[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                9/11 RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION ACT

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                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 10) to 
     provide for reform of the intelligence community, terrorism 
     prevention and prosecution, border security and international 
     cooperation and coordination, and for other purposes:

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, the protection of the Nation 
against terrorist attacks is foremost on all of our minds. We all agree 
that we need to identify, detain, and prosecute those who intend to 
inflict terror on this Nation and its people. While I agree on the 
prosecution of terrorists requires tools that go beyond those available 
in our criminal justice system, I believe that this amendment goes too 
far.
  Specifically, this amendment denies pre-trial release of terrorist 
suspects upon a certification from the Attorney General. Denial of pre-
trial release would impede the ability of the wrongly accused from 
clearing their name. They would be hampered in their ability to select 
and meet with counsel, to search for witnesses who could vouch for 
them, and collect their own personal documents and other effects as 
evidence which could absolve them.
  These concerns are not theoretical. We need only look to Oregon 
attorney Brandon Mayfield who was arrested in May as a suspect for the 
horrific terrorist attacks in Madrid last spring. Mayfield, a former 
U.S. Army lieutenant, was detained for three weeks because authorities 
believed that his fingerprints were found on evidence recovered in 
Madrid. Shoddy practices were used to transmit Mayfield's fingerprints 
by U.S. officials to Madrid. The poor quality of those transmitted 
prints should have precluded any positive identification. However, the 
compulsion to catch the perpetrators lead investigators to jump to the 
conclusion that Mayfield, a Muslim, must have been involved. Only after 
good quality fingerprint data was transmitted to Madrid was Mr. 
Mayfield cleared.
  We need to pass responsible legislation that will be effective in 
detaining those who seek to harm this Nation. This amendment includes 
some provisions that overreach this responsibility.

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