[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H6688-H6689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, today we received the long awaited report 
from the 9/11 Commission, and the 9/11 report I think had some 
constructive ideas that we in Washington are going to listen to. It was 
a bipartisan group and they had a lot of good thoughts and some good 
discussion, and it was a unanimous report.
  Three of the things that they said were our problems going into 9/11 
was one, we did ignore a lot of red flags. Number two, the capacity 
that we had to fight terrorism, we were somewhat in the Cold War model 
and not using all of the technology or on-the-ground intelligence that 
we really need for this century. Number three, the management of 
information, the FBI not talking to the CIA, other agencies not sharing 
information led to lots of things going on and the right arm not 
knowing what the left arm was doing.
  Finally, just our imagination, unable to really conceive of people 
who hated us so much that we did not know what they were plotting 
against us, that they were willing to kill themselves, they were 
instructed to kill Americans in order to get revenge on a country that 
had done them no harm.
  Yet, indeed, if we look at some of the terrorist attacks leading into 
9/11, as outlined by our colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Murphy), and I will submit this for the Record, it is 
unbelievable. November 1979, terror in Iran, American embassy attacked, 
hostages taken. April 1983, Beirut, 63 people killed from a truck 
filled with explosives driven into the United States embassy. October 
1983, Beirut, 241 U.S. servicemen killed from a truck filled with 
explosives, driven through the main gate of a U.S. Marine Corps 
headquarters. September 1984, Beirut, a truck filled with explosives 
crashed through the gate of the U.S. embassy compound. October 1995, 
the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacked, one American killed. November 
1985, hijackers on an Egyptian plane kill U.S. passengers. December 
1985, Rome and Vienna, 20 killed from suicide bombers at U.S. and 
Israeli international airports. April 1988, 259 killed in bombing of 
the Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. December 1992, Yemen, 2 
killed from a bomb at Gold Mohur Hotel immediately after 100 U.S. 
servicemen departed. February 1993, World Trade Center, New York City, 
6 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. October 1993, 18 U.S. servicemen 
killed, Osama bin Laden claims he supplied weapons and fighters to the 
Somalians. 1994, New York City, investigators thwart the attempt to 
blow up Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and other New York City landmarks. 
1995 Manila, Philippines investigators discover plots to assassinate 
the Pope and President Clinton during his visit to the Philippines.
  This list, Mr. Speaker, goes on and on, and I am going to submit this 
for the Record. But again, one of the things the 9/11 Commission said 
is we could not imagine the whole concept of the war on terror. I think 
that what really happened on 9/11, we changed our views that terrorism 
is not a crime, but an act of war, and that these events, some 
isolated, are yet still linked together.
  I think with some of the recommendations that they have come up with 
we will be able to avoid this in the future. In the meantime, we need 
to complete our job and our duty in Iraq. Iraq has harbored terrorists, 
and that was also in the 9/11 Commission Report. And we have a report 
that has come in; one year after being in Iraq,

[[Page H6689]]

U.S. Agency for International Development talking about restoring the 
services there. This book, Mr. Speaker, which is available to the 
public, I do have a web page: www.usaid.gov, that is the U.S. Agency 
for International Development, it talks about reopening the schools 
there, building the democracy, vaccinating children, helping small 
businesses and newspapers to reopen. Lots of work is being done.
  Iraq is an independent country at this point. It is on its own. We 
need to support them. We do not need to pull the rug out from under 
them. We need to help them complete their journey to democracy, and it 
is not time for Congress to pull the rug out from under them in the 
name of November politics.


                               memorandum

     To: Members.
     From: Tim Murphy (PA-18).
     Date: July 21, 2004.
     Subject: Timeline of major terrorist activities.
       As we head home for the August recess and face questions 
     from our constituents regarding the War on Terror, I thought 
     you might find helpful this timeline of actual and attempted 
     terrorist attacks.
       November 1979--Tehran, Iran: American Embassy attacked and 
     seized, hostages taken--released 1981.
       April 1983--Beirut: 63 people killed from truck filled with 
     explosives driven into U.S. Embassy.
       October 1983--Beirut: 241 U.S. servicemen killed from truck 
     filled with explosives driven through main gate at U.S. 
     Marine Corps headquarters.
       September 1984--Beirut: Truck filled with explosives 
     crashes through gate into U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut, no 
     deaths.
       August 1985--Rhein-Main, Germany: 22 killed from car filled 
     with explosives driven into main gate at U.S. Air Force Base.
       October 1985: Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacked, one 
     American killed.
       November 1985: Hijackers on Egyptian plane kill U.S. 
     passengers.
       December 1985--Rome and Vienna: 20 killed from suicide 
     bombers at U.S. and Israeli international airports.
       April 1988: 259 killed in bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over 
     Lockerbie, Scotland.
       December 1992--Aden, Yemen: Two killed from bomb at Gold 
     Mohur Hotel immediately after one hundred U.S. servicemen 
     departed on their way to duty in Somalia.
       February 1993--World Trade Center, New York City: Six 
     deaths and more than 1,000 injuries from bombing.
       October 1993--Mogadishu, Somalia: 18 U.S. servicemen 
     killed, Bin Laden claims he supplied weapons and fighters to 
     Somalis involved in the battle.
       1994--New York City: Investigators thwarted attempt to blow 
     up Holland and Lincoln tunnels and other New York City 
     landmarks.
       Late 1994 early 1995--Manila, Philippines: Investigators 
     discovered plots to assassinate the Pope and President 
     Clinton during visits to the Philippines.
       1995: Investigators discovered plans to explode a dozen 
     commercial jets over the Pacific.
       June 1995--Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Unsuccessful attempt to 
     assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
       November 1995--Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Five Americans killed 
     by car bomb at a U.S.-run training facility for the Saudi 
     National Guard.
       June 1996--Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: 19 U.S. airmen killed by 
     truck bomb at the Khobar Towers apartment compound where 
     hundreds of U.S. Air Force personnel were stationed.
       August 1998--Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania & Nairobi, Kenya: 224 
     killed, including 12 Americans, and more than 5,000 wounded 
     by truck bombs at U.S. embassies in both cities.
       December 1999--Port Angeles, Washington: U.S. Customs 
     agents stopped Ahmed Ressam from crossing out of Canada into 
     the U.S. with a truck full of explosives headed to Los 
     Angeles airport.
       December 1999--Amman, Jordan: Intelligence officials reveal 
     plot to kill U.S. and Israeli citizens by bombing a fully 
     booked hotel and prominent Christian sites over millennium 
     celebrations.
       October 2000--Aden, Yemen: 17 sailors killed and 30 wounded 
     when terrorists on boat rigged with explosives attack the 
     U.S.S. Cole.
       September 2001--New York City; Washington, DC; Shanksville, 
     Pennsylvania: Thousands killed from four hijacked passenger 
     airliners crashed into New York City's two tallest buildings, 
     the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania.
       September 2001--Paris and Brussels: Intelligence officials 
     uncover evidence of plots to bomb the U.S. embassy in Paris, 
     and possibly also NATO headquarters in Brussels.
       October 2001--Sarajevo, Bosnia: NATO officials break up an 
     al-Qaeda cell planning to attack the U.S. embassy and Eagle 
     Base airfield, home base to 3,000 U.S. peacekeepers.
       December 2001: Richard Reid attempts to blow up a 
     commercial flight from United Kingdom en route to United 
     States using bombs hidden in his shoes.
       March 2004--Madrid, Spain: 198 killed and more than 1,400 
     wounded from 10 coordinated bomb detonations on Madrid subway 
     during commuter rush hour.

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