueness. Individuals will
be reluctant to contribute to any organization dealing with
Statement of Khalil Jahshan
June 13, 1995
Page 4
the Middle East because they cannot be sure that at some
time they may face prosecution. Ironically, resident aliens
could face prosecution for contributing to the Palestine
Liberation Organization in support of the peace process,
even though the U.S. government, including the President
himself, has urged Arab Americans to support the Palestine
National Authority in the reconstruction of Palestinian
society.
Because fund raising for terrorist activities is
already proscribed under current law, we urge that the
provisions that would ban fund raising for legitimate
humanitarian and philanthropic activities be dropped from
the legislation under consideration.
Deportation of Aliens
Certain provisions of the counter terrorism legislation
seek to facilitate the deportation of aliens charged with
terrorism activity. We are puzzled as to why the U.S.
government would seek to deport, rather than to prosecute,
any individual suspected of committing or conspiring to
commit terrorism in the United States. Deportation of such
individuals would merely allow them to conduct their
activities elsewhere and could impede efforts to prevent or
to punish terrorism.
We believe that all individuals engaged in terrorism
activity should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law. But, to ensure that innocent individuals are not
wrongly prosecuted and convicted, the term "engage in
terrorism activity" must be defined as referring only to
those who specifically intend to support an individual,
organization, or government in conducting terrorism
activity. As we have noted, individuals who wish to support
humanitarian or philanthropic activities should not be
considered to be engaging in terrorism activities.
The Arab-American community is particularly troubled by
provisions which allow the government to deport aliens
without due process, based on secret evidence that is not
disclosed to the defendant or his or her attorney. While we
understand that there are times when the U.S. government
must decline to make public certain classified information
in order to protect the source of that information, we
believe that the government should and must be required to
produce, as it is under the Classified Information
Procedures Act, summaries that will allow the defendant the
opportunity to defend him or herself.
17H.R. 1710 would establish a "special removal court"
to preside over hearings to deport terrorist aliens from the
United States and would create a panel of attorneys with
security clearances who could review classified information
relating to removal cases. A member of such a panel could
represent the accused alien and challenge the veracity of
the classified
Statement of Khalil Jahshan
June 13, 1995
Page 5
evidence in an in camera proceeding, but could not disclose
the classified information either to the accused or to his
or her attorney. Since summaries of classified evidence
against the accused are not required to be made available to
the alien, he or she can be effectively denied the ability
to conduct an adequate and effective defense.
We believe that current law already permits the
Immigration and Naturalization Service to detain aliens
charged as deport able. Provisions that would expedite
immigration cases concerning terrorism activity would allow
such cases to be disposed of in a timely fashion, even if
there is a backlog in normal cases. But the U.S. government
should not be relieved of its burden of providing due
process to defendants simply because they are aliens.
H.R. 1710 would also unduly broaden grounds for
exclusion of aliens from the United States. Aliens are
currently excludable if they have engaged in terrorism
activity or if the Attorney General has reasonable grounds
to believe that they are likely to engage in such activity
in the United States should they gain entry. Under H.R.
1710, exclusion would be permitted if the alien is a
representative or merely a member of an organization
designated by the President to be terrorist, even if the
alien had never engaged in or supported terrorism activity.
Such broad exclusionary powers will serve to bar innocent
aliens with legitimate reasons for entering the country. It
will also tend to limit debate in the United States on
controversial issues.
Surveillance by Foreign Governments
We were astonished to find provisions in S. 735 which
would give personnel of a foreign government the right to
participate in interceptions of communications in the United
States. The Arab-American community is utterly and
unalterably opposed to any foreign government being legally
entitled to intercept communications of American citizens in
the United States under any circumstances. It is a
fundamental violation of the constitutional rights of every
American to permit a foreign government, which is not bound
by the requirements of the Bill of Rights of our
Constitution, to conduct surveillance lawfully and legally
in the United States against ethnic communities or
individuals it despises.
Mr. Chairman, we urge this Committee and the members of
any conference committee that may be formed to consider
counterterrorism legislation to reject provisions that would
permit foreign governments to conduct surveillance in the
United States. Lawful surveillance activities should
conducted by the U.S. government and not by foreign
governments.
Statement of Khalil Jahshan
June 13, 1995
Page 6
Conclusion
Arab Americans join all Americans who want to ensure
that acts of terrorism can be prevented and, when such acts
do occur, that the perpetrators are punished. Because the
Arab-American community is often targeted or "scapegoat Ed"
at times of international crisis or terrorist incidents,
however, Arab Americans have a special interest in ensuring
that counterterrorism legislation provides an equitable
balance between the nation's legitimate security needs and
constitutionally protected freedoms.
As a community with a large proportion of immigrants,
we are concerned about the artificial distinctions that are
being drawn between domestic and international terrorism. We
note in particular that many of the provisions of proposed
counterterrorism legislation seem designed to restrict or
deny due process to aliens, to facilitate deportation, and
to broaden the definition of terrorism activity to such a
point that it infringes upon constitutionally protected
rights of association, particularly for foreigners.
It is essential that, in our eagerness to ensure that
terrorism can be prevented or punished, we preserve the
fights not only of U.S. citizens, but also of resident
aliens who contribute much to this society and obey its
laws. We have the responsibility to ensure not only that the
guilty are prosecuted and punished but that the innocent are
protected, whether they be citizens or aliens.
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