[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 77 (Friday, June 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1047-E1048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY J. HYDE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 3, 2004

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, every year in my district, I ask students in 
grades 8 and 12 to participate in an essay contest. This year's contest 
focused on the issue of combating terrorism.
  I am pleased that so many students chose to enter this essay contest. 
Unfortunately, however, there can only be one winner in each group: 8th 
and 12th grade. This year's 8th grade winner was Kevin Pohl, who 
attends St. Pius X School in Lombard, Illinois. The 12th grade winner 
was Stefanie Panno, who attends Addison Trail High School in Addison, 
Illinois.
  This is Mr. Kevin Pohl's essay, entitled ``What is the Role of the 
United Nations in Fighting Terrorism?'':

       ``As of September 28, 2001, acting under Chapter VII of the 
     United Nations Charter, the Security Council adopted 
     Resolution 1373, reaffirming its unequivocal condemnation of 
     the terrorist action which took place in New York, 
     Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania on September 11, and 
     expressed its determination to prevent all such acts.''
       Violence, war, hatred, and terrorism are imposed for many 
     reasons. The role of the United Nations is to protect the 
     rights of all throughout the world from terrorist acts. It is 
     their responsibility to protect the lives of the innocents 
     and the oppressed. People all over the world are at risk from 
     those who seek violence to solve world problems. The United 
     Nations, in contrast, is elected to control and eliminate 
     violence and protect the people. It is hoped that the 
     majority of the people believe the same. People should not 
     have to hide in their homes, take shelter from bombs every 
     day or keep their children inside for fear of attack. This 
     way of life must come to an end. The United Nations was 
     created to this end.
       The United Nations takes upon itself this great 
     responsibility, and undertakes this role in the fight against 
     terrorism. The United Nations' officials are charged with the 
     task of international well-being. It is their responsibility 
     to protect the world from terrorist acts. Therefore, they 
     must work every day to defeat terrorism, and keep a close eye 
     on world events. Good intelligence is the key to the method 
     used by the United Nations in fighting terrorism. Codes, 
     practices, and the monitoring of secret communications 
     among military units are vital tools and essential in 
     implementing Resolution 1373. The United Nations has 
     served as a listening post for intelligence-gathering and 
     espionage for many years. However, the members of the 
     United Nations must also cooperate to use their advanced 
     techniques to monitor, search, track, and analyze 
     communications that are carried on the Internet by 
     terrorists. Collecting this essential information comes at 
     a risk. The United Nations has to be careful, so as not to 
     alienate friendly nations or inhibit their cooperation in 
     obtaining further information.
       The United Nations has to make sure that the entire 
     international community agrees

[[Page E1048]]

     on devised tactics. A truly international coalition is 
     essential. Real authority would derive from such a coalition. 
     We must treat each other as true partners. The United Nations 
     members must work towards trust among themselves in order to 
     fight terrorism, which is a complex process and calls for an 
     international effort.
       The United Nations' primary task at this time in history is 
     to assume leadership in the establishment of peace in our 
     very fragile world. Each nation must begin to compromise its 
     wants and needs to this end. The wealthier and more powerful 
     countries must become more aware that peace cannot be 
     achieved by isolationist policies. Through a united world 
     view, problems of poverty and hunger (which often are the 
     roots of wars) can begin to be solved and in time, hopefully, 
     ended. If the United Nations continues to solve these 
     societal ills, then terrorism will have failed in their 
     objectives.

       This is Miss Panno's essay, entitled ``Combating 
     Terrorism'':

       Recently, terrorism has been thrust into the limelight and 
     seen by many as a frightening entity that may cause 
     devastation without warning. To allay these fears, the United 
     Nations has approached this problem from three different 
     angles: conflict prevention, peace building and peace making. 
     By using methods that look at the problem both preventatively 
     and in retrospect, the United Nations helps countries avoid 
     devastation and recuperate quickly when disaster strikes.
       The problem of terrorism is decidedly not a simple one; 
     therefore, the solution is not a simple one either. To deal 
     with this quandary's complexity, the United Nations is 
     implementing multiple preventative tactics, attempting to 
     quell the threat of terrorism by using every possible front. 
     Some of the main strategies include dissuading dissatisfied 
     groups from committing terrorist acts, denying groups the 
     means to carry out acts of terrorism and sustaining 
     international cooperation. Since terrorism often emanates 
     from areas where human rights are routinely violated, the 
     United Nations is attempting to protect the rights of those 
     in other countries and expand the lines of communication 
     between us and them, thus dissuading groups from causing us 
     harm. It often occurs, however, that attempting to open lines 
     of communication still fails to elicit the positive 
     relationship we desire. This is generally due to differences 
     in beliefs. Many terrorists claim to be Islamic, but their 
     views are radical with a disregard for the value of human 
     lives and do not accurately portray Islam. The true form of 
     Islam denounces wars and violence. We could attempt to deter 
     some radicals by exposing them to the root of their 
     religion, rather than the extreme sect they've always 
     known. This could be done by encouraging Muslims to spread 
     the true voice of their religion and dissuade radicals 
     from causing more harm. This sounds a bit implausible, but 
     if it changes even a few terrorists, we've lessened the 
     threat.
       A big, big part of prevention comes from denying terrorists 
     the opportunity to obtain weapons or to strike. The United 
     Nations is doing its best to locate known terrorist groups, 
     and monitor them closely, making sure to keep them from 
     accessing weapons of mass destruction. Locating the 
     terrorists may be the most difficult aspect of fighting 
     terror. This can only be done through persistence and 
     monitoring suspects. Also, international cooperation is the 
     key. As we have seen many times in the past, there is 
     ``strength in numbers.'' Terrorists may not fear punishment 
     from one country, but an entire group of countries all banded 
     together may seem more imposing and help prevent attacks from 
     happening. Another advantage of uniting countries together 
     would be an improved ability to weed out terrorist activity. 
     With nations all over the world working together, different 
     countries could monitor certain areas for suspicious 
     activity. We may even consider enlisting the help of groups 
     such as MEK (Mujahedeen-e Khalq) who have been jilted by 
     former terrorist friends. These people, who have a grudge 
     against some terrorists, have a good knowledge of the inside 
     of the terror business and may be willing to help discover 
     new and helpful information.
       When danger seems imminent, or after a war, peace building 
     and peace keeping are also a necessity. Peace building tries 
     to uncover the foundations of problems between countries. 
     Once unearthing the basic problem, the peace builders begin 
     to encourage democracy and respect for human life. Peace 
     keepers are also put in place to keep violence from breaking 
     out between disagreeing parties. Even when faced with 
     difficult situations, the peace keepers do their best to 
     resist using force. For this reason, they are only lightly 
     armed, providing little, if no, danger to civilians. The 
     peace keepers are intentionally impartial, to avoid causing 
     further conflicts. While our biggest efforts are 
     preventative, peace building and peace keeping is just as 
     important because it maintains the, balances that we 
     struggled to create.
       Combating the strength of terrorism requires a collective 
     effort from many different fronts. By banding countries 
     together to deny groups the ability to commit acts of 
     terrorism and educate them about more peaceful solutions, the 
     United Nations can provide a true defense against terror. The 
     United Nations also maintains a sense of harsh reality, 
     acknowledging that, despite the great defenses they've set 
     up, there is always the threat of terrorism. To be prepared 
     for this, peace builders and peace keepers are kept on hand, 
     always ready to pick up the pieces. By having plans for both 
     before and after terror attacks, the United Nations has a 
     firm plan to significantly reduce the danger of violence.

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