[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E645-E646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 735, ANTITERRORISM AND EFFECTIVE DEATH PENALTY 
                              ACT OF 1996

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                               speech of

                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 1996

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support S. 735, the 
antiterrorism bill. When H.R. 2703 the House counterpart bill passed 
the House on March 14, 1996, I voted against it largely because of the 
severe restrictions on the writ of habeas corpus for death row 
prisoners. I voted ``no'' to signal the Senate to strike this section 
from the bill. Unfortunately they did not.
  Other unacceptable invasions of personal privacy in H.R. 2703 
eliminated by amendment in the House were not restored by the Senate in 
conference.
  In the current era of threats and acts of domestic terrorism I 
believe that the Government needs greater authority to act to prevent 
and apprehend terrorists before they act. However, we must be careful 
not to create a state where illegal surveillance, spying, wiretapping, 
and electronic eavesdropping become instruments of violations of rights 
of privacy of lawful citizens.
  It is a fine line between law enforcement and a free society. But 
however fine, it must be distinguishable.
  We must guard against foreign terrorists in particular. These 
individuals must not be allowed to pervade our open society with seeds

[[Page E646]]

of hate and destruction. I support efforts to stop their entry and to 
enable expedited expulsions.
  A free society cannot conduct witch hunts for suspected terrorists. 
Our country went through such a black period in the fifties when we 
unleashed the un-American label on thousands of loyal citizens because 
of suspected associations.
  We must not now begin another period of impugning guilt because of 
life style, ethnic background, or political associations.
  But we cannot fail to safeguard our own people from foreign enemies.
  I disagree with the restrictions of habeas corpus and fully expect 
they will be expunged by courts as unconstitutional.
  I vote for this conference report with this expectation.
  Moreover, I regret that this legislation is being used as a vehicle 
to advance antiimmigrant attitudes. This bill increases the number of 
criminal activities that legal aliens can be deported for. Most of the 
additional offenses are not required to be linked to terrorism. Listed 
among these offenses are; prostitution, bribery, counterfeiting, 
forgery, vehicle theft, false immigration documents, obstruction of 
justice, perjury, bribery of witnesses, and failure to appear in court.
  I am deeply concerned that these provisions expand authorization for 
deportation of aliens with any association with crimes of violence or 
terrorism.
  I believe legal aliens should be granted the same due process 
opportunities as U.S. citizens.
  We are all legitimately disturbed with terrorism and violence in our 
communities. However, it is wrong to place upon legal immigrants a 
higher penalty for crimes which in themselves are not related to 
terroristic actions. Deportation should be reserved for only the most 
heinous of crimes rending the person unfit to remain in the country.
  These anti-immigrant provisions have been wrongly attached to this 
bill. I am voting for this conference report, with these serious 
reservations which I hope can be stripped from this legislation at a 
later time.
  The only way out for now is to encourage aliens to become U.S. 
citizens and avoid this jeopardy.

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