[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 13, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5766-H5768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


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  CONDEMNING THE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN LONDON, ENGLAND ON JULY 7, 2005

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 356) condemning in the strongest terms the 
terrorist attacks in London, England, on July 7, 2005.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 356

       Whereas, on July 7, 2005, a series of explosions on public 
     transportation facilities in London, England, resulted in the 
     death of scores of civilians and the injury of hundreds of 
     others;
       Whereas the explosions had been planned and carried out by 
     terrorists;
       Whereas British first responders reacted swiftly and 
     heroically to save and assist civilian victims;
       Whereas the people of London and of the United Kingdom have 
     a history of bravery and resolve in the face of terrorism and 
     war;
       Whereas the people and Government of the United Kingdom 
     have been engaged in common efforts with the people and 
     Government of the United States in every front in the Global 
     War on Terrorism and in other efforts to assure a safer and 
     more secure world;
       Whereas the people and Government of the United Kingdom 
     have been making heroic sacrifices in Afghanistan, in Iraq, 
     and in the ongoing ``shadow war'' against terrorists around 
     the world; and
       Whereas President George W. Bush, then present in 
     Gleneagles, Scotland, with other world leaders, expressed the 
     solidarity of the people and Government of the United States 
     with the people and Government of the United Kingdom: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
       (1) condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks 
     in London, England, on July 7, 2005;
       (2) expresses its condolences to the families and friends 
     of those individuals who were killed in the attacks and 
     expresses its sympathies to those individuals who have been 
     injured;
       (3) joins with President George W. Bush in expressing the 
     solidarity of the people and Government of the United States 
     with the people and Government of the United Kingdom as the 
     recovery continues from these cowardly and inhuman attacks; 
     and
       (4) expresses its readiness to provide any necessary 
     assistance to the United Kingdom authorities and to devote 
     the necessary resources to bring to justice those individuals 
     responsible for the London attacks, and to pursue, disrupt, 
     undermine, and dismantle the networks which plan and carry 
     out such attacks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).


                             General Leave

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H. Res. 356.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Americans were shocked and dismayed but not necessarily 
surprised when terror struck at the heart of the capital of the United 
Kingdom, the cradle of Western liberty, on July 7, 2005.
  It is too easy while we are preoccupied with celebrating our 
independence from Britain in early July to lose sight of what we owe 
Britain, our language and our culture, the notion of the rule of law 
and the separation of powers, our common law legal system, and the 
underpinnings of our economic system, to name a few examples.
  The British have been at our side and we at theirs in the struggles 
against tyranny that preoccupied us throughout most of the 20th century 
and now in the struggle against the nihilistic terror that has marked 
the 21st century and in our efforts to bring freedom to Iraq.
  So it came as no real surprise to find that those who hate us hate 
the British too and acted on that hate.
  The British have always impressed the world with their courage, their 
resilience, recalling the days of the blitz.
  Today, Britain is different than the Britain of the Second World War. 
Its streets are filled with people from all over the world who are 
making their homes in what is like ours, a land of opportunity where 
newcomers are integrated into society with remarkable success. Today's 
Londoners showed themselves to be just as brave and determined as the 
Londoners of the past.
  President Bush made us all proud when he so forthrightly and 
eloquently supported Prime Minister Blair and pledged his people and 
government our full support. Today with this resolution, our House adds 
its voice to his.
  We and the British people are bound by ties that terror cannot loosen 
or fray. We will not be satisfied until we have done what we as 
Americans can to bring the perpetrators of this attack to

[[Page H5767]]

