[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7126-S7128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONDEMNATION OF TERROR ATTACKS IN SAUDI ARABIA

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I send a Senate resolution to the desk and 
I ask that it be stated.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows.

       A resolution (S. Res. 273) condemning terror attacks in 
     Saudi Arabia:

                              S. Res. 273

       Whereas on June 25, 1996, a massive truck bomb exploded at 
     the King Abdul Aziz Air Base near Dhahran, in the Kingdom of 
     Saudi Arabia;
       Whereas this horrific attack killed at least nineteen 
     Americans and injured at least three hundred more;
       Whereas the bombing also resulted in 147 Saudi casualties;
       Whereas the apparent target of the attack was an apartment 
     building housing United States service personnel;
       Whereas on November 13, 1995, a terror attack in Saudi 
     Arabia, also directed against U.S. personnel, killed five 
     Americans, and two others;
       Whereas individuals with ties to Islamic extremist 
     organizations were tried, found guilty and executed for 
     having participated in the November 13 attack;
       Whereas United States Armed Forces personnel are deployed 
     in Saudi Arabia to protect the peace and freedom secured in 
     Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm;

[[Page S7127]]

       Whereas the relationship between the United States and the 
     Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been built with bipartisan 
     support and has served the interest of both countries over 
     the last five decades and;
       Whereas this terrorist outrage underscores the need for a 
     strong and ready military able to defend American interests.
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns in the strongest terms the attacks of June 25, 
     1996, and November 13, 1995 in Saudi Arabia;
       (2) extends condolences and sympathy to the families of all 
     those United States service personnel killed and wounded, and 
     to the Government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
       (3) honors the United States military personnel killed and 
     wounded for their sacrifice in service to the nation;
       (4) expresses its gratitude to the Government and the 
     people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their heroic rescue 
     efforts at the scene of the attack and their determination to 
     find and punish those responsible for this outrage;
       (5) reaffirms its steadfast support for the Government of 
     the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for continuing good relations 
     between the United States and Saudi Arabia;
       (6) determines that such terrorist attacks present a clear 
     threat to United States interests in the Persian Gulf;
       (7) calls upon the United States Government to continue to 
     assist the Government of Saudi Arabia in its efforts to 
     identify those responsible for this contemptible attack;
       (8) urges the United States Government to use all 
     reasonable means available to the Government of the United 
     States to punish the parties responsible for this cowardly 
     bombing and;
       (9) reaffirms its commitment to provide all necessary 
     support for the men and women of our Armed Forces who 
     volunteer to stand in harm's way.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I wish to stress that this is a bipartisan 
resolution, and I wonder if I might ask the distinguished clerk to read 
the cosponsors so that they might be shown in the Record.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Helms, for himself, Mr. Pell, Mr. Lott, Mr. Daschle, 
     Mr. Brown, and Mrs. Feinstein.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to 
be listed as a cosponsor of this measure.
  Mr. HELMS. I thank the Senator.
  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to also be 
added as a cosponsor.
  Mr. HELMS. I certainly thank the Senator.
  Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, I likewise ask unanimous consent that I be 
added as a cosponsor.
  Mr. HELMS. I thank all three Senators.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, all decent and honorable human beings join 
in the condemnation of the brutal terrorists who participated in 
Tuesday's cowardly and contemptible attack on United States military 
personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
  All of us send our condolences to the families of the 19 brave Air 
Force servicemen and women who died in the attack, and we offer our 
prayers to the hundreds of wounded U.S. military personnel.
  This tragedy has touched my home State of North Carolina. Airman 1st 
Class Paul Blais of Kinston was among those killed in the bombing. We 
send our condolences and prayers to his family. Also we convey our 
deepest sympathies to the people and the Government of Saudi Arabia for 
the many scores of Saudi citizens who were wounded in the attack.
  Mr. President, the United States is a world leader, a nation with 
global responsibilities, and is therefore necessarily obliged to assign 
young Americans in uniform to almost every corner of the world to 
protect the interests of the American people and our allies.
  When and wherever young Americans sacrifice their lives we are 
reminded of the big price paid to maintain America's global 
obligations. This price has been especially high in Saudi Arabia, where 
another bombing last November killed five Americans. Despite the cost, 
Mr. President, we must stand firm in our support for Saudi Arabia.
  Terrorists will not and cannot drive the United States out of Saudi 
Arabia. U.S. interests in that country, and in the Persian gulf, are 
clear and compelling. We have a vital national interest in maintaining 
the stability of this strategically important region and shielding our 
friends in the gulf from the expansionist designs of rogue regimes in 
Iran and Iraq.
  Mr. President, since the dust has barely settled from the blast, the 
facts are not yet entirely clear. Nobody yet knows who is responsible 
for this cowardly attack. I am confident that our Saudi friends will 
make every effort to apprehend and punish those guilty of this outrage 
and if this bombing turns out to be the work of a hostile foreign 
government, I hope that the President will respond swiftly and harshly.
  Through this tragedy, we must remember to thank our friends in Saudi 
Arabia for their rescue efforts, which have won praise from United 
States officials. We should be grateful for the lives that may have 
been saved by their prompt reaction.
  Mr. McCAIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I join with my colleague from North 
Carolina and applaud his action and believe that all of us obviously 
share his view, his outrage and his sorrow, especially for the young 
man from the State of North Carolina who was killed.
  I also think we should consider some salient facts. One is that this 
is not the first act of terror that has been committed in Saudi Arabia. 
It is not the first time that American lives have been lost. Last 
November, there was another bombing. I think it is very important for 
us to recognize that this administration has an obligation to take 
every possible measure to protect the lives of these young men and 
women in Saudi Arabia.
  Since the last bombing in November, the President of the United 
States held an antiterrorism summit which took place at a resort in 
Egypt. I have no idea how many millions of dollars it took to provide 
security. There was 240 minutes of opening statements made at this 
antiterrorism summit, 40 minutes of discussion, and then all 
participants went out for a nice photo-op where they all, in an almost 
teenage fashion, raised each other's arms in the air and celebrated the 
end of terrorism.
  To my knowledge, Mr. President, there was no concrete action taken as 
a result of this photo-op antiterrorism summit. So now we have the next 
tragedy and the next outrage. What is the President of the United 
States going to do? He is going to raise it at the G-7 Summit and make 
the G-7 Summit an antiterrorism summit.
  Meanwhile, the Secretary of State has just gone back to Damascus 
again. I remind my colleagues that Syria is still a nation listed as a 
terrorist nation by the State Department. I might point out it was his 
25th trip to Syria.
  I saw Mr. Netanyahu, the new Prime Minister of Israel, last night, 
and he made a very important point I think, and that is that first we 
have to have security before we can have peace.
  Perhaps some people have those priorities reversed. If we want to 
stop terrorism, we do not attack it at the end of the line, the end of 
the chain where the act of terrorism takes place. We go to the source.
  I do not know whether this act of terror or the one before were 
orchestrated from within and are simply part of the internal Saudi 
Arabian situation--although I should note that four individuals were 
beheaded by the Saudis recently because they were supposed to have been 
the culprits in the November bombing that took five American lives. I 
do not think many of us think that trading of lives is really a 
satisfactory answer, which emphasizes my point of the President taking 
care of the problem after rather than before it has done the 
damage. But I also do not know, nor do any of us yet know, if this act 
of terror was orchestrated from without, by well-known terrorist 
organizations such as Hezbollah.

