[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 122 (Wednesday, September 19, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9480-S9481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REFLECTIONS IN AFTERMATH OF TERRORIST ATTACK

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, all of us who come to the floor of the 
Senate are like most Americans today. In anything we do or approach, we 
approach it with a heavy heart, recognizing the devastation that has 
gone on around us that has been inflicted upon some of our friends or 
some associates we know of as it relates to the devastation the 
terrorists brought down upon New York City and here in Washington, DC, 
with our Nation's military center, the Pentagon.
  As we all know, the President asked for support and authority. This 
Congress responded last week very appropriately. I was not able to be 
here at that moment. I was en route to my son's wedding in Washington 
State.
  The difficulty of all of that was that I was not here, but I was also 
traveling at a very difficult time. Thirty some hours later, both my 
wife and I were able to observe a fine wedding, and we were pleased to 
be with our family and have our family around us, as I think most 
Americans would wish they could at a moment of crisis.
  I am now, as most public people, wrestling with a variety of 
decisions that will ultimately be critical to our country and will 
spell out, in part, our future and the success of this great Nation.
  I am confident that the administration is doing everything within its 
power at this moment to either directly or indirectly deal with the 
issue and to respond as all Americans and as most freedom-loving people 
in the world would wish we would.
  I submit for the Record the story of two Idahoans, one now announced 
dead, the other still missing as a result of the plane crash into the 
Pentagon. Their names are Ron Vauk and Brady Howell.
  I recommended Ron years ago to his appointment at the Naval Academy. 
He was an accomplished Naval Reserve officer, a submariner and Academy 
graduate who was on watch at the Naval Command Center last Tuesday. His 
family lives in Boise, ID. I talked with his mother this morning.
  Brady, on the other hand, was a 26-year-old newlywed from Sugar City, 
ID. He was a civilian employee at the Pentagon, excited about his job, 
and starting a family. Our hearts go out to all of them. I visited with 
his wife last evening.
  Many of us are experiencing that kind of a circumstance or situation 
as this crisis reaches down and out across America to touch many, if 
not all, of our citizens in a fairly direct way.
  I am always caught in the great resilience of America. While we were 
bent for a moment, we now arise from that stronger than ever and more 
greatly committed to the phenomenal values we, as of last Monday, took 
for granted: The freedom of movement, the marvelous sense of human 
individualness we had in this country, as protected by a Constitution 
that had provided an ultimate shield of individual freedom in our 
country. To have that shaken to its very core on Tuesday, to find out 
that we were just a little less free and a great deal more concerned 
about the very freedoms we have. Our challenge now is to be able to 
deal with it in a comprehensive and responsible way, to secure and 
maintain our civil liberties and, at the same time, to be able to draw 
bright lines that establish a much clearer line and sense of security 
for our people and in a way to detect and control the kind of 
environment in which terrorists can live and ultimately prosper. That 
is going to be the role and responsibility of this Congress.
  I, as most Americans, still stand resolved and optimistic that that 
can be done. It can be done well. We in the Senate have a role to play 
in all of that.
  Over the weekend, I was struck by the comments made by the foreign 
minister of the Taliban Government in response to our comments, that 
Osama bin Laden be turned over to U.S. authorities. The head of that 
government stated that it is not consistent with our custom for a host 
to ask a guest to leave. The guest must leave on his own accord: the 
President of the Taliban said.
  This statement confirms what all of us have assumed: that bin Laden 
is in Afghanistan and they are harboring him even at the risk of their 
own ruin.
  It is equally unfortunate that individuals in the media are already 
posturing the American people for a no-collateral damage goal in our 
military objectives against these terrorists. Such posturing is 
dangerous, as it clearly undermines the support of our President to act 
both in the short term as well as in the long term to do one very 
simple but overpowering thing--that is, to secure our Nation's security 
and our citizens' security and our freedom.
  I am confident this President will not bow down to the suggestion 
that there might or there should be no collateral damage. If his 
mission becomes clear, he already understands his goal.
  There is no doubt that many new legislative proposals will be debated 
here in the Senate in the coming months to address issues of American 
security and the fight against international terrorism. One of the 
issues I hope we will discuss is that of U.S. energy dependence. 
Clearly, as we watch Americans line up in front of Red Cross centers to 
give blood to help the wounded, let us remember the very lifeblood of 
this country's economy is the energy that drives it.
  I am not talking about the energy of the human mind. I am talking 
about the physical presence of energy--gas, oil, coal, the kinds of 
things that have fueled the economy that were turned into the 
phenomenal piece of explosive power we all watched last Tuesday.
  Now more than ever before Americans recognize that once again the 
Middle East is the crucible that could spell our success or failure or 
might dictate to us the character of our economy in years to come, for 
one simple reason: not the politics of the region--that is daunting 
enough as we know it--but it is what they provide for the economy of 
the world. They are the oil barrel of the world. From that we ask at 
least 55 to 60 percent of our use on a daily basis.
  We now consume in excess of 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Iraq 
alone. Is it possible that some of our own oil money is being turned 
against us in the form of the resources that the terrorists used 
ultimately to bring down the Trade Center and to punch a hole in the 
side of our Pentagon last Tuesday? Yes, it is possible. It is possible 
in part because for so many years we have ignored the fact of a growing 
dependency on foreign oil while we have turned ourselves away from 
increased domestic oil production and increased efficiency that 
ultimately produce the ability for our nation to stand alone, stand 
tall, and stand secure in its energy supply.
  At least for the last 2 years, Congress has been doing the right 
thing. We have been struggling mightily with the shaping of a national 
energy policy. President Bush has established that as one of his top 
legislative priorities: to create greater energy independence on the 
part of this country so that now we know more than ever before that we 
can act with relative independence as we shape new foreign policy, and 
now, of course, as we shape an antiterrorist strategy for our Nation, 
for the world, and for freedom-loving people all around the world. It 
is a piece of the whole--that is, a national energy policy. Unlike 
almost any other policy except defense, and except intelligence, energy 
is the ultimate tool of a capitalist society. It is the strength of our 
economy.
  As I mentioned, struggling to get across the country to get into the