justice and we have successfully pursued, disrupted, undermined, and 
dismantled on a worldwide basis the networks that carry out such 
attacks.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 356. Mr. Speaker, 
once again the backbone, resilience and resistance to barbarity shown 
by the citizens of Great Britain have inspired men and women everywhere 
who love liberty and know that it comes with a price. The aftermath of 
last week's horrendous events in London and memories of an earlier 
generation's response to the German blitz bring clearly to mind a 
quality we Americans have long admired about our British cousins: the 
unwavering will to withstand a setback and then to get on with it.
  By their words and by their deeds in the past week, the people of the 
United Kingdom have demonstrated yet again that they will not allow 
brutality to intimidate them. Far from it. They and we shall prevail.
  Queen Elizabeth, II, who as a teenager helped rally her country to 
repel tyranny during World War II, was eloquent but emphatic on this 
point a few days ago as she visited the wounded in a London hospital. 
``Those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people should 
know that they will not change our way of life. Atrocities such as 
these simply reinforce our sense of community, our humanity, and our 
trust in the rule of law. That is the clear message from all of us.''
  Mr. Speaker, while the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw may have 
been correct when he observed that ``England and America are two 
countries divided by a common language,'' today there is no sentiment 
more closely shared by Americans and Britons, nor one so clearly 
stated, as what Her Majesty said: the perpetrators of this revolting 
attack ``will not change our way of life.'' Their deeds ``simply 
reinforce our sense of community, our humanity, and,'' despite the all-
too-human impulse to exact swift retribution, ``our trust in the rule 
of law.''
  Mr. Speaker, our resolution on the events in London now before the 
House expresses outrage, fortitude and the readiness to provide 
whatever resources are needed to bring those responsible to justice. On 
behalf of all our constituents, and all our compatriots, we in the 
Congress of the United States extend across the Atlantic our deepest 
condolences and our outstretched hand in solidarity.
  On September 12, 2001, Prime Minister Tony Blair called the dark 
events of the day before ``an attack on the free and democratic world 
everywhere.'' What happened in London on July 7, 2005, was just such an 
assault. For the sake of democracy and freedom, it cannot and it will 
not go unanswered.
  Coming as it did on the heels of an exalted week for Britain with the 
eyes of the world turned first on Wimbledon, then on the G-8 meeting at 
Gleneagles and finally on the triumph of being entrusted with the 
Olympic Games of 2012, this sickening blow may have seemed all the more 
horrific by contrast with those previous days.
  Mr. Speaker, let our response to this outrage be neither to recoil 
nor to lash out, but to renew our determination to eradicate terrorism 
so that never again can it cast its insidious shadow over our peaceful 
lives.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution unanimously.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce).
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Subcommittee on 
International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, I rise in strong support 
of this resolution that condemns the heinous acts of terrorism that 
occurred in London last Thursday July 7.
  At 8:50 a.m. in a coordinated attack, three bombs ripped through the 
London Underground in central London and an hour later a fourth 
explosion tore apart the No. 30 bus. At present, 52 are dead and 
hundreds and hundreds are wounded. Authorities are still attempting to 
recover bodies trapped under subway cars deep under Kings Cross 
station. As a police official gruesomely described this morning, ``they 
have to literally piece people together and that takes time.''
  The latest news reports suggest that four young British citizens 
carried out this latest act of Islamist terror, blowing themselves up 
along with their innocent victims in what would be the first suicide 
attacks in Western Europe. I fear we are seeing the emergence of a new 
generation of terrorists, kids who were in their teens on 9/11.
  One of the four implicated in the London bombings was a teen. The 
homegrown cell involved in the Van Gogh murder in the Netherlands 
included members as young as 18. North African extremists from France 
have been found in Iraq, some as young as 14. And as the 9/11 
Commission described, ``Our enemy is two-fold, al Qaeda, a stateless 
network of terrorists that struck us on 9/11 and a radical ideological 
movement in the Islamic world inspired in part by al Qaeda which has 
spawned terrorist groups and violence across the globe.''
  As the 9/11 Commission tells us, ``The first enemy is weakened but 
continues to pose a grave threat. The second enemy is gathering and 
will menace Americans and American interests long after Osama bin Laden 
and his cohorts have been killed or captured. Thus, our strategy must 
match our means to two ends: dismantling the al Qaeda network and 
prevailing in the longer term over the ideology that gives rise to 
Islamist terrorism.''
  Now, unfortunately, lax asylum laws and lax immigration laws have 
done the British and the rest of Europe no favors and have contributed 
to the radicalization of society there. Long before bombs ripped 
through London, Britain had become a breeding ground for hate fed by a 
militant version of Islam. For a decade, the city has been a crossroads 
for would-be terrorists who used it as a home base to communicate their 
message, to raise funds and to recruit members.

                              {time}  1245

  For years before his arrest, Abu Hamza al-Masri openly preached 
violence at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. Among those who 
have passed through that Finsbury Park mosque are Zacarias Moussaoui 
and Richard Reid.
  Unfortunately, radical clerics gaining a foothold in traditionally 
tolerant societies is not unique to Britain. The reality is that hate 
and intolerance is being preached throughout the world, and I thank the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the ranking member, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), for bringing this resolution to 
the floor.
  As the British have stood with us, we stand by them. We will prevail. 
The terrorists will not.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella).
  (Mr. FOSSELLA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this 
time and for bringing the resolution to the floor, along with the 
ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos); and I urge 
its unanimous adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, on September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked, 
and Britain stood with us. This was not only an attack against America, 
but against the civilized world; and Britain understood this.
  On July 7, 2005, the terrorists struck again, this time at our ally, 
Britain, in London. Over 50 people are believed dead and more than 700 
wounded in these horrific attacks. These terrorist attacks have once 
again been directed towards innocent civilians, except that instead of 
New York and Washington, D.C., the targets were in London. We have seen 
this deliberate targeting of civilians by terrorists in other places, 
like Bali, Istanbul, Madrid, and beyond.
  This message really goes to the people of Britain, the citizens of 
London, but especially to the families who lost loved ones last week. 
In 2001, when not just the United States of America came together but 
the rest of the global world stood with the United States and the 
families who lost loved ones on 2001, it was a show of appreciation, 
respect, sympathy, and condolences for those who lost their lives to 
terror.
  Out of the pain and the sorrow for many of those families, and I know 
this

