[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4399-S4400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              DETENTION AND EXTRADITION OF MOHAMMED ABBAS

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 253) urging the detention and 
     extradition to the United States by the appropriate foreign 
     government of Mr. Mohammed Abbas for the murder of Leon 
     Klinghoffer.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, this resolution is very straightforward 
and it is long overdue. It calls on the Attorney General of the United 
States to seek the detention and extradition to the United States of 
Mohammed Abbas, otherwise known as Abu Abbas.
  Abu Abbas was the leader and is the leader of the Palestinian 
Liberation Front. In October 1985, under his leadership and his plan--
and let me tell you what the Italian courts found. They found that the 
evidence was ``multiple, unequivocal and overwhelming'' that Abbas 
trained, financed, and chose the targets, as well as the escape, in 
seizing the Achille Lauro. It was his men who killed Leon Klinghoffer 
and threw his body overboard on October 7, 1985.
  When this question was raised to Mr. Abbas just recently, he said 
that he was sorry. He said it was ``a mistake.'' And then he went on to 
say that Mr. Klinghoffer, an American citizen from New York, was killed 
because ``he had started to incite the passengers against [the 
kidnappers].'' Imagine that, a 70-year-old man, 70 years old, in a 
wheelchair, totally unarmed, and that is his excuse. And he says it was 
``a mistake.''
  We owe it to every American citizen, not just to Leon Klinghoffer and 
to his family, but to every American citizen to say to those cowards, 
to those murderers who would target U.S. citizens, that they cannot 
escape justice, that they will be tracked down, that we will seek their 
extradition, that we will seek their detention, and their eventually 
being brought to trial for their acts, in this case a cowardly act of 
killing a man in a wheelchair, a U.S. citizen.
  Let me tell you again what the Italian courts found when they tried 
Abu Abbas in absentia. They said that the evidence was ``multiple, 
unequivocal, and overwhelming.''
  I sent a letter to the Justice Department. I ask unanimous consent it 
be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. D'AMATO. I sent a letter to the Attorney General in which I 
called out for the murderer of Leon Klinghoffer to be extradited, Abu 
Abbas; that Leon Klinghoffer is entitled to justice, as every American 
is, and it has been denied, and, indeed, the Attorney General has the 
duty and obligation to see to it that we look to extradite Abu Abbas, 
Leon Klinghoffer's murderer.
  Let me conclude by saying this. This is a very simple and 
straightforward case. If we fail to seek justice in this case, then 
what kind of message do we send to other terrorists who would look to 
target U.S. interests, U.S. citizens? Are we saying you can get away 
with this and you can simply offer an apology 10 years from now and say 
it was a mistake? Is that what we are going to be saying?
  I think it is about time the Justice Department of the United States 
began to live up to its name and seek justice in the case of Leon 
Klinghoffer.

                               Exhibit 1


                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                   Washington, DC, April 26, 1996.
     Hon. Janet Reno,
     Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
       Dear Madam Attorney General: I am writing to urge you in 
     the strongest terms to seek the immediate extradition of Abu 
     Abbas, the man convicted in an Italian court, in 1986, for 
     the murder of Leon Klinghoffer during the hijacking of the 
     Achille Lauro cruise ship in October 1985. It is absolutely 
     essential that the United States obtain custody of Abbas so 
     that he can stand trial for this brutal murder of a 
     wheelchair-bound innocent American whose body was callously 
     dumped overboard following the murder.
       Just this week, Abbas, while attending the meeting in Gaza 
     of the Palestine National Council stated that the killing was 
     ``a mistake'' and that Mr. Klinghoffer was killed because he 
     ``had started to incite the passengers against [the 
     kidnappers].'' This pathetic excuse only reinforces our need 
     to gain his extradition. The fact that he remains free is an 
     insult to the memory of Leon Klinghoffer.
       Abbas was convicted by a Genoan Court and sentenced to life 
     in prison, in absentia, for ``kidnapping for terrorist ends 
     that caused the killing of a person.'' The evidence against 
     Abbas, according to the Italian magistrate, was ``multiple, 
     unequivocal, and overwhelming.'' His actions in training and 
     financing for this operation, and in choosing the target, as 
     well as planning the escape, in the eyes of the magistrate, 
     made Abbas guilty of the murder.
       Mr. Klinghoffer's murder cries out for justice. For far too 
     long, Abbas has cheated justice. Now it is our duty to 
     locate, apprehend, and return him for trial in this country. 
     Again, I urge you in the strongest of terms, to seek the 
     immediate extradition of Abu Abbas.
       Sincerely,
                                               Alfonse M. D'Amato,
                                            United States Senator.

  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, let me say I have no need for any further 
time. I am prepared to yield the remainder of my time so we can vote.
  May I inquire of the President whether or not I have to ask for the 
yeas and nays or whether or not that has been agreed to already?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have not yet been requested.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I am prepared to yield the remainder of 
my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If all time is yielded back, the question is 
on agreeing to the resolution.
  The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. Thompson] 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Jeffords). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber who desire to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 99, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 93 Leg.]

                                YEAS--99

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Bradley
     Breaux
     Brown
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Coats
     Cochran
     Cohen
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Exon
     Faircloth
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hatfield
     Heflin
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnston
     Kassebaum
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nickles
     Nunn
     Pell
     Pressler
     Pryor
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Shelby
     Simon
     Simpson
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thurmond
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

[[Page S4400]]

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Thompson
       
  So the resolution (S. Res. 253) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 253

       Whereas, Mohammed Abbas, alias Abu Abbas, was convicted by 
     a Genoan Court in June 1986 and sentenced to life in prison, 
     in absentia, for ``kidnaping for terrorist ends that caused 
     the killing of a person'' for his role in the death of an 
     American citizen, Leon Klinghoffer;
       Whereas, a report from the Italian magistrate who tried the 
     case against Abbas stated that the evidence was ``multiple, 
     unequivocal, and overwhelming'' and that his actions in 
     training and financing for this operation, and in choosing 
     the target, as well as in planning the escape, made Abbas 
     guilty of the murder;
       Whereas, a warrant Abbas' arrest was unsealed in October 
     1985 charging him with hijacking, and a bounty of $250,000 
     was offered for his arrest;
       Whereas, the Justice Department felt that it did not have 
     the evidence to convict him, and citing the conviction, 
     albeit in absentia by the Italian authorities, cancelled the 
     warrant for his arrest in January 1988;
       Whereas, at an April 1996 meeting of the Palestine National 
     Council in Gaza, Abbas described the killing as ``a mistake'' 
     and that Mr. Klinghoffer was killed because he ``had started 
     to incite the passengers against [the kidnappers]'';
       Now, Therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the 
     Senate that the Attorney General should seek, from the 
     appropriate foreign government, the detention and extradition 
     to the United States of Mohammed Abbas (also known as Abu 
     Abbas) for the murder of Leon Klinghoffer in October 1985 
     during the hijacking of the vessel Achille Lauro.

  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

                          ____________________