[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 183 (Tuesday, December 8, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H13558-H13560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REQUESTING REPORT ON ANTI-AMERICAN INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE
EAST
Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2278) to direct the President to transmit to Congress a
report on anti-American incitement to violence in the Middle East, and
for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2278
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ANTI-AMERICAN INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE
EAST.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are the
foundations of free and prosperous societies worldwide, and
with the freedom of the press and freedom of expression comes
the responsibility to repudiate purveyors of incitement to
violence.
(2) For years, certain media outlets in the Middle East,
particularly those associated with terrorist groups, have
repeatedly published or broadcast incitements to violence
against the United States and Americans.
(3) Television channels that broadcast incitement to
violence against Americans, the United States, and others
have demonstrated the ability to shift their operations to
different countries and their transmissions to different
satellite providers in order to continue broadcasting and to
evade accountability.
(4) Television channels such as al-Manar, al-Aqsa, al-
Zawra, and others that broadcast incitement to violence
against the United States and Americans aid Foreign Terrorist
Organizations in the key functions of recruitment,
fundraising, and propaganda.
(b) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the
United States to--
(1) designate as Specially Designated Global Terrorists
satellite providers that knowingly and willingly contract
with entities designated as Specially Designated Global
Terrorists under Executive Order 13224, to broadcast their
channels, or to consider implementing other punitive measures
against satellite providers that transmit al-Aqsa TV, al-
Manar TV, al-Rafidayn TV, or any other terrorist owned and
operated station;
(2) consider state-sponsorship of anti-American incitement
to violence when determining the level of assistance to, and
frequency and nature of relations with, all states; and
(3) urge all governments and private investors who own
shares in satellite companies or otherwise influence
decisions about satellite transmissions to oppose
transmissions of telecasts by al-Aqsa TV, al-Manar TV, al-
Rafidayn TV, or any other Specially Designated Global
Terrorist owned and operated stations that openly incite
their audiences to commit acts of terrorism or violence
against the United States and its citizens.
(c) Report.--
(1) Requirement for reports.--Beginning 6 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter,
the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on anti-American incitement to violence
in the Middle East.
(2) Content.--The reports required under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) a country-by-country list and description of media
outlets that engage in anti-American incitement to violence;
and
(B) a list of satellite companies that carry mediums
described in subparagraph (A) or designated under Executive
Order 13224.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Anti-american incitement to violence.--The term ``anti-
American incitement to violence'' means the act of
persuading, encouraging, instigating, advocating, pressuring,
or threatening so as to cause another to commit a violent act
against any person, agent, instrumentality, or official of,
is affiliated with, or is serving as a representative of the
United States.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(3) Middle east.--The term ``Middle East'' means Algeria,
Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and
Yemen.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Costa) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. COSTA. I yield myself as much time as I may consume as I rise in
strong support of this resolution.
Madam Speaker, I want to commend my friend from Florida (Mr.
Bilirakis) for introducing this piece of legislation as well as my
friend and colleague from New York, Joe Crowley, for his leadership on
this issue.
This is an important matter. The Obama administration has brought a
new, more positive tone to American foreign policy in the Middle East.
Yet, despite the President's desire to seek a new beginning between the
United States and Muslims around the world, there still lies fanatical
anti-American and anti-Semitic efforts which continue to incite people
around the world through broadcasts in the Middle East by television
stations for those Muslim viewers.
Without a doubt, freedom of the press and freedom of expression are
the foundations of free and prosperous societies throughout the world.
Yet with this important freedom comes the great responsibility to
reject and repudiate that incitement to violence. This resolution
attempts to remind us of that fact.
For years, certain media outlets in the Middle East, particularly
those associated with terrorist groups, have repeatedly published or
have broadcast incitement to violence against the United States and our
allies. Television stations, such as Hezbollah's al-Manar, Hamas' al-
Aqsa, the Iraq-based Al-Zawra, and others that broadcast incitement to
violence against the United States aid foreign terrorist organizations
in their key functions to recruit, to fund-raise, and to incite further
propaganda. This must not continue. Some of these stations are
broadcast throughout the region by two prominent Arab world
satellites--Egypt's Nilesat and the Arab League's Arabsat--in which
both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the leading shareholders. Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait have relations with our country.
This is unfortunate. This propaganda threatens long-term U.S.
interests in the region, and it does a great deal of damage to the
prospect of improving bilateral relations between America and our
allies in the Arab world. In addition, it undermines the prospects for
Arab-Israeli peace. Make no doubt about that.
Americans have witnessed the direct connection between the charged
rhetoric of the jihadist narrative, as Tom Friedman called it in his
recent column that many of us have read, and it incites actual
violence. This incitement creates an environment conducive to and
accepting of terrorism, terrorism that impacts all of us throughout the
world. As the U.S. and other nations join in fighting this terrorism,
there must be renewed vigilance against the purveyors of anti-American
hatred abroad and of the consequences for inaction, inattention, or
state sponsorship of this hatred.
This legislation requires the State Department to submit to Congress
an annual report that details, country by country, Middle Eastern media
outlets that engage in anti-American incitement to violence and of the
satellite companies that transmit them. They are the enablers.
It also establishes as U.S. policy that satellite providers which
knowingly and willingly contract with terrorist entities can be legally
designated as ``specially designated global terrorists,'' under
Executive Order 13224, for perpetrating this incitement. In addition,
it calls upon our government to consider the state sponsorship of anti-
American incitement to violence when determining the level of
assistance to and the frequency and nature of relations with Middle
Eastern states. We ought to reflect and make an analysis
[[Page H13559]]
of this effort. This legislation attempts to do so.