[[Page H5768]]

because I represent about 300 who lost loved ones on that fateful day 
on September 11, one of the saving graces from all of that was the 
outpouring of support from around the world that let them know that 
they did not stand alone; that let them know that our allies, whether 
Great Britain or beyond, stood with them and that the best days, 
hopefully, would come.
  Today, we stand as a body, as elected representatives, but really 
speaking for those people we represent to send those same sympathies 
and condolences to the people of London.
  Yes, we will prevail. Yes, this web of terror, and if there is not a 
point in time we can say, it let now be the time, this web of terror 
must be destroyed, whether it is Bali, or the World Trade Center, or 
the Khobar Towers, or Nairobi, or Jakarta, or any other place around 
the world where innocent people still must fear for their lives because 
of these radical terrorists who think nothing of taking innocent lives, 
including their own.
  The people of London have now been Exhibit A in the latest chapter in 
the war against terror. But the free people of the United States, the 
free people of Great Britain, and the free people around the world, 
with our brave men and women in the United States Armed Services and 
those who are willing to step up and give their life, will prevail 
against these rogue terrorist punks.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson).
  Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and 
ranking member for bringing forth this resolution today.
  All of us here know how the Brits felt last Thursday morning. We had 
all been there ourselves in our own morning of terror not that long 
ago. It was a routine morning commute, just a regular ordinary day; and 
then the course of hundreds of lives changed and thousands of others 
were deeply affected. And we saw the best of the people of London: 
people shocked but calm, bravely helping others, a city getting up and 
getting back to work on Friday morning, and determined leaders who will 
not bow to terrorists.
  There were two things that came to my mind, and more than one person 
has recalled the leadership of Winston Churchill not that long ago. 
While his admonishment to ``never give in'' is more well-known, there 
is another speech he gave in the summer of 1941, after London had 
endured months of bombing and 20,000 casualties in the fall and winter 
of 1940-41. He said: ``But there was one thing about which there was 
never any doubt. The courage, unconquerable grit and stamina of the 
Londoners showed itself from the very outset. Without that all would 
have failed. Upon that rock, all stood unshakable.''
  Upon that rock, they are still unshakable. Our thoughts and prayers 
are with the people of London.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
reemphasize our united determination to stand with the people of the 
United Kingdom in their moment of sorrow and anguish and to reiterate 
our determination not to rest until terrorism is destroyed on the face 
of this planet.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lantos).
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, even today, as our friends and allies in 
London and the United Kingdom move forward with heavy hearts and 
continued anxiety, they are striking back at the barbaric and cowardly 
terrorists who attacked them without warning last week.
  The British people have seen the face of evil and, as we knew they 
would, they have remained steadfast, resolute, and unbowed.
  They have no intention of altering their way of life, or compromising 
the democratic principles that have fortified them through the 
centuries.
  All of us can learn from their strong, courageous example, as we 
extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones and friends of those 
who have been stolen by these heinous murderers.
  It is incumbent upon us not only to condemn the perpetrators and 
supporters of these unconscionable attacks, but also to express the 
unwavering solidarity of the American people and our government with 
the people and government of the United Kingdom.
  Mr. Speaker, the civilized world is under attack today by the 
purveyors of hate, violence, intolerance and lawlessness. They have no 
compunction about attacking and killing innocent men, women and 
children.
  And our responsibility to this and future generations could not be 
more clear. We must expose the moral emptiness and political 
hopelessness of those who subscribe to this twisted ideology--this 
jihadist death cult--and we must extinguish this force of darkness and 
despair.
  Victory in this fight will not be easy, but it is inevitable as long 
as all those who cherish peace, tolerance and the rule of law stand 
together as one.
  Sixty-five years ago, Winston Churchill, in steeling the British 
people against the terror of his day--Hitler's Nazi regime--said: 
``Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however 
long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no 
survival.''
  We must summon the same courage and conviction today. Our enemies 
seek our destruction, but they underestimate our will. But we shall 
succeed. Victory will be ours. And, when we look back upon these 
difficult days, we will be reminded of the British people's courage and 
steadfast determination.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simmons). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 356.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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