[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 113 (Tuesday, September 10, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8434-S8435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS FOR CREW AND PASSENGERS OF FLIGHT 93

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to proceed as 
if in morning business to discuss legislation I have pending, S. 1434, 
a bill which has 69 cosponsors, which would give the Congressional 
Medal to all of the crew and passengers on flight 93 which crashed in 
Shanksville, PA, on September 11, 2001.
  As we know from cellphone conversations from passengers on that 
plane, the passengers took over the plane from the terrorists, at least 
to the extent of depriving the terrorists control where the terrorists, 
as was widely suspected, were headed for the Capitol of the United 
States. And the plane crashed in Shanksville, PA, killing all of those 
on board.
  It seems to me this is a unique place for the Congressional Gold 
Medal, because those passengers saved the Congress. Had that plane 
reached the Capitol, this Chamber would not now be in existence, nor 
the Rotunda, nor the House of Representatives. It is hard to say in the 
morning, perhaps midmorning, how many Members of the Congress of the 
United States and staff would not be here today. In seeking this 
recognition, it is a very unique opportunity to acknowledge those 
passengers.

  This bill has languished because it has gotten tied up, as it is not 
uncommon for legislation to be tied up for a variety of other reasons. 
There are some who want to give medals to everyone who died on 
September 11, which I think is a fine idea. There are some who want to 
give medals to all of those who were in the rescue squads from the 
police precincts or fire stations or the Port Authority. And there, 
again, I think that is a commendable idea. And all the ideas to 
recognize other people may be fine, but they can take their turn on 
legislation.
  But this legislation ought to be enacted before sunset tomorrow, 
before September 11, 2002, expires. I am now working with some of my 
colleagues in the Senate to accomplish that. If we cannot accomplish 
that, then I am going to ask unanimous consent to call up S. 1434, 
which has 69 cosponsors. It should have been discharged from committee 
a long time ago. With 69 cosponsors, that is 18 more votes than 
necessary to pass legislation in the Senate.
  There is a bill in the House of Representatives which approaches the 
issue slightly differently. The proposal in the House is to leave the 
decision up to the Attorney General of the United States. Well, that 
might be a good idea if there was something for the Attorney General to 
determine that we do not now know. But all of the knowable facts as to 
what happened on flight 93 are now known.
  The Attorney General cannot conduct an investigation and pinpoint any 
specific individuals. And it is doubtless true that some individuals 
were more responsible for taking control of the plane away from the 
terrorists than others. But all were present. And all of those who were 
present were accessories to heroism. They lent their support by their 
presence. Of course, they could not go anywhere else, but the 
passengers brought down the plane. And the passengers saved the Capitol 
of the United States.
  Interestingly, just yesterday, The New York Times published a release 
which contains confirmation from key al-Qaida operatives that flight 93 
was, in fact, headed for the Capitol. That has been a fairly accepted 
conclusion, but this is what the New York Times story of yesterday, 
September 9, says:
  Yosri Fouda, correspondent for the satellite station Al-Jazeera, told 
The Associated Press that he was taken, blindfolded, to a secret 
location in Pakistan to meet Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi 
Binalshibh in a June interview arranged by al-Qaida operatives.
  The thrust of the story is that the al-Qaida operatives said that 
flight 93 was headed for the Capitol. So, in essence, I think we have 
waited long enough. I think this action ought to be completed before 
sunset on September 11, 2002. And I hope we can work out an 
accommodation from the Members who are now with varying points of view. 
But, as I say, I will ask unanimous consent that the bill be acted upon 
before sunset tomorrow.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of this New 
York Times report identifying from al-Qaida operatives the fact that 
this plane, flight 93, was headed for the Capitol, be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Sept. 9, 2002]

                   Report: Congress Was on 9/11 List

                       (By the Associated Press)

