[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 107 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    COMMEMORATING THE 9TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK ON AMIA JEWISH 
              COMMUNITY CENTER IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 18, 2003

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today we commemorate the 9th 
anniversary of the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos 
Aires, Argentina. In this effort, I have signed a letter directed to 
Argentine President Nestor Kirchner from Members of Congress supporting 
efforts to continue to monitor the AMIA trial and to reveal Hizballah 
activities in Argentina. To complement this letter, Mr. Speaker, I am 
introducing this resolution commemorating the 9th anniversary of the 
attack on the AMIA, and highlighting the attack as characteristic of 
the threat to the United States from international terrorist 
organizations operating from Latin America.
  In 1994, a terrorist bomb destroyed the AMIA building, killing 85 
people and wounding 200. This was the second terrorist attack against 
the Argentine Jewish community in two years. While the two cases have 
been officially under investigation for over nine years, the 
responsible parties have not yet been apprehended.
  Substantial evidence attributes the attack on July 18, 1994 to the 
terrorist group Hizballah, based in Lebanon and sponsored by Iran. 
Evidence indicates that the tri-border region where Argentina, 
Paraguay, and Brazil meet was used to channel resources for the purpose 
of carrying out the AMIA attack by terrorists linked with Iran.
  Regrettably, the scheming of international terrorist organizations 
such as Hizballah, and al-Qaeda are not confined to the tri-border 
region. Much of the Western Hemisphere is ideal for international 
terrorist groups to establish bases due to the ill equipped and poorly 
trained security agencies across the region.
  For example, Cuba maintains close relations with countries that 
sponsor terrorism and has provided a safe haven to members of European 
terrorist organizations. Also, the demilitarized zone in Colombia 
provides international terrorists a safe refuge for training. 
Furthermore, the Caribbean is a strategic paradise for terrorist 
organizations given its established web for drugs, arms contraband, and 
money laundering. Terrorist organizations may be involved in money 
laundering as a means of hiding their financial assets.
  In remembering the anniversary of this heinous attack, we should also 
focus on the threat to the United States from radical Islamic 
organizations operating from the Western Hemisphere.
  The fight against terrorism must remain a top priority. Nowhere is 
this more true than in America's back yard. The AMIA attack, which 
showed the same cowardice as the September 11, 2001 attack, tragically 
illustrates the capability of Islamic terrorists to bring their jihad 
against Western civilization from our own hemisphere.

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