[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 133 (Friday, October 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1820-E1822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3049, AFGHANISTAN FREEDOM ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 5, 2001

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have today introduced the ``Afghanistan 
Freedom Act of 2001'', H.R. 3049.
  This legislation is intended to underscore to the American people and 
to the international community our unequivocal commitment to the war on 
terrorism that was thrust upon us by the barbaric September 11th 
terrorist attack on

[[Page E1821]]

our nation. This legislation further underscores that the enemy in this 
war includes not only the terrorists who attacked us, but also the 
regimes that harbor those terrorists.
  One such regime is the Taliban in Afghanistan.
  Since 1996, the Taliban has harbored Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda 
organization, who were the authors of the September 11th attack on our 
nation. The Taliban cannot claim that they were unaware that Osama bin 
Laden was plotting war against our nation from the refuge they afforded 
him in Afganistan.
  Osama bin Laden and a number of his associates were indicted for 
orchestrating the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, 
and the United Nations Security Council joined our nation in demanding 
that the Taliban surrender them to stand trial for their crimes. The 
Taliban refused. As a result, the United Nations Security Council 
imposed mandatory sanctions on the Taliban in 1999.
  Following this action, the Taliban chose to continue harboring Osama 
bin Laden rather than take the steps necessary to end the United 
Nations sanctions. Because the Taliban chose to place the interests of 
Osama bin Laden over the interests of the Afghan people, he was able to 
orchestrate from his base in Afghanistan the September 11th terrorist 
attack on our nation that claimed approximately 6,000 lives.
  In view of these facts, there can be no doubt that the Taliban shares 
responsibility for the September 11th terrorist attack on our nation. 
In waging this war that has been thrust upon us, our objectives must 
include not only the capture of Osama bin Laden and the destruction of 
his terrorist organization, but also the removal from power of the 
Taliban regime in Afganistan.
  This legislation gives the President important authorities that he 
can use to help our nation succeed in this effort. It authorizes him to 
provide up to $300 million in military assistance to resistance 
organizations in Afghanistan that are today fighting to overthrow the 
Taliban. It affords the President wide latitude in selecting which 
organizations should receive this assistance. In addition, the 
legislation authorizes $300 million in humanitarian assistance to 
refugees and other victims of the conflict in Afghanistan. And it 
mandates the establishment of a Radio Free Afghanistan to broadcast a 
message of hope to the people of Afghanistan.
  Finally, the legislation seeks to put teeth in the existing United 
Nations sanctions on the Taliban. It requires regular reports to 
Congress regarding whether any governments are violating those 
sanctions, and it authorizes the President to impose severe penalties 
on any governments that he determines are endangering our U.S. military 
personnel or other U.S. citizens by aiding the Taliban in defiance of 
United Nations mandates.
  By this legislation, we do not declare war on the Taliban. Rather, we 
recognize that the Taliban has declared war on us, and we seek to equip 
the President with some of the tools he will need to prevail in this 
conflict.

                               H.R. 3049

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Afghanistan Freedom Act of 
     2001''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The rise to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan has 
     caused a drastic decline in the human, political, and civil 
     rights of the Afghan people, particularly among women, girls, 
     and ethnic minorities.
       (2) In the year 2001, millions of Afghans are on the verge 
     of starvation, the largest such group in the world.
       (3) The United States is the single largest donor of 
     humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, totaling more than 
     $185,000,000 in fiscal year 2001.
       (4) There are approximately 2,000,000 Afghan refugees in 
     Pakistan, 1,500,000 Afghan refugees in Iran, and 1,000,000 
     internally displaced persons in Afghanistan, most fleeing 
     oppression, violence, and economic hardship.
       (5) During the period of Taliban rule, Afghanistan has 
     become the world's largest source of illegal opium, and 
     proceeds from the sale of raw opium to drug traffickers are 
     used by the Taliban to finance its war on the Afghan people.
       (6) Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become a training 
     ground, operational base, and safe haven for terrorists and 
     international terrorist organizations, many of whom gain 
     experience fighting alongside Taliban forces inside 
     Afghanistan prior to conducting terrorist operations outside 
     Afghanistan.
       (7) The Taliban have, since 1996, harbored and protected 
     terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and members of his terrorist 
     al Qaeda network.
       (8) Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda associates were 
     indicted for the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United 
     States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-es-Salaam, 
     Tanzania, as a result of which the United Nations Security 
     Council adopted Resolution 1267 (1999), demanding that the 
     Taliban surrender Osama bin Laden for trial and determining 
     that the Taliban's continued provision of sanctuary to 
     international terrorist organizations constitutes a threat to 
     international peace and security.
       (9) In order to compel the Taliban to surrender Osama bin 
     Laden and terminate support for international terrorist 
     organizations, the United Nations Security Council has 
     imposed progressively more comprehensive sanctions on the 
     Taliban under Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 (2000), and 1363 
     (2001), which sanctions are binding on all members of the 
     United Nations under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United 
     Nations.
       (10) As a result of the Taliban's failure to comply with 
     the demands of the United States and the United Nations 
     Security Council, Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network 
     were able to orchestrate from Afghanistan the September 11, 
     2001, terrorist attack on the United States in which 
     approximately 6,000 Americans and foreign nationals were 
     murdered.
       (11) The Taliban have, since the September 11th attack on 
     the United States, rejected all entreaties by the United 
     States and other governments to surrender Osama bin Laden, 
     close down international terrorist operations in Afghanistan, 
     and comply with the other demands that have been made by the 
     United Nations Security Council.
       (12) Afghanistan is an ethnically diverse nation that can 
     prosper only under a representative government that affords 
     all citizens of that nation their basic human rights, 
     restores peace and security, eradicates the drug trade, and 
     brings all terrorists and terrorist organizations in 
     Afghanistan to justice.

