[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 123 (Thursday, September 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H5738-H5739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                   UNITED STATES SHOULD NOT OVERREACT

  (Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, the attacks of last week were the most evil, 
tragic actions ever carried out in this country.
  I have said many times that we need to take the strongest possible 
action

[[Page H5739]]

against bin Laden and other terrorists. However, we must be very 
careful not to overreact. If we go overboard and have an almost panic-
type reaction, we will be doing just what the terrorist want us to do.
  The Wall Street Journal reports today that bin Laden's fortune is 
nowhere close to the $300 million stated in some stories, that his 
fortune has been wildly exaggerated, and bin Laden's network is a 
``primitive and cheap force.'' Besides that, we have just appropriated 
$40 billion in emergency funding, and today we start on a bill to give 
the military the biggest increase in history following 6 straight years 
of multi-billion dollar increases.
  I believe bin Laden has probably been shocked by the worldwide 
condemnation he received even from people and countries he probably 
thought would support him. We need to take the terrorists' threats very 
seriously, but it would be a very bad mistake to greatly overreact. We 
need to carry on the other functions of government too, and as 
President Bush has urged, try to get back to normal as soon as we 
possibly can.

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