[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 169 (Thursday, November 20, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S15278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SYRIA ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, the Syria Accountability and 
Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act takes important and valuable 
steps, and I would have voted for it had I been present, but I am 
concerned that it may not go far enough.
  Syria has long been recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism. In 
fact, the Syrians themselves openly speak of their support for 
terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad. Intelligence reports and terrorism experts tell us that 
the next generation of terrorists is being trained in a network of 
training facilities that exist in Syria and the Syrian-controlled parts 
of Lebanon. These international terrorist organizations that run these 
camps already have the capacity to kill Americans, and they have state 
sponsors with access to weapons of mass destruction. Prior to 9/11, 
Hezbollah was responsible for the deaths of more Americans than any 
other terrorist group.
  On September 18, 2001, the Senate passed S.J. Res 23, which 
authorized the President to use ``all necessary and appropriate force'' 
against those responsible for the attacks of 9/11. This authorization 
for the use of force is therefore limited to al-Qaeda. We ignore other 
terrorist networks at our peril--and at one point, President Bush 
recognized that. Nine days after the terrorist attack of September 11, 
the President declared:
  ``Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda but it does not end there. 
It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been 
found, stopped and defeated.''
  In his State of the Union speech on January 29, 2002, President bush 
re-stated our priorities:

       Our nation will continue to be steadfast and patient and 
     persistent in the pursuit of two great objectives. First, we 
     will shut down terrorist camps, disrupt terrorist plans, and 
     bring terrorists to justice. And, second, we must prevent the 
     terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological or 
     nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the 
     world.

  I supported those statements and hoped to help the President carry 
out his pledge. Last October, Congress authorized the use of force 
against Iraq. I voted against this authorization because I believed it 
was a distraction from the war on terrorism. At that time, I attempted 
to amend the resolution to provide the president the authorization to 
use force against other terrorist organizations that met the following 
criteria: they have a state sponsor with access to weapons of mass 
destruction; they have a history of killing Americans; and they have 
the ability to strike inside the United States.
  I remain concerned that the President does not have the necessary 
authorization to use force against these additional terrorist 
organizations. Without such authorization, he cannot fulfill the 
commitment he made in his January 2002 State of the Union speech.
  I hope the administration will take this occasion to review its 
existing authorities and report back to Congress on where there may be 
deficiencies in its authorities to carry out the war on terrorism. Only 
then will we be able to hold Syria and similar states that sponsor or 
harbor terrorists truly accountable.

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