[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 165 (Tuesday, October 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    COMMEMORATING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEON KLINGHOFFER'S MURDER

                                 ______


                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 24, 1995

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank my colleague, the 
gentleman from New York, for bringing this to the attention of the 
House in the form of a special order.
  Unfortunately, we are not here today to celebrate, but rather, to 
commemorate a horrible tragedy perpetrated upon an American--for the 
sole reason that he was a Jew. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the 
brutal slaying of Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly, wheelchairbound, 
American Jew, who was, with his wife Marilyn, celebrating his wedding 
anniversary on the Italian luxury liner Achille Lauro. 
  The horrible days of the 1980's when terrorist hijackings abroad were 
becoming the norm, have dissipated. And yet now, on our own shores, we 
are being subjected to attacks by devious operants with dark agendas. 
Recent tragedies have made it clear that Americans are no longer immune 
to terrorist attacks, even upon our own soil. However, rather than 
lamenting the situation, there is something we can do about it.
  What we can, and should do is send a strong united message from this 
country. This message needs to be clear in stating our complete and 
unquestionable intolerance against any perceived threat to our national 
security and domestic tranquility. We need to make these people who 
would undermine that security and tranquility understand that we will 
punish them severely for what they do.
  As a democratic Nation, we have always prided ourselves on the time-
honored tradition of healthy dissent and debate. The actions 
promulgated by these terrorists are in direct opposition to that 
tradition. It flies in the face of everything that this country 
represents. Therefore, I say enough. We need to tell these people that 
they have no place in our society. We need to tell these people that 
they will never receive either shelter or any other assistance from the 
United States or the American people. We need to tell these people that 
America will forever be a bastion of freedom and democracy.
  Therefore, we stand together--as Americans and as human beings--in 
commemoration with Leon and Marilyn's two daughters, Lisa and Ilsa. Two 
women who are determined to preserve the memory of their father, and 
prevent a recurrence of this tragedy for another American family. We 
thank these two brave women for their work and their tireless spirit, 
and we reach out to them on this anniversary of grief, while we look 
forward to a celebration of unity against the forces of terrorism.

                          ____________________