[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 66 (Monday, April 24, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5562-S5564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CONDEMNING ACTS OF VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM IN OKLAHOMA CITY

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, first, I wish to thank the majority 
leader for allowing us to consider a resolution condemning the acts of 
violence and terrorism that occurred in Oklahoma City last Wednesday.
  Also, I want to thank the majority leader, Senator Dole, for his 
support of this resolution and for his help in putting it together, as 
well as his personal friendship in calling me and offering whatever 
support he could do to assist the families and the victims of this 
terrible, violent and criminal act. Senator Dole is not the only 
colleague who has offered his support. I have had several of my 
colleagues who have called to express their outrage over this violent 
act as well as their concern for those affected.
  I appreciate the fact that President Clinton called me early on and 
expressed his support for whatever could 
[[Page S5563]] be done to assist the victims of this terrible tragedy. 
He stated that in his speech to Oklahoma City at the prayer service 
that we had yesterday. I appreciate the President doing that, as well 
as the Reverend Billy Graham who also participated in the service.
  It was a time for coming together. We had over 20,000 people in the 
State of Oklahoma--many people came from outside the State as well--who 
wished to express their sympathies and condolences to the families, to 
the victims, but also their outrage at such a violent and terrible 
tragedy.
  This is the deadliest terrorist attack on our Nation's soil in our 
history. The death toll continues to climb. The latest figures I heard 
were 81 that are confirmed dead, 150 still missing and now presumed 
dead, and over 400 injured.
  I visited some of those injured people. I visited Children's Hospital 
and saw some of the children who were very significantly maimed. 
Hopefully and prayerfully they will recover and recover fully.
  Mr. President, this becomes very, very personal when you tie it down 
to families. When you talk to a couple and they lost both children, it 
becomes very, very personal. Or when you talk to a couple and they lost 
their daughter, it becomes very personal. Or when you talk to an 
individual and they see their daughter or their son maimed almost 
beyond recognition, it becomes very, very personal. And it certainly 
almost takes adjectives to where they are not significant because you 
can use the word ``terrible'' and you can use the word ``outrage,'' but 
they really do not describe the horror that happened in Oklahoma City 
to some individuals.
  So, Mr. President, shortly we will be submitting a resolution 
condemning this act of violence, condemning it in the strongest manner 
possible, and also expressing our support and our sympathies and our 
prayers for the families of the victims of this terrible crime.
  Mr. President, maybe one of the blessings that might help us overcome 
this very difficult tragedy is the outpouring of love and support that 
we have seen from thousands and thousands of people, not only in 
Oklahoma but all across the country. I have had individuals call me and 
offer support--dollars, prayers and comfort--for those families. We 
have seen gifts that are very large and gifts that are very small but 
very, very precious. We have seen children donate their lunch money. We 
have seen individuals and corporations donate a million dollars. We 
have had people say, ``I'll do anything I can do to assist the 
families.''
  It does make you feel good, and it is so striking to think that out 
of such a tragedy you can see so much generosity, so much love, so much 
sympathy invoked by Oklahomans and by Americans everywhere. It does 
make you feel good. Reverend Graham, in his comments yesterday to not 
only the families but really to the American people, when he called for 
a time of healing, was exactly right. Mr. President, I want to 
compliment not only Reverend Graham but also Governor Keating and Cathy 
Keating for their outstanding leadership at this time of crisis.
  I want to compliment the organizations who have done such a 
responsive, outstanding job in helping to assist those people who 
really needed help. The volunteers that have come together--I am 
talking about the firefighters and the policemen, the Red Cross 
volunteers, the people to assist people who are hungry--have just been 
phenomenal.
  I was in Dallas when I heard this fateful news and caught the first 
plane I could back and was sitting next to three firefighters who were 
flying up from Dallas on their own time on their own money to assist 
the victims. My guess is they are still there crawling through the 
rubble. And this is extremely difficult.
