[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 85 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H4563-H4564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SPINNING 9/11

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Garrett of New Jersey). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, like most of America, we grieve today the 
loss of Paul Johnson, apparently beheaded by an al Qaeda-linked Saudi 
militant group. He was found today in the Saudi Arabian capital. He was 
an American contractor living in Saudi Arabia since 1980, a Floridian 
who was beheaded by these terrorists: immoral, barbaric, and demonic.
  I know most Muslims, Christians and Jews would join me in the feeling 
that

[[Page H4564]]

these acts are offensive in the eyes of God. This murder had no purpose 
except to show that these cowards had one purpose, and that is to take 
an innocent life. They hid behind hoods and executed a citizen of this 
country who loved the people of Saudi Arabia, who enjoyed working in 
that country to help the people of Saudi Arabia, who was an innocent, 
decent, kind husband and father.
  This was not an execution but a barbaric and demonic act of torture. 
If these sadists believe this type of action will unnerve America and 
weaken our resolve in our war against terror, they are both stupid, as 
they are wrong.
  I take great exception to the speech by the gentleman from Washington 
moments ago who tries to conclude from the 9/11 report that there is no 
connection between al Qaeda and Iraq. It all is of the same vein and 
nature. The death of Paul Johnson, the death of Nicholas Berg, the 
retaliation against Saudi officials, the attempt to bomb the Jordanian 
intelligence service, the murder of hundreds of Spanish citizens 
peacefully on their way in Spain are all interconnected and 
intertwined.
  He says there is no connection. I urge people to read the Wall Street 
Journal today and its editorial page because there is a lot of spinning 
going on. Maybe there have not been enough dots to connect yet so the 
gentleman comes out here and alleges that the President lied, that 
there is absolutely no connection. If he spoke any longer, I would have 
assumed he would have called Saddam Hussein just a sad, old, tired man 
who really should have been left alone to live in peace.
  He killed a million of his own citizens. He said there is no link. A 
citizen of my county died from anthrax. He worked at National Media, 
the owner of National Enquirer. It is interesting that Mohammed Atta 
was living in Palm Beach County, a few miles from the facility in which 
that citizen died in Palm Beach County.
  It is interesting, in the 9/11 Report, ``al Qaeda operatives trained 
in Iran, and al Qaeda helped Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists obtain 
explosives.''
  ``Another revelation concerns al Qaeda and anthrax. The 9/11 panel 
says al Qaeda had an `ambitious' biological weapons program and ``was 
making advances in its ability to produce anthrax prior to September 
11.' '' That is in the report, anthrax, prior to September 11.
  It is telling, too, that the henchmen for the Iraqi leader agent al-
Ani happened to be in Prague for meetings. Oh, lo and behold, cell 
phone records indicate that phone calls were placed from Florida to 
Mohammed Atta's cell phone at the same time he was reportedly in 
Prague. A coincidence, I guess. A sheer coincidence that Mohammed Atta, 
the leader of the 9/11 hijacking of planes, who was living in Delray 
Beach, Florida, close to where a citizen was killed by anthrax, meeting 
with Iraqi officials in Prague, is all coincidental, all coincidental, 
all sheer fantasy.
  Read this editorial in the Wall Street Journal today.
  Paul Johnson died at the hands of terrorists, not because we are in 
Iraq. They are going to kill Americans and other freedom-loving people 
because they resent our way of life. They resent who we are. For 
Members to come to this floor and say there is no link and no 
connection with the terrorists and Iraqis and anthrax and 9/11 have not 
read the entire report and are simply spinning a tale that they want 
America to believe.

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