[House Document 104-71]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                     

        104th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House 
Document 104-71


 
     PROPOSED LEGISLATION: ``ANTITERRORISM AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1995''

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMItting

 A DRAFT OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION ENTITLED, ``ANTITERRORISM AMENDMENTS 
                             ACT OF 1995''




     May 9, 1995.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
   Committees on the Judiciary, Banking and Financial Services, and 
                   Commerce and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
    Today I am transmitting for your immediate consideration 
and enactment the ``Antiterrorism Amendments Act of 1995.'' 
This comprehensive Act, together with the ``Omnibus 
Counterterrorism Act of 1995,'' which I transmitted to the 
Congress on February 9, 1995, are critically important 
components of my Administration's effort to combat domestic and 
international terrorism.
    The tragic bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 
Oklahoma City on April 19th stands as a challenge to all 
Americans to preserve a safe society. In the wake of this 
cowardly attack on innocent men, women, and children, following 
other terrorist incidents at home and abroad over the past 
several years, we must ensure that law enforcement authorities 
have the legal tools and resources they need to fight 
terrorism. The Antiterrorism Amendments Act of 1995 will help 
us to prevent terrorism through vigorous and effective 
investigation and prosecution. Major provisions of this Act 
would:
   Permit law enforcement agencies to gain access to 
        financial and credit reports in antiterrorism cases, as 
        is currently permitted with bank records. This would 
        allow such agencies to track the source and use of 
        funds by suspected terrorists.
   Apply the same legal standard in national security 
        cases that is currently used in other criminal cases 
        for obtaining permission to track telephone traffic 
        with ``pen registers'' and ``trap and trace'' devices.
   Enable law enforcement agencies to utilize the 
        national security letter process to obtain records 
        critical to terrorism investigations from hotels, 
        motels, common carriers, storage facilities, and 
        vehicle rental facilities.
   Expand the authority of law enforcement agencies to 
        conduct electronic surveillance, within constitutional 
        safeguards. Examples of this increased authority 
        include additions to the list of felonies that can be 
        used as the basis for a surveillance order, and 
        enhancement of law enforcement's ability to keep pace 
        with telecommunications technology by obtaining 
        multiple point wiretaps where it is impractical to 
        specify the number of the phone to be tapped (such as 
        the use of a series of cellular phones).
   Require the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of 
        Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to study the inclusion 
        of taggants (microscopic particles) in standard 
        explosive device raw materials to permit tracing the 
        source of those materials after an explosion; whether 
        common chemicals used to manufacture explosives can be 
        rendered inert; and whether controls can be imposed on 
        certain basic chemicals used to manufacture other 
        explosives.
   Require the inclusion of taggants in standard 
        explosive device raw materials after the publication of 
        implementing regulations by the Secretary of the 
        Treasury.
   Enable law enforcement agencies to call on the 
        special expertise of the Department of Defense in 
        addressing offenses involving chemical and biological 
        weapons.
   Make mandatory at least a 10-year penalty for 
        transferring firearms or explosives with knowledge that 
        they will be used to commit a crime of violence and 
        criminalize the possession of stolen explosives.
   Impose enhanced penalties for terrorist attacks 
        against current and former Federal employees, and their 
        families, when the crime is committed because of the 
        employee's official duties.
   Provide a source of funds for the digital telephony 
        bill, which I signed into law last year, ensuring 
        court-authorized law enforcement access to electronic 
        surveillance of digitized communications.
    These proposals are described in more detail in the 
enclosed section-by-section analysis.
    The Administration is prepared to work immediately with the 
Congress to enact antiterrorism legislation. My legislation 
will provide an effective and comprehensive response to the 
threat of terrorism, while also protecting our precious civil 
liberties. I urge the prompt and favorable consideration of the 
Administration's legislative proposals by the Congress.
                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, May 3, 1995.