  I am not an expert on acts of terrorism. I do know something about 
the conduct of warfare. From what I have seen of this act, it required 
a significant amount of sophistication, planning, and execution. 
Apparently, there were people who were seen in and around the compound, 
checking out the security points, passers-by asking questions, and of 
course, as we know, a warning was sounded but, unfortunately and 
tragically, too late. But I suggest, if it is Hezbollah or if it is 
another terrorist organization which has

[[Page S7128]]

been provided training by either the Iranians or the Syrians, then I 
suggest we should respond and respond in the strongest fashion.
  I do not say every situation is similar, but I do remember with great 
clarity after the bombing of a cafe in Germany where American lives 
were taken, and we traced it back to Mr. Qadhafi, and there was a 
bombing raid on Mr. Qadhafi, Mr. Qadhafi has been very quiet ever since 
then--ever since. I do not suggest we bomb Damascus. I am not 
suggesting that we do anything to the Iranians militarily. That is a 
decision that the President as Commander in Chief makes, sometimes in 
consultation with the leaders of Congress.
  What I am suggesting is that antiterrorism photo ops do not do the 
job. The United States should lead. The United States should urge our 
allies to cooperate and assist us. I think it is about time. There 
seems to be some problem between ourselves and our European allies as 
to how to treat Iran. I would remind our European friends--and they are 
indeed our close and dear friends--that there are 20,000 American 
troops in Bosnia as we speak, who have their lives on the line. We 
believe that Iran is a threat to the peace and security, not only of 
the West, but the men and women in our military.
  So I applaud the Senator from North Carolina for his resolution. I 
know all of us support it. All of us share in the anguish and the anger 
and the sorrow of the families of Americans who have suffered death and 
injury in this latest outrage. Words do not adequately describe how 
strongly we feel about that.
  But now, or very soon, our efforts should be made to prevent a 
recurrence of this tragedy, this kind of tragedy which has already 
happened twice in the country of Saudi Arabia. The answer is not to 
leave Saudi Arabia, Mr. President, in my view, because when we leave 
countries because Americans are killed, it only encourages our 
adversaries to kill other Americans in other countries. But we do owe 
these men and women who have volunteered to defend the Nation, not only 
every possible security measure--which I am sure is being taken as we 
speak--but we owe them a response. We owe a response to this act of 
terror, which will prevent further acts of terror from being 
contemplated by the evil that seems rampant through the world.
  I yield the floor. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bennett). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  Mr. NUNN. I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. The clerk will continue to 
call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________