[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 117 (Thursday, August 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     RETURN OF LISA AND SAMI ABEQUA

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I regret that I am the one who is 
interrupting this debate because I think there is still a lot of ground 
to cover, and I hope that at a later moment perhaps we can determine 
what the facts are and get on with the discussion that has been taking 
place here.
  Mr. President, for the last several days, the Senate has been 
absorbed in a painstaking debate over health care reform. But while we 
do that, we dare not forget our other duties to the American people, to 
our constituents. I wish to discuss one of those duties now, a special 
need to help a constituent requiring a solution to an overwhelming 
problem.
  As my colleagues may recall, some weeks ago, a Jordanian man named 
Mohammad Abequa strangled his estranged wife at her home in New Jersey. 
And after murdering their mother, he abducted their two children, Lisa, 
a girl 6 years of age, and Sami, a boy 3 years old, and took them to 
his sister's home in Jordan.
  Now, he was charged with murder by an American court, and the 
Jordanian authorities in a cooperative effort located him, charged him 
with murder and with kidnapping and arrested him.
  He has confessed to the crimes and is now in jail in Jordan, but his 
arrest left the children, Lisa and Sami, in legal limbo because the 
murderer's family seized custody of the American-born children.
  Last month, during consideration of the foreign operations bill, the 
Senate supported an amendment that I offered calling for the children's 
safe return to the United States. Since then, along with other members 
of the New Jersey delegation, I have worked through the State 
Department and the Jordanian Government, including King Hussein, to 
accomplish a very simple goal, and that is the release of Lisa and Sami 
and their return to the legal custody of their maternal aunt in 
Paterson, NJ. She was awarded guardianship by a State court in New 
Jersey.

  Today, Mr. President, I am delighted to announce that Lisa and Sami 
Abequa are on their way back home.
  In an earlier era, the children's saga could have turned into an 
international bureaucratic nightmare. It might have taken months or 
even years before the children were able to return to America. But 
thanks to an unprecedented international effort, Lisa and Sami are 
coming home today. They are in the air right now on their way from 
Frankfurt, Germany, accompanied by their tenacious aunt, courageous 
aunt, Nesime Dokur of Paterson, NJ, who traveled to Jordan on August 1 
and stayed there until yesterday to take custody of her niece and 
nephew.
  Our negotiations for the release of Lisa and Sami are symbolic of the 
new spirit of warmth and cooperation that now characterizes our 
relationship with King Hussein and the Jordanian Government. Lisa and 
Sami's homecoming would not have been possible without the support and 
intervention of President Clinton who took the time, despite a pressing 
agenda of getting a Washington declaration signed, the agenda with 
health care, and crime legislation, to effect the release of these two 
children.
  It would not have been possible without the personal involvement and 
the commitment of King Hussein, who met with us more than once last 
month when he was in the United States to hear our concerns about the 
welfare of these two children. He worked with us to expedite the 
process of bringing the children home.
  In addition to President Clinton and King Hussein, I must thank 
Secretary of State Warren Christopher and our Ambassador Wesley Egan in 
Amman for their tireless efforts to facilitate our negotiations with 
the Jordanian Government.
  I want to say a special thanks for the work of a member of my staff, 
Sharon Waxman, whom I sent over there to accompany Ms. Dokur and to 
give her advice and counsel, and to be in touch with our office. She 
went for what she thought was a 4-day stay. She was there 17 days. She 
helped work through the legal and diplomatic issues involved, and I am 
grateful to her.
  I also must say how grateful I am to the occupant of the chair, the 
President pro tempore of the Senate, Senator Byrd, because he helped 
make that trip possible, thereby helping to expedite today's 
homecoming.
  Finally, I want to thank other members of the New Jersey delegation 
who worked with me to make sure that these children would be brought 
home to the family and the country they know and they love.
  My colleague, Senator Bradley, with whom I work on so many issues, 
was with me when we met King Hussein and offered our cooperation with 
him if he, in turn, could assure us that he would lend the power of his 
office to the release of those children; Congressman Klein, and 
Congressman Torricelli, and all contributed to this process.
  Mr. President, Lisa and Sami's return to America will be at best 
bittersweet. These two young children, just 3 and 6 years of age, will 
never again see their mother. They do not know at this point that their 
mother was murdered, that they will not see a father with whom there 
was a very troubled relationship. Nevertheless, children's affinity for 
a parent, sometimes even if they are harmed by a parent, is something 
that they regard as a precious legacy. These children will never see 
the loving mother or the father that they knew. They do not know that. 
They are in a state of some confusion. They have been taken away from 
their homes. They have been away for a month in a country where the 
language is strange, and the family was estranged. They never saw these 
relatives before they were spirited away in the dark of night by their 
criminal father.
  So this return we hope will be the beginning of a period of love and 
affection, repair and consolation for these children. They are going to 
have to make enormous adjustments to the traumatic change in their 
lives.
  We are going to help them in whatever way we can. Thanks to our 
cooperative efforts, all of us, Mr. President, Lisa and Sami will have 
a chance to rebuild their lives at home in New Jersey under the custody 
of their loving and dedicated aunt and their maternal grandmother.
  Mr. President, this effort to bring these children home I think 
reminds all of us about what it is that we are here for in Washington, 
about the human element that sometimes gets lost in the maze of 
legislative language and debates. It reminds us that our job is to 
listen to the American people, to hear their problems, and hear them 
when they cry out for help, and to try to help them. The rewards for 
each one of us--and there is not anyone here who has been in the U.S. 
Senate or the Government for any length of time who has not taken great 
satisfaction out of seeing the result of some special effort that you 
supply.
  So, when we focus on one individual plight or intervene to help one 
family as we did here, we can feel just a mite better about the job 
that we have.
  Sometimes we do it by learning from a single tragedy, like the recent 
murder, also in New Jersey, of a 7-year-old named Megan Kanka, who was 
first sexually attacked by a frequent sexual pervert, and then he 
killed her. We have to try to in some way make that young life, 7 years 
of age, a lasting memorial to what happens when you do not pay 
attention to signs that you see, or have laws that can protect 
children, as we know exist in the crime bill that is under 
contemplation.
  Sometimes we do our job by listening more to the general concerns of 
the American people and passing comprehensive legislation like health 
care reform to improve conditions for all Americans now and in the 
future.
  Mr. President, some days, as the occupant of the chair knows perhaps 
better than most, many days are very discouraging, hard work, little 
progress to show. But every now and then, whether it is the prospect of 
a health care bill, or a crime bill, or helping Lisa and Sami to come 
home, or create a law in the honor and the memory of Megan Kanka, that 
says we have to press forward, that is our mission. And we all 
occasionally, Mr. President, have to take the pledge that we will 
continue on to try to serve our people.
  I thank you. I yield the floor.


