[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   AMIA TERRORIST BOMBING ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this week is the third anniversary of the 
terrible destructive AMIA terrorist bombing of the Jewish community 
center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This deadly international terrorist 
attack, directed at the very heart of the Jewish center of life in 
Argentina, took 86 lives, and wounded more than 300 innocents. It has 
badly shaken the confidence of the largest Jewish community in Latin 
America on the critical issue of their very safety and security.
  It is essential for the Argentine authorities, the U.S. Government, 
and the world community to do all we can both individually and 
collectively to bring to justice those who undertook this deadly and 
cowardly terrorist act.
  Hizballah, with its known links to Iran, and which our Government and 
others have indicated were responsible for this AMIA attack, is now 
clearly operating in our own hemisphere. We are all at risk. We must 
all work to insure that those responsible for this terrorist act are 
brought to justice and that the message is clearly sent that terrorism, 
no matter where or why, will not go unpunished by civilized society.
  Our International Relations Committee staff have visited Argentina in 
an effort to see what more the United States can do to help solve this 
terrorist bombing. Based on our staff inquiry, the committee asked that 
the State Department, which runs a very effective international 
terrorist rewards program, have its experts visit Argentina and offer 
assistance. We now have offered to help the Argentine authorities 
develop a meaningful and effective publicity program for their own 
already announced terrorist reward for help in solving this deadly AMIA 
attack.
  We anxiously await the further publication and distribution of 
additional material and efforts by Argentina to publicize the reward on 
the AMIA attack. As we know, our own reward efforts along these lines 
have played a critical role in solving or bringing to justice 
individuals from around the globe involved in international terrorist 
attacks directed at the United States.

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