  It is estimated something like 150 people are still trapped in that 
building, in all likelihood deceased. There is very little hope of 
survival at this late point, and yet you have volunteers coming from I 
do not know how many different cities who are crawling over the rubble 
and, in some cases, doing it by hand to recover those victims.
  I have had the pleasure of meeting some--not all. But I just want to 
say thank you to them because they not only work 10 hours a day or 12 
hours a day, they are working 24 hours a day. They are working all 
night long. They are working in the rain. They are working in the wind. 
They are working in the cold. We just want to say thank you.
  It has really been a blessing to see the outpouring of love from so 
many people, not only the rescue workers, but so many other people 
throughout this country, and for that we are very, very grateful. All 
Oklahomans say thank you for, indeed, the generosity and the love we 
have seen in the last few days.
  Mr. President, we condemn this act of violence, this act of terrorism 
in the strongest possible language, and that is what this resolution 
will do.
  That is what it states. We compliment the President for taking his 
swift action to lend the law enforcement personnel, and they have 
responded with a great deal of expertise and professionalism--to date, 
with some real success--although, there is still a lot of work to be 
done. So my compliments to the FBI, to the Drug Enforcement Agency, to 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Oklahoma Highway 
Patrol, and the city police, because they have worked together. This 
has probably been one of the largest and best coordinated efforts both 
on the rescue side and also on the efforts to apprehend those people 
who were responsible for this terrorist act. I compliment all the 
Federal, State, and local officials for putting this effort together.
  Mr. President, there is still a lot of work to be done. 
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of bodies to be recovered. There 
are buildings to be repaired. There is a lot of damage, a lot of 
damage, not just in one building. I might mention there are several 
buildings that have significant damage and, unfortunately, there were 
people that worked in other buildings that also lost their lives or 
were severely injured.
  So, Mr. President, I pray for those victims and for the families of 
the victims. This resolution states that we support them, that we are 
going to do everything within our power to help them, that we are going 
to do everything within our power to apprehend those people who are 
responsible and that they should be punished to the maximum extent of 
the law.
  As the President, Attorney General and Senator Dole stated, they also 
should pay the maximum price. The death penalty is warranted in this 
case, and this resolution states that as well.
  I appreciate the majority leader's willingness to let us bring this 
up at the first possible moment. I appreciate the fact that he is 
willing to let the Senate vote tomorrow at 12 o'clock on this. I 
appreciate the support of our colleagues.
  This resolution also says that the Senate should act as expeditiously 
as possible in enacting antiterrorism measures, both domestic and the 
international. I know Senator Hatch has scheduled hearings later this 
week on this subject. I hope the Senate and House will concur and pass 
that legislation as soon as possible.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOLE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. DOLE. I thank my colleagues from Oklahoma, Senator Nickles and 
Senator Inhofe. I know they have been under a great deal of stress. 
They have performed outstanding service for their constituents. All of 
us in this Chamber appreciate that very much.
  We do have permission to go to the liability bill at 1 o'clock. I 
indicated earlier there would be no votes before 3. I am now advised 
that there are a great number of Senators who are not here. Because of 
that, I will say that there will be no votes today.
  I urge my colleagues that we have to catch up with the House. We are 
not going to be able to do that if we come back after a 2-week vacation 
and only half of us show up. It is pretty hard to have much meaningful 
happen. This time, OK; next time we will have votes. I want to give 
everybody advance notice on both sides of the aisle that when we say no 
votes before 3, it means probably votes after 3. But, also, there might 
be an amendment that might take the rest of the day. I do not like to 
have Sergeant at Arms votes to see who is in town and who is not at 
town. I know many of my colleagues are at work wherever they may be. We 
need 
[[Page S5564]] to finish this bill as quickly as we can and move on to 
either telecommunications, or maybe because of the urgency, the 
antiterrorism bill will be ready by next week. I think we can move very 
quickly on that.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. THURMOND addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina is recognized.
  

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