[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 192 (Tuesday, December 5, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13976-H13978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                COMPREHENSIVE ANTITERRORISM ACT OF 1995

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor of North Carolina). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hyde] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, today I am, along with my Judiciary Committee 
colleagues, Bill McCollum, Lamar Smith, and Bob Barr introducing a 
revised antiterrorism bill.

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  On June 20, the Judiciary Committee favorably reported the 
Comprehensive Antiterrorism Act of 1995 (H.R. 1710). Since that date, 
concerns have been raised by a number of Members about certain 
provisions in H.R. 1710. Responding to these concerns, Bob Barr and I 
have developed a new compromise version of the bill. The new language 
responds to the concerns voiced by several Members, yet maintains the 
effectiveness of the bill to deter future terrorist acts. The new bill 
does the following:
  Requires the marking of plastic explosives to allow for more 
effective detection;
  Prohibits the possession, importation, and sale of nuclear materials;
  Prohibits foreign terrorist organizations from raising money in the 
United States;
  Prevents entry into the United States by members and representatives 
of foreign terrorist groups;
  Reforms asylum laws to stop their manipulation by foreign terrorists;
  Establishes a special deportation procedure for alien terrorists that 
satisfies due process and protects our national sovereignty;
  Encourages the development of a machine-readable visa and passport 
system;
  Authorizes an employer engaged in the business of providing private 
security services to investigate an employment applicant's legal status 
and his authorization to work;
  Authorizes lawsuits by Americans against foreign nations responsible 
for state-sponsored terrorist activity; and
  Provides for the expedited expulsion of illegal aliens from the 
United States.
  Importantly, the bill also:
  Adds Habeas Corpus reform provisions;
  Adds the Victim Restitution Act of 1995 (H.R. 665);
  Adds the Criminal Alien Deportation Improvements Act of 1995 (H.R. 
668);
  Deletes the enhanced wiretap authorizations, including emergency 
wiretap expansion and roving wiretap modifications;
  Deletes the authorization of military involvement in civilian law 
enforcement situations;
  Deletes the overly broad definition of terrorism;
  Deletes funding for a domestic counterterrorism center and for 
additional FBI personnel; and finally,
  Deletes the 40-percent civil penalty surcharge intended to fund the 
Digital Telephony law.
  Important and significant changes have been made in this bill. The 
revised version deserves broad support. A ``yes'' vote on this 
legislation is a vote for a more secure America and the fight against 
crime.
  I urge your support for this important measure.

            CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS TO FOCUS ON NUCLEAR WASTE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weldon] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Military Research and Development of the Committee on 
National Security, I rise to highlight a series of hearings that will 
begin tomorrow in our main hearing room that I think are of landmark 
significance not just to this country but to the entire world 
community.
  One of the byproducts of the military buildup of the 1960's, 1970's, 
1980's and into the 1990's has been the huge amount of nuclear waste 
that has been generated from our nuclear material, equipment, and the 
ships and technologies that we have had available to our military 
establishments throughout the world. The problem that we now face is 
what do we do with this waste that has been generated, especially as 
both America and in the case of the officially Soviet Union, Russia, 
dispose of this nuclear waste, and how do we deal with that.
  The hearing that we will be holding tomorrow, both for the 
Subcommittee on Military Research and Development in cooperation with 
the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans of the Committee on 
Resources, will for the first time focus on what is in fact a worldwide 
problem. The hearing will be international in scope.
  Beginning at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in hearing room 2118, we 
will hear from the distinguished environmental activist from Russia, 
Dr. Aleksai Yablokov. Dr. Yablokov is a member of the Russian National 
Security Council. He is a key adviser to President Yeltsin, and he has 
traveled to America to tell us about his findings in terms of the 
problem the Russians have been having in disposal of their nuclear 
waste and their spent nuclear fuel.
  Dr. Yablokov was a chairman of the Yablokov Commission, which for the 
first time in Russia's history documented extensively 30 years of 
deliberate dumping of nuclear waste into the Arctic Ocean, the Sea of 
Japan, and other bodies that border the former Soviet states. Dr. 
Yablokov is an outspoken critic of those policies in the former Soviet 
Union that have led to environmental degradation. He will share with us 
his work and the work of others like him in Russia in attempting to 
understand and deal with these international environmental problems.
  Joining with Dr. Yablokov on our first panel will be Kaare Bryn, the 
director general and ambassador of the resources department from the 
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He will testify before us as to 
the concerns that the Norwegian people have with the problems 
internationally of dumping nuclear waste in our oceans.
  Following that, we will have our Government respond to highlight some 
of the things that we are doing to assist in more fully understanding 
the problem of nuclear waste around the world, not just off of Russia 
but even off of our own shores, and what we are doing through the 
Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Environmental 
Protection Agency to provide protection for the American people and 
cooperation with other nations who have similar concerns.
  Then, finally, we will have an assessment panel of technical experts 
who will highlight for us the specific technologies and efforts that 
are now under way to deal with this potentially devastating situation 
around the world.
  This is a landmark hearing, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to have assembled 
what I think will be an expert panel of witnesses to fully highlight 
this worldwide problem and to show that we are in fact working with the 
world community to find solutions. Bringing together Russia, the 
European Community, and also working with the Japanese Diet and the 
United States Congress, we are trying to find solutions that allow us 
to come to grips with the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear 
waste.
  Preceding the hearing at 12:30, Dr. Yablokov and I will join with the 
Ballona Foundation, a Norwegian nonprofit organization that just 
recently documented land-based nuclear pollution extensively at Russian 
military facilities. The information that has been accumulated by the 
Ballona Foundation is so devastating that the Russian security 
apparatus invaded Ballona's headquarters in Moscow and 1 month ago 
confiscated photographs and all of their documentation.
  Together, Dr. Yablokov and I will work to assure the American people 
and our media that we are outraged that these actions have occurred, 
and that we in fact should be working with the Ballona Foundation and 
Russian leaders like Dr. Yablokov to assist Russia in understanding the 
complexity of their environmental nuclear problem and, more 
importantly, how we can work together to solve it. It is a problem that 
is monumental, that needs immediate attention, and that potentially 
could cause a threat to the entire population of this earth.
  I invite my colleagues to participate in that hearing, and welcome 
the support of Vice President Al Gore. At this point in time, Mr. 
Speaker, I would like to enter into the Record his letter to me 
supporting this series of hearings by Subcommittee on Research and 
Development on ways that we can assist the environmental community, 
working with our military, to understand and deal with these 
international environmental problems.

                                           The Vice President,

                                 Washington, DC, December 6, 1995.
     Hon. Curt Weldon,
     Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Research, Rayburn House 
         Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: As you know, the topics on which the 
     Committee will focus during this series of hearings have been 
     of interest to me for some time, and I am pleased to have 
     this opportunity to share my perspective. As President Lyndon 
     Baines Johnson said during his tenure, ``The waters which 
     flow between the banks belong to all the people.'' While the 
     President was speaking about a domestic issue at the time, 
     his message resonates today.
       Oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface, and we face 
     a common threat to this precious resource. In this time of 
     lean budgets, creative efforts to exploit existing research 
     and technology efforts for dual purposes are not only 
     sensible but essential. The 

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     United States has tremendous resources which only have to be harnessed, 
     and the Committee's hearings represent a significant step in 
     that direction.
       As we approach the 21st Century, I welcome efforts to 
     ensure that our country is well prepared to act on the basis 
     of the very best data. I particularly want to thank you for 
     your efforts in this regard. Your ideas and insight on these 
     issues are important to me, and your continued support is 
     essential.
       Again, please accept my very best wishes for a productive 
     series of hearings.
           Sincerely,
     Al Gore.

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