[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2572-S2573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           STEPHANIE BERNSTEIN'S ADDRESS ON PAN AM FLIGHT 103

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, on Friday, March 16, Stephanie Bernstein, 
who lost her husband on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, 
addressed a conference on the future of Libyan-American relations 
hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the 
Atlantic Council, and the Middle East Institute.
  Ms. Bernstein's remarks are insightful and show, in very real human 
terms, the pain suffered by the Lockerbie families. They also 
demonstrate the need for the U.S. and the international community to 
keep the pressure on Qadhafi until he accepts responsibility for the 
actions of Libya's intelligence officer, tells what the Government of 
Libya knows about the bombing and compensates the families of the 
victims for this horrible tragedy.
  I urge my colleagues to read Ms. Bernstein's remarks as we consider 
the reauthorization of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act.
  I ask unanimous consent that her statement be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Remarks of Stephanie L. Bernstein--Conference on U.S.-Libyan Relations 
          after the Lockerbie Trial: Where Do We Go From Here?

                                                   March 16, 2001.
       I would like to thank the Atlantic Council, the Middle East 
     Institute, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for inviting me to 
     participate in this conference.
       I have been asked to talk from my perspective as someone 
     whose life has been profoundly and permanently altered by the 
     actions of the government of Libya. I am not a diplomat or a 
     politician, but an average citizen of a country, 189 of whose 
     citizens were brutally murdered on December 21, 1988. The 
     impact of this savage act of mass murder was described in 
     eloquent terms by the Lord Advocate of Scotland during his 
     remarks to the Scottish Court just prior to its sentencing of 
     the defendant, Megrahi, who was found guilty of murder on 
     January 31, 2001:
       ``More than 400 parents lost a son or daughter; 46 parents 
     lost their only child; 65 women were widowed; 11 men lost 
     their wives. More than 140 children lost a parent and 7 
     children lost both parents.''
       I would like to tell you briefly about one of the 270 
     people who was murdered in the Lockerbie bombing. My husband, 
     Mike Bernstein, was an ordinary person who died an 
     extraordinary death. His dreams were simple: he wanted to 
     guide his children into adulthood. He wanted to grow old with 
     his wife. He wanted to do work which brought him satisfaction 
     and which made the world a better place than he found it. He 
     graduated with distinction and high honors from the 
     University of Michigan, and received his law degree from the 
     University of Chicago, where he was an associate editor of 
     the Law Review. Mike was the Assistant Deputy Director of the 
     Office of Special Investigations at the U.S. Department of 
     Justice. This office finds, denaturalizes, and deports 
     persons from the United States who participated in Nazi 
     atrocities during World War II. Mike left two children, ages 
     7 and 4, a wife, a mother, and countless friends. He was 36 
     years old.
       Over the last 12 years, the family members of those who 
     were murdered in the Lockerbie have worked hard for some 
     measure of justice. As a result of our efforts, and with the 
     support of our many friends on Capitol Hill, legislation has 
     been passed which sought to make aviation safer from 
     terrorist acts and to put pressure on countries such as Libya 
     which have been state sponsors of terrorism. The Aviation 
     Security Act of 1992, the Lautenberg Amendment, and the Iran-
     Libya Sanctions Act would not be law without the efforts of 
     the Lockerbie families.
       On January 31 of this year, we achieved another victory 
     when Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a Libyan security agent (JSO), 
     was convicted of the murders of my husband and 269 others. 
     The Scottish Court was strong in its opinion that Megrahi was 
     acting at the behest of the Libyan government:
       ``The clear inference which we draw from this evidence is 
     that the conception, planning and execution of the plot which 
     led to the planting of the explosive device was of Libyan 
     origin.'' (p.75)
       ``We accept the evidence that he was a member of the JSO, 
     occupying posts of fairly high rank.'' (p. 80)
       Since the verdict, the Bush administration has been firm in 
     its insistence that Libya abide by the terms of the U.N. 
     Security Council Resolutions, which call for Libya to accept 
     responsibility for the bombing, and for payment of 
     appropriate compensation to the families. The sanctions are 
     rooted in the concept in international law that a government 
     is responsible for the wrongful acts of its officials.
       In a meeting with family members on February 8 of this 
     year, Secretary of State Colin Powell was clear in detailing 
     the Bush administration's policy:
       ``President Bush intends to keep the pressure on the Libyan 
     leadership, pressure to fulfill the remaining requirements of 
     the U.N. Security Council, including Libya's accepting 
     responsibility for the actions of its officials and paying 
     appropriate compensation.''
       The Bush administration has stated that the investigation 
     into the Lockerbie bombing is still open. A $5 million dollar 
     award is still in place for information leading to the arrest 
     and conviction of others involved in the bombing. State 
     Department spokesman Richard Boucher said last month that the 
     United States will follow the evidence ``wherever it leads.'' 
     Secretary Powell, in his meeting with the families, 
     elaborated on this as well:
       ``However we resolve this and however we move forward from 
     this point on, we reserve the right to continue to gather 
     more evidence and to bring more charges and new indictments . 
     . . So accepting responsibility as a leader of a nation, and 
     as a nation, doesn't excuse other criminals who might come to 
     the fore and be subject to indictment.''
       Unfortunately, there are others who have not supported the 
     reasonable aims of the Security Council, the United States, 
     and Great