                      unanimous-consent agreement

  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following 
the completion of Senator Bradley's remarks--which he has just stated 
will be no longer than 15 minutes and probably a little shorter, the 
Senate vote on the pending Daschle amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Mathews). Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MITCHELL. I ask unanimous consent that it now be in order to 
request the yeas and nays on that vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.


                      unanimous-consent agreement

  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following 
Senator Bradley's remarks, Senator Hutchison be recognized for 5 
minutes, and following Senator Hutchison's remarks, Senator Daschle be 
recognized 5 minutes, and then the Senate vote on the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, Senators should be aware that a vote 
will occur in approximately 20 to 25 minutes on the pending amendment. 
I thank my colleagues and I thank the Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. BRADLEY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Bradley] 
is recognized.
  Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, let me say first of all that I would like 
to salute my colleague, Senator Lautenberg for his efforts in the 
Abequa case. I was pleased and proud to join him in the efforts. But he 
made the difference, and I think his conduct is in the best tradition 
of public service, helping another human being in the time of stress. I 
think Frank Lautenberg has had many fine moments in the U.S. Senate. 
But today when he--and hopefully I will be joining him--meets these 
children coming off of the plane in Newark, NJ, from Jordan, this will 
be one of his finest moments. I think he deserves the gratitude not 
only of the families, but the salutations and praise of his colleagues. 
I am giving that to him today.

