[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H10946-H10947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     THE RIGHT OF COUNTRIES TO SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST TERRORISM, AND 
   RECOGNIZING BRAVE AMERICANS ON THE FRONT LINES, AT HOME AND ABROAD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, as we depart for the Christmas and the rest 
of the holiday season, we all pray for peace and justice in the world. 
But I think that I have some concerns, as do others, that some people 
are having difficulty sorting the differences between terrorists and 
those who are trying to respond to terrorism.
  The people who attacked the World Trade Towers and who blew Americans 
up are not the same as when people like us try to respond. We need to 
understand that same difference in Israel. For example, when a 
terrorist who attacks innocent people who are going about their daily 
routine with the sole purpose of causing terror, that is different than 
trying to respond with as much precision as possible, although there 
may be innocents killed, which is unfortunate, but it is still 
different. We cannot hold Israel to a different standard than we hold 
ourselves.
  We now see the same problem in India. Once again, terrorists have 
stormed their Parliament and they have attempted to kill and 
assassinate the leadership of a democratic country. These are difficult 
times. They are difficult for us when we try to figure out how to 
respond, too. We all need to be carefully and prayerfully thinking of 
any response that might lead to more death in the world.
  At the same time, it would be wrong for the United States to say that 
it is okay for us to respond to terrorists, and not for other 
countries. We all, including us, should be wise and careful in our 
responses, but respond we must.
  I would also like to pay tribute to those brave Americans who are on 
the front lines protecting us all the time; not only our soldiers in 
Afghanistan and throughout the world, particularly those who are in 
immediate harm's way, but also to all the brave firemen and policemen 
who daily risk their lives to help us. We have all become more aware of 
their sacrifices.
  I also want to thank all those on the front lines trying to protect 
us from future terrorist attacks: those in the Coast Guard, the INS, 
the Border Patrol, the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and the U.S. 
Customs Service. Every day they are trying to protect us from future 
terrorist attacks and from chemical and biological attacks, whether it 
be anthrax, heroin, smallpox, or cocaine.
  Protecting our borders is not easy. It takes people of judgment, and 
daily they have to exercise that judgment.
  I was recently along a number of the borders in Washington State. 
Diane Dean is one of our American heroes, along here with Mark Johnson 
and Gerald Slaminski. In late 1999 at the Port Angeles Customs Station 
in Washington State, she thought one of the people were behaving 
suspiciously. She detained him. As they looked further, they thought he 
had stuff for a meth lab in the car.
  It turned out they were handling nitroglycerine. He had enough 
weapons to blow up LAX Airport, where they had the information that 
that was where he was headed to rendezvous with another person.
  Because one Customs officer detained and went through a thorough 
examination, and two other Customs officers basically violated orders 
and chased the person down the street, because we have this absurd 
position right now that if the person can get away from the immediate 
border, they cannot be chased, but they took it in their hands to chase 
him.
  We saved LAX Airport, and we also have a suspect who has been one of 
the key people, or we have a convict, basically, at this point, who has 
been one of the key people in identifying the al-Qaeda network in the 
United States and around the world. That information hopefully will 
save and has already saved and will save more lives in America and 
around the world.
  We need to thank these public servants who are so key in keeping each 
of us safe, not only during this holiday season, but all year long.
  Before closing, I would also like to add a few words of tribute to 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior). I came in as a fierce 
partisan in 1995. I have tremendous respect for people who are also 
fierce partisans.
  I also know he is a good man, a dedicated Midwesterner who stands up 
for the working man. And whether or not Members disagree with each 
other at times, it is important to have civility in this body. I 
believe he has been a fierce partisan, and that helps lead us to the 
type of debate that we have to have in America if we are going to 
arrive at public policy.
  Too often, it seems to be coming in this day and age that we are 
trending towards blow-dried cookie cutters, where we all sound the 
same, we all move the same. It is important that we have people of 
conviction and people that follow the patterns that many before us have 
set.
  I, too, will miss him in a different way. I will not miss part of his 
abilities and I will not miss part of his enthusiasm for his cause, but 
it is always a tragedy when we lose dedicated leaders who spent their 
lives having such an impact.
  I have appreciated his time here as one of the rowdy class of 1994.

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