[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1680-E1681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


TIME FOR TOUGH ACTION ON TERRORISM--THE UNITED STATES MUST NEVER YIELD 
                          TO TERRORIST THREATS

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 4, 1995
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week our Government barred the 
entry into the United States of Musa Mohammed Abu Marzuq, a senior 
official of the Islamic Palestinian extremist terrorist organization, 
Hamas. Abu Marzuq is chief of Hamas' political bureau where he is 
responsible for coordinating international aspects of Hamas' terrorist 
activities, and in particular, fund raising efforts and the 

[[Page E1681]]

training of Hamas' operatives--activities that are critical to Hamas' 
vicious terrorist campaign against Israel, against those who support 
Israel, and against Palestinians who do not follow Hamas' violent line. 
Hamas has viciously opposed the efforts of the PLO to work with Israel 
in bringing peace and ending violence.
  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the action of our Department of State in 
barring the entry into our country of Abu Marzuq. I raised this issue 
earlier this week in a hearing of the International Relations Committee 
and repeated my concern to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near 
Eastern Affairs that our Government must move decisively against all 
those individuals who are involved in terrorist activities of any kind. 
We have no obligation to admit such individuals who support, encourage, 
and engage in terrorism. Furthermore, I urge the administration and the 
courts to comply with the request by the Government of Israel for the 
extradition to Israel of Abu Marzuq. The Israeli Government has 
evidence of the involvement of this Hamas leader in terrorist 
activities, and it would be most appropriate that he be returned to 
Israel to stand trial in an Israeli court of justice to determine his 
guilt or innocence of these heinous crimes.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute and unmitigated outrage that the 
vicious, unprincipled leaders of Hamas have threatened President 
Clinton and the United States if the extradition of Abu Marzuq is 
carried out. In a letter published in an Arab-language newspaper in 
Israel earlier this week, Hamas published an open letter to President 
Clinton with intolerable and offensive threats: ``If your government 
decides to hand Abu Marzuq to the Israeli authorities, we would 
consider this a hostile act against all Arabs and Muslims. You will 
bear the consequences of such an act.'' The letter threatened that the 
extradition would unleash ``a wave of anger and retaliation throughout 
the Arab and Islamic world.'' A leader of another militant group, 
Islamic Jihad, said the United States would ``pay dearly'' for 
detaining or extraditing Abu Marzuq.
  The United States must never, under any circumstances, yield to such 
blatant, mind-boggling terrorist threats. Our foreign policy must be 
based on principled decisions and respect for the rule of law. Our 
actions at home and abroad must never be influenced by timidity or 
trepidation in the face of blatant threats by terrorist thugs. To yield 
to such treats will only encourage every other international terrorist 
group to issue an carry out such threats. Our policy must always be to 
stand up against intimidation.
  Mr. Speaker, the detention of Abu Marzuq only serves to highlight the 
continuing danger of international terrorists. The Oklahoma City 
bombing a few months ago highlighted the danger we face from domestic 
terrorists and anti-Government militias, but we must not let that 
tragedy and the necessity of dealing with terrorism at home obscure the 
need to deal with international terrorism.
  I urge my colleagues to move quickly to bring to the floor of the 
House the Comprehensive Antiterrorism Act, which has been developed 
with the cooperation and full support of the Department of Justice. If 
that legislation had been enacted, dealing with the detention of Abu 
Marzuq and extraditing him to Israel would probably be an easier task.
  Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no reason for further delay. We have 
dealt with all kinds of issues in the House of Representatives in 
recent days, but none have the urgency and immediate importance of 
taking action to improve the ability of our law enforcement officials 
to deal with international terrorism. I urge that the Comprehensive 
Antiterrorism Act be brought to the floor and that we move quickly to 
improve our ability to deal decisively with the scourge of terrorism, 
both within our borders and beyond.


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