  I hope, also, that if the crime bill is reopened, Megan's law will be 
tightened. Now the bill has a Megan's law in it, but if it is reopened, 
I hope that it will be tightened. Again, that will be because both he 
and I have talked to the President and urged that it happen if the bill 
is reopened.
  Mr. President, last spring I gave a speech on violence in which I 
called for a national rebellion against violence with a goal to reduce 
violent crime by 75 percent in 10 years. I tried to point out that the 
blaze of violence is fed by many fires, and I tried to point out seven 
truths about violence in America.
  Truth 1: There is no miracle cure, and the answer lies closer to home 
than to Washington, DC.
  Truth 2: Violence will not be stopped by soft words. Every person who 
uses violence must pay the price in lost freedom, and doing time, 
especially for the young, must be a memory that one does not ever want 
to repeat.
  Truth 3: We will never counter violence unless we restrict handguns 
used in 80 percent of America's gun murders. What is common sense to 
people in virtually every other country of the world becomes a 
constitutional crisis for us.
  Truth 4: There is no substitute for a job. If we can move those on 
the bottom of the economic ladder up just a few rungs, our efforts 
against violence will have acquired a powerful ally.
  Truth 5: Violence is a phenomenon caused by twisted values and a loss 
of self-esteem and self control. The formation of values and self-
discipline begins in childhood, and teaching them is the job of 
parents. Unless we instill them in all our children, we will have only 
ourselves to blame.
  Truth 6: We need to make it as unfashionable to sell violence in 
America as it is to smoke cigarettes. We do not need censorship; we 
need enhanced citizenship, particularly in the boardrooms.
  Truth 7: Drugs and violence go together like gunpowder and a match. 
To ignore an addiction as a national problem is to sentence more 
Americans to death.
  Mr. President, like so many other issues of public life and in the 
debate about violence, people do not listen to each other. They are 
frozen in a dichotomy between conservative or liberal, Republican or 
Democrat, tough or coddling. Those who believe the answer is gun 
control do not listen to those who want the death penalty. Those who 
believe severe punishment is the answer cannot see the necessity of 
limiting guns. Often, neither gun control advocates nor tough 
sentencers see the connection between societal violence and poverty, 
family disintegration and exploitive media violence. Instead of 
confronting reality, more and more people look for magic bullets to 
stop violence in its tracks.
  Mr. President, the truth is much harder. The crime bill, under the 
leadership of Senator Joe Biden, tried to face the truth and to deal 
with the reality. With only 13 percent of the crime-fighting resources 
available to the Federal Government, the answer to violence is truly 
closer to home than it is to Washington, DC. But a sound Federal effort 
can make a difference.
  The crime bill is such an effort. It combines punishment--100,000 
more police on the streets, the police corps, three strikes and you are 
out, boot camps and more prisons, tougher death penalty--with 
preventive measures, including everything from an assault weapons ban 
to community schools.
  The House of Representatives voted down the rule last week. I hope 
the House will vote again and reverse its decision. Mr. President, 
there were two groups, roughly, opposed to this crime bill. Members of 
the Black Caucus and Republicans from New Jersey and other northeastern 
States should have known better, because they know the situation in 
America's cities. Many of the others who voted the bill down represent 
small towns far from high-crime areas, towns where kids walk to school, 
join debate clubs, sing in the high school glee club, play in the band, 
compete in sports such as football and basketball. And it is these 
Congressmen I would like to address my remarks today to.
  Some say these Congressmen voted ``no'' because of pressure from the 
NRA. I would like to think that was not so. I would like to think they 
voted ``no'' because they just do not know. Maybe they really do not 
know what people of good will are up against in America's cities. Maybe 
if they did know, they would change their vote.
  So, Mr. President, today I would like to share a letter that I 
received just a short time ago from Patricia Roberts, describing a 
visit that she made with a Catholic nun, Sister Piper. The letter says:

       Dear Senator Bradley: Every so often I accompany Sister 
     Piper, a part-time prison chaplain, to an evening meeting 
     with young inmates at the Bordentown Juvenile Medium Security 
     Facility. Recently, we took your speech on violence, reviewed 
     its highlights, and asked the young people what they thought 
     of it and what suggestions they might have. None of our group 
     of three young people knew what a Senator was, and when we 
     told them that it was someone in Washington, DC, might have 
     their interests at heart, they were amazed. We told them we 
     would send their ideas on to you, Senator Bradley, and you 
     might respond to them.
       They agreed that violence destroys trust and love, as you 
     said in your speech, and all three spoke about how being in 
     prison killed their self-respect. Each spoke about his mother 
     and how sorry they were for her sorrow at their deeds. The 
     only reference to a father was from one young man who said 
     he learned bad things from his father who was in jail.
       One young man said that he was not brought up to land in 
     jail but, ``The streets took control of me * * * I was upset 
     and pushed to the limit.''
       Another suggested that if someone had said to him, ``Do you 
     really want to do this,'' if he had a guardian angel or two 
     or three, someone he could trust, it might make a 
     difference.''
       All of the young men spoke about school. One said, 
     ``Einstein and Benjamin Franklin mean nothing to me.'' They 
     asked for more practical studies--how to cope in the world, 
     on the streets, skills so they could get a job. Jobs that pay 
     money are crucial to them.
       One, a 19-year-old father of seven, said his kids come 
     before money. He also literally did not know that it is 
     customary to have one person as the mother of all your 
     children. Sister Piper, by no means a conservative, believes 
     we need to teach basic moral procedures that most of us take 
     for granted.
       In an earlier meeting, one young man said he wished there 
     were more parks in cities where there would be someone to 
     talk to. He told us his father beat him from as early on as 
     he could remember and he took to the streets to escape.
       Most of the young men seem very bright--not educated but 
     certainly not stupid. All acknowledged that going back to 
     where they came from--Camden, Newark, Jersey City--is going 
     to be hard if they want to go straight. They acknowledged 
     that they need help, someone to talk to and learn from. 
     Sister Piper tells them that unless they try hard to change 
     she is likely to see their names on the obituary pages.
       One fellow believes that 9 out of 10 of his problems 
     started in school because what he was learning had no 
     relevance and said: ``We want to learn about other good 
     people in good communities and how good communities get 
     along. Maybe we could study communities in Colorado or 
     Montana.'' It was as though he, from Camden, could not 
     imagine a ``good community existing'' in New Jersey.

