[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2398-S2399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


REPORT OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION ENTITLED ``THE OMNIBUS COUNTERTERRORISM 
            ACT OF 1995''--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 16

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

To the Congress of the United States:
  I am pleased to transmit today for your immediate consideration and 
enactment the ``Omnibus Counter- terrorism Act of 1995.'' 
Also transmitted is a section-by-section analysis. This legislative 
proposal is part of my Administration's comprehensive effort to 
strengthen the ability of the United States to deter terrorist acts and 
punish those who aid or abet any international terrorist activity in 
the United States. It corrects deficiencies and gaps in current law.
  Some of the most significant provisions of the bill will:
--Provide clear Federal criminal jurisdiction for any international 
    terrorist attack that might occur in the United States;
--Provide Federal criminal jurisdiction over terrorists who use the 
    United States as the place from which to plan terrorist attacks 
    overseas;
--Provide a workable mechanism, utilizing U.S. District Court Judges 
    appointed by the Chief Justice, to deport expeditiously alien 
    terrorists without risking the disclosure of national security 
    information or techniques;
--Provide a new mechanism for preventing fund-raising in the United 
    States that supports international terrorist activities overseas; 
    and
--Implement an international treaty requiring the insertion of a 
    chemical agent into plastic explosives when manufactured to make 
    them detectable.
  The fund-raising provision includes a licensing mechanism under 
which 
[[Page S2399]]  funds can only be transferred based on a strict showing 
that the money will be used exclusively for religious, charitable, 
literary, or educational purposes and will not be diverted for 
terrorist activity. The bill also includes numerous relatively 
technical, but highly important, provisions that will facilitate 
investigations and prosecutions of terrorist crimes.
  It is the Administration's intent that section 101 of the bill confer 
Federal jurisdiction only over international terrorism offenses. The 
Administration will work with Members of Congress to ensure that the 
language in the bill is consistent with that intent.
  I urge the prompt and favorable consideration of this legislative 
proposal by the Congress.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, February 9, 1995.
  

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