[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               UNIFIED STRATEGY NEEDED TO FIGHT TERRORISM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 28, 1998

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, the August 7 bombings outside U.S. 
embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, were the 
latest crimes to be added to a growing list of terrorists attacks where 
Americans died brutally, without warning, and unnecessarily. These 
bombings join a list which includes the World Trade Center in New York 
City, Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the Federal Building in 
Oklahoma City.
  Our Nation did respond to the killing of 12 Americans and nearly 300 
Kenyans and Tanzanians. Based on evidence that further attacks were 
planned, United States armed forces struck terrorist-related facilities 
in Afghanistan and Sudan, targeting one of the most active terrorist 
bases in the world and a factory involved in the production of 
materials for chemical weapons. Two suspects have been arrested and 
others are being pursued. But in this tragedy's aftermath, the U.S. 
must also learn from the incidents and take steps to ensure that our 
citizens and installations are protected in the future.
  Since June of 1997, I have released four reports prepared by the 
General Accounting Office (GAO) detailing U.S. efforts to combat 
terrorism. The first report, entitled, ``Combating Terrorism: Status of 
DOD Efforts to Protect its Forces Overseas,'' dealt with anti-
terrorism. It concluded that uniform security standards were necessary 
to ensure the safety of Americans around the world.
  In September of 1997, GAO released a second report entitled, 
``Combating Terrorism: Federal Agencies' Efforts to Implement National 
Security Policy and Strategy.'' This report focused on counter 
terrorism--those offensive measures for deterring, resolving, and 
managing terrorist acts. It outlined specific roles and 
responsibilities of the 40 Federal departments, agencies, and bureaus 
involved in counter terrorism, as well as their respective 
capabilities.
  ``Combating Terrorism: Spending on Governmentwide Programs Requires 
Better Management and Coordination'' was released in December of 1997. 
This third GAO report focused on total government-wide spending levels 
to combat terrorism. While it revealed that a significant amount of 
resources--more than $7 billion a year--were committed annually to 
combat terrorism, there were some deficiencies, including the absence 
of regular government-wide priorities, and the lack of an assessment 
process to coordinate and focus government efforts. Moreover, the 
report found that no government office or entity maintained the 
authority to enforce coordination.
  In its fourth report, ``Combating Terrorism: Threat and Risk 
Assessments Can Help Prioritize and Target Program Investments,'' GAO 
reviewed the implementation of the 1996 Defense Against Weapons of Mass 
Destruction Act, popularly known as the Defense Department's Nunn-
Lugar-Domenici program. It recommended the adoption of a formal threat 
and risk assessment process to enhance state and local capabilities and 
suggested that the FBI lead this effort.

  These GAO reports marked the first attempt by any government agency 
to take a comprehensive look at federal activities to fight terrorism. 
While we learned a great deal from these reports, we still have a long 
way to go. As the work of the GAO has helped us discover, our approach 
may be fundamentally flawed: Too many different federal agencies and 
local governments possess existing or emerging capabilities for 
responding to a terrorist attack; there are uneven and nearly 
incompatible levels of expertise; and our efforts are complicated by 
duplication and poor communication. To put it simply, with so many 
agencies involved, the left hand may not know what the right hand is 
doing. We must have a unified strategy to fight terrorism--we cannot 
have agencies fighting turf battles.
  There has been some movement in the right direction to respond to the 
threat of terrorism. In May, the Administration announced the formation 
of ten regional rapid assessment teams. These teams are part of the 
Defense Department's overall effort to support local, state, and 
federal civil authorities in the event of an incident involving the use 
of weapons of mass destruction. Congress has included money in the 
Fiscal Year 1999 DOD Authorized bill for this program, which is 
coordinated through the National Guard. The Missouri National Guard 
will play a leading role as host to one of the ten regional terrorism 
response teams.
  The recent bombings are a terrible reminder that we must take the 
threat of terrorism seriously. We must realize that the struggle 
against terrorism will be protracted, and moreover, we must resist 
complacency--we must not too quickly forget the death and destruction 
that can be wreaked by fanatical extremists committed to waging war on 
the United States.
  America has battled terrorism for many years. We have acted to bring 
terrorists to justice, to penetrate their organizations, to disrupt 
their plans, and to isolate their sponsors. Nevertheless, it is a 
virtual certainty that American citizens and American facilities will 
be attacked again, and not just in the traditional terrorist ways. To a 
distressing extent, the information and components necessary to build 
nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons of mass destruction are 
increasingly and readily accessible. In addition, the dependence of our 
military services and critical civilian infrastructures on information 
technology has made us vulnerable to information warfare. This 
vulnerability requires vigilance and the development of protective and 
redundant systems so that we can maintain our decisive technological 
edge.
  If Congress and the Administration are willing to develop a unified 
strategy and commit adequate resources, we can prepare an effective 
defense against terrorism. First, we must give careful scrutiny to the 
United States counter-terrorism and anti-terrorism programs and 
policies. In addition, we must insist that our military, law 
enforcement, intelligence, and diplomatic forces are effectively 
arrayed, equipped, and trained, and that they are given the authority 
to take action against terrorists. Finally, we must ensure that both 
anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts are comprehensive and 
efficient.

                          ____________________