[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 41 (Thursday, March 13, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S3704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

  Mrs. DOLE. Madam President, I rise to pay tribute to the excellent 
work of our intelligence services in capturing Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. 
This is a major triumph in the war on terror. Our officers from the 
Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, the 
National Security Agency, and their counterparts in the Pakistani and 
intelligence services are to be highly commended.
  Let there be no doubt, capturing Mohammed is a big deal. He has a 
long and bloody history. He has been implicated in the 1993 bombing of 
the Twin Towers. He played a major role in plans to hijack airliners in 
Asia and crash them into the sea. He may well have been a leader in the 
attack on the USS Cole, an attack that killed 17 United States sailors 
and wounded 39 others. He has been implicated in the attacks on the 
United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed hundreds and 
wounded thousands. And he planned the attacks of September 11.
  It is not just attacks against Americans. He is now wanted by our 
friends, the Australians, for questioning in connection with the recent 
bombings in Bali which killed hundreds of those citizens. There has 
even been a warrant issued by our reluctant allies in France for his 
role in the bombing of a synagogue that killed a French citizen.
  Those are the horrible acts of his past that we know about. By 
capturing Mohammed, what devastating plots have our intelligence 
services prevented? Hopefully, as they start to learn more from 
Mohammed, they will also be able to thwart future attacks.
  Another possibility is that those who would engage in such acts will 
realize their secrets may now be compromised and, hopefully, they will 
abandon their plans.
  Not only did we get Mohammed, their operations planner, we also got 
Hawsawi, their chief financier. The 9/11 terrorists sent their left-
over money to Hawsawi. By taking him out of the al-Qaida operations, we 
have damaged their ability to move money into terrorists' hands. This 
should hamper their ability to launch any currently planned operations.
  I want to thank our intelligence services for the work they do. Yes, 
there have been mistakes in the past, and there will be human failures 
in the future. But when we learn of their victories, they should be 
thanked. That thanks comes with the knowledge that there must be many 
more instances where we have been protected and there was no public 
acclaim for these servants of the public. Frankly, without the 
publicity surrounding this case, we might never have known all the 
agencies that contributed to the captures.
  The Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation do not watch after us alone. We should be thankful for 
the hard work of the men and women of the Defense Intelligence Agency, 
the National Security Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. 
They and others are working around the clock to defend us in the war on 
terror.
  It is not just our intelligence agencies that should be thanked. It 
was our friends in Pakistan who discovered Mohammed, who arrested him, 
who turned him over. President Musharraf has continued his strong 
support for the war on terror, and we must continue to work with allies 
such as Pakistan to eradicate terrorism.
  Yes, this is a great win in the war on terror, but it was not a 
victory. We may never actually realize when we have achieved victory; 
for the men and women who make our intelligence system work will have 
to continue their vigilance, that quiet and all too often unheralded 
vigilance.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator withhold her suggestion of 
the absence of a quorum?
  Mrs. DOLE. I withhold.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask consent to speak in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are in morning business.

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