Finally, H.R. 2278 urges all governments and private investors who
are involved with satellite transmissions to oppose the broadcasting of
telecasts by any specially designated global terrorist-owned-and-
operated stations which openly incite their audiences to commit acts of
terrorism or acts of violence against the United States and its
citizens or against citizens throughout the world.
I know that the terrorist likes of Hamas and Hezbollah will not soon
abandon their mass media attempts of promoting hatred and violence, but
there are efforts that we can and should pursue. It is longtime past
for all state-owned and privately owned satellite companies, wherever
they are located, to cease transmitting these ugly messages which
encourage the murder of Americans and our allies. That is why, Madam
Speaker, I strongly support this legislation, and I urge all of my
colleagues to join me in that support.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I also rise in strong support of this legislation
authored by my good friend and colleague from Florida, Congressman Gus
Bilirakis, and I am a proud cosponsor of this important bill.
I thank Mr. Bilirakis for his vision, and I also wish to extend my
gratitude to our colleague from New York, Congressman Joe Crowley. They
have been leaders on this important issue.
The bill before us, Madam Speaker, is a successor to a resolution
that was passed last Congress condemning the broadcasting of incitement
to violence against Americans and the United States in media based in
the Middle East and calling for the designation of al-Aqsa TV as a
specially designated global terrorist entity.
As we commemorate the 68th anniversary of the United States' entry
into World War II, we know well the power that words have for either
good or evil. Before there were factories to drive the Nazi war
machine, there were hateful and violent words. Before there were bricks
to build concentration camps, there were ugly, dehumanizing words. As
we have witnessed, such charged rhetoric invites violent action, and
such incitement creates an environment accepting of and conducive to
violent Islamic extremism.
As we too sadly learned on September 11, 2001, purveyors of anti-
American incitement to violence traffic not only in words but in deeds.
Accordingly, this important and critical legislation before us this
morning requires that the President submit a report to Congress on the
activities of media outlets which engage in anti-American incitement to
violence and on the satellite providers that carry out these messages
of hate.
Furthermore, Mr. Bilirakis' legislation seeks to document the threat
posed by the broadcasts of incitement to violence against Americans and
the United States on television channels and other media which are
accessible in the United States. It will highlight how the threat may
increase the risk of radicalization and recruitment of Americans into
extremist organizations which seek to carry out attacks against
American targets and on American soil.
We cannot allow satellite providers which traffic in and profit from
anti-American incitement to violence to remain in the shadows. We must
join with the majority of those throughout the Middle East and right
here at home who value pluralism, who value tolerance, and, in both
word and deed, who reject the purveyors of anti-American incitement to
violence and their enablers.
Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this critical
legislation. I thank the author of this important bill, my colleague
from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), for its introduction. As well, I thank
our friend from New York (Mr. Crowley).
With that, Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my
friend from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2278.
I want to thank the gentleman from California, of course my good
friend from Florida, and also the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Crowley).
My legislation will direct the President to transmit to Congress a
report on anti-American incitement to violence in the Middle East. This
nefarious activity is escalating in quality and quantity and is fueled
by the rapid growth of satellite television throughout the Arab world.
In 2008, al-Manar TV, which is run by Hezbollah, broadcast over two
dozen video clips of insurgents' bombings against U.S. and coalition
forces in Iraq. Further, Iranian state-controlled TV channels, such as
al-Rafidayn, repeatedly broadcast calls for ``death to America.'' Al-
Aqsa TV, an arm of Hamas, broadcast a puppet show depicting an Arab
child stabbing the President of the United States.
Instead of denouncing such incitement, many countries in the region
provide financial, material, and technological support to the purveyors
of incitement. Al-Manar and al-Aqsa, among others, are transmitted on
the satellite providers Nilesat, which is controlled by the Egyptian
Government, and Arabsat, which is controlled by the Arab League. Given
the dangers such incitement poses to American soldiers and civilians in
the region and at home, it is long past time for the U.S. and other
responsible nations to stop this growing threat. The passage of H.R.
2278 is therefore critical.
This legislation seeks to designate, under Executive Order 13224,
specially designated global terrorist satellite providers which
knowingly engage in contracts with entities already designated as
specially designated global terrorists.
This bill would also make it the policy of the U.S. to urge all
governments and private investors who own shares in satellite companies
to oppose transmissions of telecasts by any station that openly incites
its audience to commit acts of terrorism or violence against the United
States and its citizens.
This bill requires the President to transmit a report to Congress
that must include a country-by-country list and description of media
outlets that engage in anti-American incitement to violence in the
Middle East and a list of satellite companies which carry such media.
Most importantly, it must be the policy of the United States, in
crafting its foreign policy, to consider the state sponsorship of anti-
American incitement to violence when determining the level of
assistance to and frequency in nature of relations with regional
states.
Finally, Madam Speaker, the broadcast of incitement to violence
against Americans in our country on television channels and on other
media that are accessible in the U.S. may increase the risk of the
radicalization and recruitment of individuals into foreign terrorist
organizations that seek to carry out acts of violence against American
targets on American soil. This is a concerning trend that must be
halted.
Madam Speaker, I urge the passage of this very important measure,
which I hope will improve our national security and the safety of our
soldiers and citizens overseas.
Again, I thank the gentleman from California and the gentlewoman from
Florida. I appreciate it very much.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to turn the
management of this measure and of the other remaining items to my
friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
resolution.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Costa) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2278, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
[[Page H13560]]
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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