[[Page S2573]]

     Britain. In an interview with The Indepdent on February 9 of 
     this year, Nelson Mandela, who helped broker the agreement 
     which persuaded Gaddafi to turn the suspects over for trial, 
     accused the U.S. and Great Britain of having ``moved the 
     goalposts'' on the issue of lifting sanctions.
       ``The condition that Gaddafi must accept responsiblity for 
     Lockerbie is totally unacceptable. As President for five 
     years I know that my intelligence services many times didn't 
     inform me before they took action. Sometimes I approved, 
     sometime I reprimanded them. Unless it's clear that 
     Gaddafi was involved in giving orders it's unfair to act 
     on that basis.
       I ask: is it really possible to believe that a Libyan 
     intelligence agent would carry out a massive operation such 
     as the downing of a passenger aircraft without approval from 
     those higher up the chain of command?
       Similarly, oil companies, some of whom I know are 
     represented here today, have seen the verdict as the first 
     step in resuming normal relations with Libya. Archie Dunham, 
     the Chairman and Chief Executive of Conoco, stated last month 
     that he was ``very optimistic'' that President Bush will lift 
     the unilateral U.S. sanctions against Libya, in part because 
     of the President and Vice President Cheney's ties to the 
     Texas oil industry.
       I find these efforts to promote business at the expense of 
     justice to be deeply disturbing. I am afraid that comments 
     such as those by Mr. Dunham and Mr. Mandela send a message 
     that terrorists and the countries which sponsor or harbor 
     them will not have to pay a significant price for their 
     actions. When we allow ourselves to believe, as is a popular 
     view now, that encouraging business relationships with 
     countries such as Libya which carry out terrorist acts will 
     somehow inoculate us against further terrorist attacks, I 
     believe that we are dangerously naive. Is it really good 
     business to do business with terrorists? Every corporation 
     represented in this room today must ask if it is worth it to 
     resume business in a country whose leader refuses to 
     acknowledge his responsibility for the mass murder of 270 
     human beings. Anyone in this room could have easily had a 
     loved one on Pan Am 103.
       Where do we go from here? The government of Libya and Col. 
     Gaddafi must accept responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am 
     103 and the murders of 270 people. The government of Libya 
     must pay appropriate compensation to the families. The 
     government of the United States must continue to pursue and 
     develop information leading to the indictments, arrest, and 
     conviction of the others responsible for the bombing. The 
     world community must realize that lifting the sanctions 
     against Libya before Libya has fully complied with them sends 
     a signal that the civilized countries of the world are not 
     serious about going after perpetrators of mass murder. The 
     business community must know that sweeping Pan Am 103 under 
     the rug will, ultimately, not be good for business. We must 
     press for renewal of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act which is 
     due to expire in August. We must re-impose the U.N. sanctions 
     if the Libyan government does not comply with the terms of 
     the original sanctions. Support for these positions is 
     embodied in a current Sense of Congress resolution which has 
     bipartisan support.
       Finally, I think it is vital for everyone to know that the 
     Pan Am families will not go away. In a Reuters article dated 
     February 13 of this year, Saad Djebbar, a London based lawyer 
     who has advised the Libyan government was quoted as follows:
       ``The more the United States sticks to the original 
     agreement that the aim of the process was the surrender and 
     trial of the two accused, the more the Libyans will cooperate 
     and compensate the families.''
       I interpret this to mean that if the families back off, the 
     government of Libya will pay compensation to the families. 
     This cynical approach dishonors the memories of our loved 
     ones and we will never agree to it. Continuing to pursue what 
     and who was behind the Lockerbie bombing and the acceptance 
     of responsibility by the Libyan government are goals which 
     will not be abandoned by the families.
       Another British expert on Libya, George Joffe, was quoted 
     in the same article as follows:
       ``Gaddafi knows he's going to have to pay compensation. The 
     question is whether he can control the domestic agenda and 
     curb his own tongue over the next few months, and whether 
     extremists on the other side of the Atlantic among the 
     families and their supporters in Congress can be kept under 
     control.''
       The ultimate resolution of the rift between the United 
     States and Libya does not hinge on whether Gaddafi can ``keep 
     his tongue.'' The ultimate resolution will come when the 
     Libyan government meets its responsibilities to the families 
     and to the international community. As for the families and 
     our supporters in Congress being ``kept under control''--we 
     have been invigorated by the verdict of the Scottish court, 
     and we will not go away.

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