[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 22, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SALE OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES TO TERRORIST STATES IS UNACCEPTABLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, a number of us have prepared a letter 
that we will be sending tomorrow, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Gilman), chairman of the Committee on International Relations; the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez); the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Ms. Ros-Lehtinen); the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Wexler); the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutsch); and the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. McCollum). We are certain many others will sign tomorrow.
  We have prepared a letter, and we are sending it to the Speaker 
tomorrow and it reads as follows: ``Dear Mr. Speaker, we are deeply 
concerned about a controversial section of the Senate Agriculture 
Appropriations Bill which would effectively reverse a quarter century's 
worth of steadfast resistance to terrorism. Language inserted by 
Senator Ashcroft would allow the direct sale of broadly defined 
agricultural commodities to terrorist States which have American blood 
on their hands.
  ``We would have thought that by now Members of Congress would 
understand the evil of appeasement and danger of conducting business as 
usual with terrorist governments. Americans continue to suffer attacks 
by terrorists and die worldwide, yet certain Members of Congress push 
for trade with and financing for terrorist States. Inclusion in the 
conference report of this language would underscore a basic lack of 
commitment to fight terrorism and open the door to broader unrestricted 
trade with terrorist States.
  ``The controversial Ashcroft language is not included in the House 
version of the bill. However, Senate conferees have rejected earnest 
efforts to compromise and, in doing so, have needlessly made this 
section increasingly controversial and unacceptable.
  ``Mr. Speaker, there is more to America than the drive to make money 
at any cost. Profit from business with terrorist governments is blood 
money and is simply not acceptable.''
  Now, according to the State Department's overview of State-sponsored 
terrorism, the 1998, the latest version available, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, 
Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria are the seven governments that the 
U.S. Secretary of State has designated as state sponsors of 
international terrorism. They would be the seven states to which, if 
this Senate language is passed, is accepted, we could start selling to, 
and financing would be permitted.
  According to the State Department, and I read here, ``Cuba maintains 
close ties to other state sponsors of terrorism and leftist insurgent 
groups and continues to provide safe haven to a number of international 
terrorists.
  ``Iran continues to plan and conduct terrorist attacks, including the 
assassination of dissidents abroad. It supports a variety of groups 
that use terrorism to pursue their goals, including several that 
opposed the Middle East Peace Process, by providing varying degrees of 
money, training, safe haven and weapons.
  ``Iraq provides safe haven to terrorists and rejectionist groups, and 
continues its efforts to rebuild its intelligence network, which it 
used previously to support international terrorism. The leader of the 
Abu Nidal organization may have relocated to Baghdad in late 1998.''

                              {time}  2030

  Libya harbors suspects in the bombing of the UTA Flight 772, although 
French authorities agreed to try the six in absentia. Several Middle 
Eastern terrorist groups continue to receive support from Libya, 
including the PIJ and the PFLP-GC.
  North Korea, though not linked definitively to any act of 
international terrorism in the last couple of years, continues to 
provide safehaven to terrorists who highjacked a Japanese airliner to 
North Korea.
  Sudan provides safehaven to some of the world's most violent 
terrorist groups, including Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qaida, and the 
Hezbollah, the PIJ, and the ANO and HAMAS.
  The Sudanese Government also refuses to comply with the United 
Nations Security Council demands that it hand over for trial fugitives 
linked to the assassination attempt against the president of Egypt.
  Syria continues to provide sanctuary and support for a number of 
terrorist groups that seek to disrupt the Middle East peace process.
  These are the states which if that Senate language remains in the 
Committee on Agriculture conference report, if it is included in that 
conference report, will be eligible for American sales and financing 
from the United States.
  I would remind my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, that it is unreasonable, I 
would say naive, to assume that there will not be a cost, a political 
cost, as well as an ethical cost, to be paid for helping terrorists 
states.
  The American people are not naive. The American people are not 
stupid. The American people are going to reject authorization of 
American sales and American financing to terrorist states.
  I wanted tonight, Mr. Speaker, to take this opportunity to inform my 
colleagues and the American people through C-SPAN of the urgency of the 
moment so that they will get in contact immediately with their Members 
of Congress here in the House and tell them, reject the Ashcroft 
language, reject the pro-terrorism language that Senator Ashcroft 
included in the Senate agricultural appropriations bill, reject the 
pro-terrorist state language.
  The House continues to insist in that rejection. The American people 
need to make their opinions heard right now.

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