[[Page S9481]]

State of Washington to my son's wedding on Friday and back on Sunday, I 
didn't ride on the wings of wind. I didn't walk. I rode on the force of 
energy, as do all Americans when they fly or when they drive or when 
they are transported around the world.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 3 additional minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I certainly conclude that that ought to be 
a priority--a national energy policy--and that we ought to be able to 
shape one in reasonable fashion in a couple of weeks. The House has 
already moved legislation. They have passed a national energy policy.
  Well over a month and a half ago, we began to mark up an energy 
policy bill for the Senate. I hope our leaders, Senator Daschle and 
Senator Lott, will ask the Energy Committee to come together and stay 
together for the next couple of weeks to produce a bill to be debated 
on the Senate floor. Our President deserves a national energy policy as 
part of our overall national security strategy at this moment on his 
desk, acceptable and ready to sign.
  I also believe we need to take a hard look at our intelligence 
community to make sure the shortcomings in predicting the events of the 
first Trade Center bombing, and the embassy bombing, and attack on the 
U.S.S. Cole and, of course, last week's attack do not recur.
  We must do better. We cannot accept past performance. I agree with 
the assessments of my colleagues that a major reinvestment in our human 
intelligence capabilities is needed and it must take place through a 
reorganizational effort. We have the world's best when it comes to 
technological advancement. We can look down on any part of the world 
with such detail that from miles high we can read the watch on the arm 
of someone on the ground. But we cannot read what is in that person's 
mind. That is impossible with the technology of today. That comes from 
the human side of the capability I talk about, which we have been 
under-investing in, or divesting of, for the last several decades.
  Clearly, we must get back into the minds of the citizens of the 
world--those who would do us damage and view our country as an enemy or 
an evil. It is only then that we can use the look-down from 3 miles 
high to determine where that person is going and when he or she may be 
there. But we must access the mind as well as observe the movement.
  If we can accomplish all of those things--and I believe we can, and I 
believe our President will ask us to invest in those--then we will all 
stand in a bipartisan way to support it, because what is at stake here 
is the very strength of our country and the very freedom of our 
citizens. I have never once questioned the fact that we will not only 
stand for the test, but in the end, without question, we will win.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, what question is before the Senate?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. H.R. 2590.
  Mr. BYRD. Has the Pastore rule run its course?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, it has.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair. That being the case, I can speak out of 
order. Are there any restrictions?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is none.
  Mr. BYRD. I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.

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