  There you have it, Mr. President: A father who beats his son; sons 
who do not know that it is customary to have one person as the mother 
of all their children; kids who want someone to trust, someone who 
would have said ``no'' to them, someone to talk to in a park, some idea 
of how good people in good communities get along.
  Mr. President, if crime is to be controlled, not only must criminals 
be arrested, prosecuted, jailed and disarmed, but civil society must be 
armed to protect itself. This is a matter not only of putting more 
police on the streets, but also of giving the institutions of civil 
society the resources they need to prevent crime, by confronting a 
criminal counterculture in which violent crime is believed to be the 
only effective means to wealth, status, and self-respect. It is self-
defeating to lock up one criminal in prison while allowing two more to 
grow to maturity on the streets.
  In those neighborhoods in which the fabric of civil society is most 
unraveled, research has found that the most effective organizations 
holding the fort against the culture of the streets are neighborhood-
based youth organizations. These organizations are diverse in 
character--theater groups, tumbling teams, basketball teams, boys and 
girls clubs, churches that open their basements--but they all share 
some common characteristics. They are multi-purpose organizations.
  They are aggressive in seeking out kids to work with. They do not 
just wait for them to come to the door. They act as shields against the 
streets. They are decidedly local in their orientation and leadership. 
They view kids not as problems but as resources to be developed. Kids 
are not treated as if something is wrong with them but as if something 
is right with them that needs to be exposed and encouraged. They 
provide stable and consistent relationships with adults. They develop 
flexible programs that often fly in the face of bureaucratic 
conventions, making use of nontraditional settings, nontraditional 
hours and nontraditional personnel.
  Finally, Mr. President, they require deeply committed local leaders 
who have themselves been through the trials that confront the children 
that they work with.
  Mr. President, in this crime bill one thing we tried to do in the 
preventive section was strengthen the institutions of civil society. We 
tried to develop community schools, schools that are open to the 
neighborhood, to allow kids to come in after school, to be mentored, to 
provide stimulative educational experiences for these kids, and maybe 
some chance to interact with an adult over a longer period of time.
  Mr. President, midnight basketball has also taken a hit here in the 
course of the last few days. On one level midnight basketball is 
important because the people who are playing the game in the gym are 
not on the street. But it is not just about basketball. A friend of 
mine, a former pro, a Celtic named Jo Jo White, runs a program in 
Rochester, NY, and the points in his program are scored not only how 
many balls go in the basket but on what a student's grades are and what 
community projects he has been involved with.
  Finally, basketball itself, I would have to say, is not without 
inherent merit in terms of promoting unselfishness, discipline, 
teamwork, and goal setting.
  In closing, Mr. President, I say to those who voted ``no'' in the 
House on the crime bill, think of your community without the Little 
League or the Boy Scouts or the high school football team. Think of 
your high school without the glee club or the band or the debate team. 
Think of your parks filled with danger and drugs. Think of your 
children going to school through a war zone where violence takes 
another life every day. Ask yourself what you would do if you could not 
afford to move. Ask how understandable it would be to you to have the 
crime bill voted down.
  What we tried to do in the crime bill was give communities some more 
resources to fight against the counter culture of violence. What we 
tried to do is give those three kids in the Bordentown Juvenile Center 
some hope when they return to Camden or Newark or Jersey City, or 
countless other cities, that there will be someone to talk to, someone 
to say, ``Do you really want to do that?''--someone to trust, someone 
maybe in the clergy, maybe a community leader, maybe a politician and, 
maybe a basketball coach, who will turn one life in the right 
direction.
  Mr. President, that is what we tried to do in the crime bill. I think 
we succeeded much more than anyone has focused on, and I hope that 
those Congressmen from the small towns who voted ``no'' might 
understand what is at stake and this time vote ``yes.''
  I yield the floor.

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