     SEC. 3. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD AFGHANISTAN.

       It shall be the policy of the United States to promote the 
     removal from power of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan so as 
     to diminish the risk of future terrorist attack on the United 
     States and restore basic human freedoms to the people of 
     Afghanistan.

     SEC. 4. MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO AFGHAN RESISTANCE 
                   ORGANIZATIONS.

       (a) Authority To Provide Military Assistance.--
       (1) Types of assistance.--The President is authorized to 
     direct the drawdown of defense articles from the stocks of 
     the Department of Defense, defense services of the Department 
     of Defense, and military education and training for eligible 
     Afghan resistance organizations.
       (2) Amount of assistance.--The aggregate value (as defined 
     in section 644(m) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) of 
     assistance provided under paragraph (1) may not exceed 
     $300,000,000.
       (b) Eligible Afghan Resistance Organizations.--An Afghan 
     resistance organization shall be eligible to receive 
     assistance under subsection (a) if the President determines 
     and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that 
     such organization, or coalition of organizations, is 
     committed to--
       (1) the removal from power of the Taliban regime in 
     Afghanistan;
       (2) preservation of the territorial integrity and political 
     independence of Afghanistan;
       (3) respect for internationally recognized human rights; 
     and
       (4) the suppression of terrorism in all of its forms and 
     the surrender to justice of all international terrorists in 
     Afghanistan, including perpetrators of the September 11, 
     2001, attack on the United States.
       (c) Reimbursement for Assistance.--
       (1) In general.--Defense articles, defense services, and 
     military education and training provided under subsection (a) 
     shall be made available without reimbursement to the 
     Department of Defense except to the extent that funds are 
     appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations 
     under paragraph (2).
       (2) Authorization of appropriations.--
       (A) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the President for fiscal year 2002 such sums as may be 
     necessary to reimburse the applicable appropriation, fund, or 
     account for the value (as defined in section 644(m) of the 
     Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) of defense articles, defense 
     services, or military education and training provided under 
     subsection (a).
       (B) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
     authorization of appropriations under subparagraph (A) are 
     authorized to remain available until expended, and are in 
     addition to amounts otherwise available for the purposes 
     described in this section.
       (e) Authority To Provide Assistance.--Activities under this 
     section may be undertaken notwithstanding any other provision 
     of law.

     SEC. 5. DISASTER AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR THE PEOPLE 
                   OF AFGHANISTAN.

       (a) Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance.--Chapter 9 of 
     part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292 
     et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 495L. AFGHAN RELIEF, REHABILITATION, AND 
                   RECONSTRUCTION.

       ``(a) Declaration of Policy.--Congress recognizes that 
     prompt United States assistance is necessary to alleviate the 
     human suffering of the people of Afghanistan from four years 
     of extreme drought and 20 years of civil war and to restore 
     the confidence of the people in that country.
       ``(b) Assistance.--The President is authorized to furnish 
     assistance on such terms and conditions as the President may 
     determine for the relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction 
     needs of the people of Afghanistan, including displaced 
     persons and other needy

[[Page E1822]]

     people. Assistance provided under this section shall be for 
     humanitarian purposes with emphasis on providing food, 
     medicine and medical care, clothing, temporary shelter, and 
     transportation for emergency supplies and personnel.
       ``(c) Policies and Authorities To Be Applied.--(1) 
     Assistance under this section shall be provided in accordance 
     with the policies and general authorities of section 491.
       ``(2) Assistance under this section or any other provision 
     of law to alleviate the human suffering caused by famine and 
     disease in Afghanistan shall be provided, to the maximum 
     extent practicable, through international agencies, private 
     voluntary organizations, and any eligible Afghan resistance 
     organization.
       ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry out 
     this section $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002 
     and 2003. Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization 
     of appropriations under the preceding sentence are in 
     addition to amounts otherwise available for such purposes and 
     are authorized to remain available until expended.''.
       (b) Other Assistance for Afghanistan.--
       (1) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide 
     assistance from funds made available to carry out chapter 4 
     of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to 
     the economic support fund) for the provision of food, 
     medicine, or other assistance to the Afghan people, 
     notwithstanding any other provision of law.
       (2) Amount of assistance.--In each of fiscal years 2002 and 
     2003, not less than $50,000,000 of the aggregate amount of 
     funds made available to carry out chapter 4 of part II of the 
     Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is authorized to be made 
     available for assistance to the Afghan people pursuant to 
     paragraph (1).

     SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN.

       (a) Establishment.--The Broadcasting Board of Governors is 
     authorized to make grants for surrogate radio broadcasting by 
     RFE/RL, Incorporated (formerly known as Radio Free Europe/
     Radio Liberty) to the people of Afghanistan in languages 
     spoken in Afghanistan, such broadcasts to be designated 
     ``Radio Free Afghanistan''.
       (b) Submission of Plan to Broadcasting Board of 
     Governors.--Not later than 15 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, RFE/RL, Incorporated, shall submit to 
     the Broadcasting Board of Governors a detailed plan for the 
     establishment of the surrogate radio broadcasting described 
     in subsection (a).
       (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003.--In addition to such sums 
     as are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal 
     years 2002 and 2003 for ``International Broadcasting 
     Operations'', $8,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for 
     the fiscal year 2002 and $6,000,000 is authorized to be 
     appropriated for the fiscal year 2003 for ``International 
     Broadcasting Operations'' to be available only for the 
     surrogate radio broadcasting described in subsection (a).
       (2) Transmitter.--Of the amounts authorized to be 
     appropriated by paragraph (1) for the fiscal year 2002, 
     $1,500,000 shall be available only for a new transmitter for 
     the surrogate radio broadcasting described in subsection (a).

     SEC. 7. COMPLIANCE WITH MEASURES DIRECTED AGAINST THE TALIBAN 
                   BY THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL.

       (a) Reports to Congress.--Not later than one month after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, and every three months 
     thereafter until the President determines and reports to the 
     appropriate congressional committees that the Taliban no 
     longer exercises power in any part of Afghanistan, the 
     President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report that identifies the government of each 
     foreign country with respect to which there is credible 
     information that the government has, on or after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, violated, or permitted persons 
     subject to its jurisdiction to violate, measures directed 
     against the Taliban pursuant to United Nations Security 
     Council Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 (2000), or 1363 (2001), 
     or pursuant to any other United Nations Security Council 
     resolution adopted under the authority of Chapter VII of the 
     Charter of the United Nations.
       (b) Content of Reports.--Each report submitted under 
     subsection (a) shall detail with respect to each government 
     of a foreign country identified in such report the nature of 
     the violation (other than violations detailed in previous 
     reports submitted pursuant to this section), and shall 
     evaluate--
       (1) the importance of the violation to the efforts of the 
     Taliban to remain in power in Afghanistan;
       (2) the importance of the violation to the efforts of 
     terrorist groups to continue operating from Afghanistan; and
       (3) the risk posed by such violation to the safety of the 
     United States Armed Forces and the armed forces of other 
     countries acting in coalition with the United States.
       (c) Authority To Impose United States Sanctions.--The 
     President is authorized to impose one or more of the United 
     States sanctions provided in subsection (d) if the President 
     determines and reports to the appropriate congressional 
     committees that--
       (1) a government of a foreign country identified in a 
     report submitted under subsection (a) has knowingly violated, 
     or knowingly permitted persons subject to its jurisdiction to 
     violate, measures directed against the Taliban pursuant to 
     United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 
     (2000), or 1363 (2001), or pursuant to any other United 
     Nations Security Council resolution adopted under the 
     authority of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United 
     Nations; and
       (2) such violation has put at risk the lives of members of 
     the United States Armed Forces, or other United States 
     citizens.
       (d) United States Sanctions Authorized To Be Imposed.--The 
     United States sanctions referred to in subsection (c) are the 
     following:
       (1) No assistance may be provided to that government or 
     nationals under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or the 
     Arms Export Control Act.
       (2) No license may be issued for any transfer to that 
     government or nationals of any goods, services, or technology 
     controlled under the Arms Export Control Act, the Export 
     Administration Act of 1979, or the Export Administration 
     Regulations.
       (3) The restrictions of subsections (a) and (b) of section 
     3 of the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 3(a) and 
     (b)) shall apply to relations between the United States and 
     the government of a foreign country and all nationals of that 
     country with respect to which the President makes a 
     determination described in subsection (c).

     SEC. 8. SUBMISSION OF DETERMINATIONS AND REPORTS IN 
                   CLASSIFIED FORM.

       When the President considers it appropriate, determinations 
     and reports to the appropriate congressional committees 
     submitted under this Act, or appropriate parts thereof, may 
     be submitted in classified form.

     SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
     on International Relations of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
       (2) National.--The term ``national'' means, with respect to 
     a foreign country, a national of the country, including a 
     natural person, corporation, business association, 
     partnership, or other entity operating as a business 
     enterprise under the laws of the country.

     

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