[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 164 (Sunday, December 18, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H12183-H12184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TERRORIST REWARDS ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 2329) to permit eligibility in certain circumstances for 
an officer or employee of a foreign government to receive a reward 
under the Department of State Rewards Program.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2329

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Terrorist Rewards 
     Enhancement Act''.

     SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES FOR AN AGENCY OF 
                   A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT TO RECEIVE A REWARD UNDER 
                   THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM.

       (a) Eligibility.--Subsection (f) of section 36 of the State 
     Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(f)) 
     is amended--
       (1) by striking ``(f) Ineligibility.--An officer'' and 
     inserting the following:
       ``(f) Ineligibility.--
       ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), an 
     officer''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) Exception in certain circumstances.--The Secretary 
     may pay a reward to an officer or employee of a foreign 
     government (or any entity thereof) who, while in the 
     performance of his or her official duties, furnishes 
     information described in such subsection, if the Secretary 
     determines that such payment satisfies the following 
     conditions:
       ``(A) Such payment is appropriate in light of the 
     exceptional or high-profile nature of the information 
     furnished pursuant to such subsection.
       ``(B) Such payment may aid in furnishing further 
     information described in such subsection.
       ``(C) Such payment is formally requested by such agency.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (b) of such section 
     (22 U.S.C. 2708(b)) is amended in the matter preceding 
     paragraph (1) by inserting ``or to an officer or employee of 
     a foreign government in accordance with subsection (f)(2)'' 
     after ``individual''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the

[[Page H12184]]

gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. 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 the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to support the suspension of the rules 
to bring Representative Kirk's bill, the Terrorist Rewards Enhancement 
Act, House Resolution 2329, to the floor, and I strongly support its 
passage.
  The bill has Chairman Hyde's full and vigorous support, and is much 
needed in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other terrorists around the 
globe.
  The International Relations Committee has long worked with 
Congressman Kirk, a member of the Foreign Operations Appropriations 
Subcommittee, in promoting needed reform and practical changes to the 
State Department's Justice Rewards program. This program has in the 
past helped to lead to the capture of key global terrorists like Ramzi 
Yousef and Amil Kanzi, the fugitive killer of the CIA's several 
employees, and others.
  The latest reform is one that Representative Kirk and the 
International Relations Committee developed after a visit to a very 
remote part of Pakistan and the Afghan border earlier this year where 
bin Laden and other radical Islamic terrorists operate and hide.
  This bill is very simple, Mr. Speaker. It provides authorization for 
the payment of terrorist rewards by the State Department to those 
entities of foreign governments who might assist us in finding these 
terrorists under extraordinary circumstances and when the payment of 
the reward may lead to the capture of other key terrorists as well. We 
need the help of agencies of government and foreign agencies around the 
globe to do this difficult job, especially considering the limits on 
our own human intelligence sources.
  In addition, the reward payment must be requested formally in writing 
by foreign governments and the Secretary of State has complete 
discretion as to whether to grant it, and the decision is not subject 
to judicial challenge. It is meant for limited and rare circumstances.
  Let us give our frontline U.S. agencies and law enforcement personnel 
around the globe yet one more tool needed to capture and to bring to 
justice these global terrorists who mean us evil and great harm. I ask 
for the adoption of the Terrorist Rewards Enhancement Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure, and I 
yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my good friend from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) and my good friend from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) for introducing 
this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States must do all that is legal and 
ethically appropriate to bring to justice terrorists who have committed 
heinous acts against the United States and our citizens. An important 
tool to achieve this objective is the Department of State's Rewards 
Program. By giving our Secretary of State the authority to offer a 
significant cash reward for information leading to the arrest and 
conviction of terrorists, we recruit additional agents in the fight 
against global terrorism, ordinary people who may obtain extraordinary 
information that would allow the United States or a foreign country to 
apprehend terrorists.
  Mr. Speaker, over 4 years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at 
large, and apparently no closer to being in our custody today than he 
was on September 12, 2001. The United States obviously must do more to 
bring this monstrous man to justice. Our bill would take another small, 
but potentially important step in that direction. It would allow our 
Secretary of State in extraordinary circumstances to authorize a cash 
reward to a foreign government official who may have provided critical 
information resulting in the arrest and conviction of such a terrorist. 
I stress to all of my colleagues that this authority is to be used only 
where the information is critical to the capture of a key terrorist 
figure at severe risk or of severe harm to the informant.
  Will this authority provide additional incentive for a foreign 
government official to provide us with this information perhaps with 
regard to Osama bin Laden? We cannot know that today, Mr. Speaker; but 
if it might, then we must proceed to provide the Secretary of State 
with this new authority.
  I urge support for this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), the original 
sponsor of the bill.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, the State Department's Terrorist Rewards 
Program is one of the most successful and inexpensive programs against 
international terrorists.
  As a staff member to Chairman Gilman, I drafted the enhancements to 
this program that made it a very successful program in the arrest of 
United Nations war criminals in Yugoslavia. Chairman Hyde, Chairwoman 
Ros-Lehtinen, and Ranking Member Lantos joined me several years ago in 
increasing this rewards program to a total offer of $50 million. We 
also enacted more important reforms that authorize brand new newspaper, 
radio, and TV ads to increase the impact of this program.
  Mr. Amil Sanzi killed Americans outside CIA headquarters before 
fleeing to Pakistan. Matchbox covers with his face on them provided the 
impetus for the key tip that led to his arrest, conviction, and 
execution. Uday and Qusay Hussein, the murderous sons of Saddam 
Hussein, were found and cornered by a tip from this program. Today, we 
are hunting down Osama bin Laden, Ayman Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar, the 
leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban dictatorship.
  I have conducted two official missions to the Afghan-Pakistan border 
where conventional wisdom has located the probable sites of the al 
Qaeda core leadership. I assessed this rewards program and proposed 
improvements to change its effectiveness. We found that the radio, 
newspaper, and TV ads in Pakistan are working. Under Richard Griffin, 
the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security; Ryan Crocker, 
our very able Ambassador to Pakistan; and David Noordelas, a very able 
diplomatic security professional, we executed a $200,000 TV and radio 
campaign that led to dozens of new tips against leaders of the al Qaeda 
core.
  We are about to relaunch this program, and it will be even more 
successful.
  But there is one problem. Many officials in this part of the world 
make only $200 or $300 a year. This bill gives the President and 
Secretary of State the flexibility to authorize rewards for the arrest 
of the top, key, high-value targets: bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi, 
people who lead al Qaeda and its war on Americans. We need this 
flexibility to grant such rewards.
  The arrest of Osama bin Laden is a mission of near messianic 
importance to the American people, and we have a winner here in the 
rewards program. With the reforms the House passes today, we increase 
the odds that we will crush the al Qaeda core in some of the most 
remote parts of the Earth.
  I want to thank Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member Lantos, and 
John Mackay of the International Relations staff for his particular 
help on this key issue that will add enhancements to one of the most 
successful anti-terror programs in the United States.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2329.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.




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