       Dubai, United Arab Emirates--The U.S. Congress was the 
     fourth American landmark on al-Qaida's Sept. 11 hit list and 
     the terror group also considered striking U.S. nuclear 
     facilities, according to a purported interview with two al-
     Qaida fugitives wanted in the terrorist attack.
       Yosri Fouda, correspondent for the satellite station Al-
     Jazeera, told The Associated Press that he was taken, 
     blindfolded, to a secret location in Pakistan to meet Khalid 
     Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalsshibh in a June interview 
     arranged by al-Qaida operatives.
       Founda said he has waited until now to air the audiotaped 
     interview--it is scheduled to be broadcast Thursday on the 
     pan-Arab satellite station--because he wanted to include it 
     in a documentary marking the first anniversary of the Sept. 
     11 attacks.
       In an article in London's Sunday Times, Fouda wrote that he 
     learned during the interviews that the U.S. Congress had been 
     al-Qaida's fourth Sept. 11 target. Two hijacked planes 
     slammed into the World Trade Center, another into the 
     Pentagon, and a fourth went down in a Pennsylvanian field.
       U.S. counterterrorism officials, speaking on condition of 
     anonymity, said many of Mohammed's statements about the 
     origins of the Sept. 11 plot are plausible, but they have no 
     information that would verify those claims.
       The officials could not corroborate Mohammed's statements 
     that the U.S. Capitol was the intended target of the fourth 
     plane or that nuclear power plants had also been considered 
     as potential targets for the Sept. 11 attacks.
       Abu Zubaydah, a top al-Qaida leader in U.S. custody since 
     March, told interrogators that the White House was the fourth 
     plane's target, U.S. officials have said.
       U.S. officials regard Mohammed as one of the highest-
     ranking al-Qaida leaders still at large and believe he is 
     still planning attacks against U.S. interests. U.S. officials 
     say Binalshibh belonged to a Hamburg-based cell led by 
     Mohammed Atta, an Egyptian suspected of leading the Sept. 11 
     hijackers.
       ``I am the head of the al-Qaida military committee and 
     Ramzi (Binalshibh) is the coordinator of the `Holy Tuesday' 
     operation,'' Fouda quoted Mohammed as saying. Sept. 11, 
     2001 fell on a Tuesday.
       Mohammed said planning for the attacks began 2\1/2\ years 
     before Sept. 11 and that the first targets considered were 
     nuclear facilities.
       We ``decided against it for fear it would go out of 
     control,'' Fouda quoted Mohammed as saying. ``You do not need 
     to know more than that at this stage, and anyway it was 
     eventually decided to leave out nuclear targets--for now.''
       Fouda, an Egyptian reporter and host of al-Jazeera's 
     investigative program ``Top Secret,'' said he flew to 
     Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, and from there to Karachi 
     on al-Qaida instructions. In Karachi, he was taken 
     blindfolded and via a complicated route to an apartment where 
     he met the two men.
       Fouda, speaking by telephone from London, said al-Qaida 
     operatives told him not to bring any electronic equipment--
     including a camera or recorder--to the interview. The al-
     Qaida members videotaped the interview but instead of sending 
     a copy of the video as promised, sent him only the audiotape, 
     he said.
       At one point while being led to the meeting, Fouda said he 
     thought he was going to meet bin Laden. Speculation has been 
     rife that the al-Qaida leader may be in Pakistan after 
     fleeing U.S. attempts to kill or catch him in neighboring 
     Afghanistan.
       Fouda said during the two days he spent talking to the two, 
     Mohammed once referred to bin Laden in the past tense, 
     leading him to believe bin Laden could be dead.
       The U.S. officials said they do not consider Mohammed's use 
     of the past tense to refer to bin Laden as any sort of 
     definitive evidence that he is dead.
       Fouda said he also learned that Atta, the chief hijacker, 
     had been a sleeper operative in Germany since 1992 and 
     started detailed planning with a 1999 meeting in Afghanistan 
     with other sleepers.
       Once in America, Atta communicated with higher ranking al-
     Qaida officials via e-mail, Fouda wrote. But when he had 
     determined everything was ready, he telephoned Binalshibh in 
     Germany to tell him the date, suing a riddle that referred to 
     the shapes of the numbers 9 and 11.
       Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster, has 
     drawn world attention with its broadcast of interviews with 
     and statements by bin Laden and his top lieutenants.
  Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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