[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 107 (Thursday, June 26, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1384-E1385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE ``AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN SECURITY AND PROSPERITY 
                           ENHANCEMENT ACT''

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2008

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Afghanistan-Pakistan Security and Prosperity Enhancement Act. The 
legislation is a national security bill aimed at protecting our 
homeland and those of our allies in the fight against AI-Qa'ida and the 
Taliban. This bill authorizes the President of the United States to 
designate Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in Afghanistan and in 
certain regions of Pakistan. These ROZs will allow qualified businesses 
duty-free access into U.S. markets for designated products, thereby 
providing significant employment opportunities where none currently 
exist. A ROZ program could go a long way to bolster economic 
development in this critical region of the world where extremists have 
tried to exploit the lack of economic opportunities to gain recruits 
for their radical agenda.
  The countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan are key to the fight 
against AI-Qa'ida and its Taliban allies. Al-Qa'ida is the group that 
masterminded and carried out the deadly terrorist attacks of 9/11 that 
took the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans. It would have had difficultly 
doing so if were not given safe-haven by the Taliban, then in control 
of the Afghan government and much of the country.
  The U.S.-led effort to topple the Taliban regime and pursue AI-Qa'ida 
terrorists in the aftermath of 9/11 initially weakened both of these 
groups but there are disturbing signs that they are regrouping and 
strengthening, particularly along the porous Afghanistan-Pakistan 
border. The declassified National Intelligence Estimate on ``The 
Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland,'' published in July 2007, 
stated: ``AI-Qa'ida is and will remain the most serious threat to the 
Homeland, as its central leadership continues to plan high-impact 
plots, while pushing others in extremist Sunni communities to mimic its 
efforts and to supplement its capabilities. We assess the group has 
protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack 
capability, including: a safe haven in the Pakistan Federally 
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), operational lieutenants, and its top 
leadership.''
  More recently, the State Department's ``Country Reports on Terrorism 
2007,'' published in April 2008, noted that ``Afghanistan remained 
threatened by Taliban and other insurgent groups and criminal gangs, 
some of whom were linked to [AI-Qa'ida] and terrorist sponsors outside 
the country.'' The same report also noted that ``Despite the efforts of 
both Afghan and Pakistani security forces, instability, coupled with 
the Islamabad brokered ceasefire agreement in effect for the first half 
of 2007 along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, appear to have 
provided [AI-Qa'ida] leadership greater mobility and ability to conduct 
training and operational planning, particularly targeting Western 
Europe and the United States.''
  Enhanced security efforts by the United States, Pakistan and 
Afghanistan are needed to disrupt and weaken AI-Qa'ida and the Taliban, 
but security measures alone will not rid them of these menacing 
groups--terrorists who continue to want to do us harm and are a threat 
to democracy and the rule of law. These extremist groups exploit the 
poor socioeconomic conditions, such as high unemployment, in the border 
areas, to gain adherents to their nefarious causes. With no meaningful 
alternatives, young men in particular are vulnerable to their 
entreaties.
  Creative ways must be found to give young Pakistanis and Afghans a 
positive vision of the future. One such way is to create sustainable 
jobs in these vulnerable areas so that the promise of a decent living 
makes more sense than following the warped ideology of the terrorists.

[[Page E1385]]

  The Reconstruction and Opportunity Zone legislation for Afghanistan 
and parts of Pakistan does just that. This legislation creates, in 
essence, special economic zones in these regions, enabling domestic and 
foreign firms to establish manufacturing enterprises that will bring 
thousands of good-paying jobs to the people of these areas.
  As these troubled regions develop economically, they will diminish 
the recruiting pool of the terrorists. And as the terrorists find it 
more difficult to find support and protection among the local 
populations, they will become more vulnerable to the security forces.

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