[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S441-S442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Webb, Mr. McCain, 
        Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Chambliss, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
        McConnell, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Corker, 
        Mr. Kyl, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Hatch, Mr. 
        Johanns, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Pryor, and Mr. Thune):
  S. 2977. A bill to prohibit the use of Department of Justice for the 
prosecution in Article III courts of the United States of individuals 
involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; to the Committee 
on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise to speak about this 
administration's decision to try the 9/11 conspirators and the 
Christmas bomber in our civilian criminal justice system.
  Prosecuting the five 9/11 conspirators currently detained at the 
Guantanamo Bay detention facility, as well as the Christmas bomber, 
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in article III criminal court indicates a 
disturbing tendency by this administration to make terrorism a law 
enforcement priority rather than an intelligence priority. It a mistake 
to treat terrorism as a law enforcement problem alone, a mistake that 
is only compounded by the fact that the intelligence community was not 
even consulted before they were prevented from gathering any 
intelligence from Abdulmutallab, a member of a terrorist organization 
sworn to be at war with America. As the 9/11 Commission found:

       An unfortunate consequence of this superb investigative and 
     prosecutorial effort was that it created an impression that 
     the law enforcement system was well equipped to cope with 
     terrorism.

  As we know from an examination of events before 9/11, law enforcement 
means alone cannot eliminate the threat from al-Qaida.
  After Abdulmutallab failed to detonate an explosive device on 
Northwest flight 253, he was taken into custody by law enforcement. 
Other than the Federal Bureau of Investigation, no member of the 
intelligence community--in particular, the Central Intelligence 
Agency--had the opportunity to question Abdulmutallab and gather 
intelligence. The Department of Justice should have foreseen that a 
dedicated terrorist, intent on committing suicide and harming 
Americans, would not be willing to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, 
especially after being informed of his rights under our criminal code, 
including the right to remain silent. Without consulting the 
intelligence community, the Department of Justice limited the tools 
used to gather intelligence and potentially prevent future terrorist 
attacks.
  The administration is returning to the idea that terrorism can be 
investigated by the FBI and prosecuted rather than relying on our 
intelligence community and military to disrupt attacks. The United 
States should not revert to the days where we waited for an attack to 
occur, then investigated it and prosecuted it. We must work actively to 
disrupt terrorist attacks before they take the lives of Americans. We 
must work actively to deny terrorist safe havens and financing. The 
most successful way to disrupt and deny terrorist activity is through 
the intelligence we gather on individuals prior to a criminal or 
terrorist act occurring or from those individuals after they have made 
such an attempt.
  Treating these terrorists as common criminals will put our 
communities in danger, toll the taxpayers, and cause the government to 
miss valuable intelligence collection opportunities. For example, 
bringing the five 9/11 conspirators to New York City is estimated to 
cost over $200 million per year just in enhanced security. This does 
not include the cost to millions of New Yorkers and businesses who will 
have to adjust their way of life to accommodate these trials. 
Meanwhile, this will allow terrorists to mock our justice system and 
use it as a stage to espouse their jihadist beliefs and expose our 
intelligence sources and methods. We have already seen Zacarias 
Moussaoui use his trial in Virginia to spout al-Qaida propaganda and to 
try to portray himself as a martyr. Meanwhile, terrorism trials during 
the 1990s in our criminal courts exposed sensitive and classified 
information to, among others, Osama bin Laden, including the fact that 
the U.S. intelligence community was targeting his communications.
  Let me be clear. These are not common criminals, and they should not 
be treated as such. The five terrorists responsible for planning and 
organizing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks--including self-
proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed--should not be 
entitled to receive the same legal treatment as our Constitution gives 
to common criminals in this country. These terrorists committed an act 
of war, an act that led us to an armed conflict in Afghanistan, where, 
today, more than 8 years later, our troops are still battling al-Qaida. 
These terrorists should face justice through the military commission 
process for the atrocities they committed--the same process that had 
already charged these five terrorists and began over a year ago; the 
same process that KSM already pleaded guilty under but that the 
President abolished as soon as he took office.

[[Page S442]]

  For these reasons, I joined a bipartisan group of Senators, today, in 
introducing legislation that would prohibit funding for the prosecuting 
of the 9/11 conspirators in our U.S. criminal article III courts.
  Under his Constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, along with 
the Congressional Authorization for the Use of Military Force, the 
President has the authority--and the responsibility--to detain the 9/11 
conspirators and Abdulmutallab because of their actions on behalf of 
al-Qaida, and to pursue trial by military commission--an option the 
President determined appropriate for other terrorits, such as Abd al-
Rahim al-Nashiri, who was responsible for the USS Cole bombing. 
Instead, by prosecuting Abdulmutallab and the 9/11 conspirators in 
criminal court, and Nashiri and others by military commission, it 
creates the impression that terrorists are rewarded with the full 
complement of rights and privileges of an American if they attack 
defenseless civilians at home, but not if they attack our government or 
military interests abroad. This will only further incentivize 
terrorists to attack our homeland.
  As the attempted terrorists attack on Christmas Day illustrates, al-
Qaida does not need further incentive to attack America. They are 
focused on and engaged in harming Americans here and abroad. As such, 
it is critical that our intelligence community have every opportunity 
to gain information so we can stay one step ahead of any related 
terrorists threats. Obtaining intelligence first rather than affording 
constitutional rights to a foreign terrorist is an obvious solution. 
Treating members of al-Qaida the same as we treat others captured on 
the battlefield is another.
                                  ____

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. Nelson of Florida):
  S. 2978. A bill to extend the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, 
to extend the trade preferences made available to Haiti under that Act, 
to encourage foreign investment in Haiti, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce legislation 
to help encourage Haitian economic development, by promoting U.S.-
Haitian trade and investment. The legislation, the Renewing Hope for 
Haitian Trade and Investment Act of 2010, would in part renew 
provisions of U.S. trade law that are currently scheduled to expire and 
which have been critical to the growth of the Haitian apparel sector, 
which sustains tens of thousands of jobs in Haiti.
  Apparel is a core industry sector in Haiti, accounting for an 
estimated 25,000 jobs and 75-80 percent of Haiti's export earnings.
  The devastating January 12 earthquake in Haiti caused widespread 
damage to the industry. The damage has caused transportation and 
assembly production bottlenecks, and compounded existing challenges 
such as lack of industrial space, poor road and port conditions, 
unreliable electricity, and the high cost of capital.
  As of January 2010, Haiti's apparel industry is reportedly running at 
50 percent of capacity as a result of the earthquake. Producers hope to 
increase production to 70 percent of capacity in the next 4-6 weeks, 
depending on improvements to electricity and water supplies.
  Most apparel imports from Haiti come into the U.S. free of duties, 
because of provisions in the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, 
CBTPA. Unfortunately, these provisions expire in September of this 
year. This expiration is dampening interest in placing additional 
apparel orders, so it is critical that Congress extend this important 
program, and do so expeditiously. The Renewing Hope for Haitian Trade 
and Investment Act of 2010 would extend CBTPA for an additional 3 
years.
  Increasingly, producers are using a new program called the 
Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement, HOPE, 
program to send Haitian apparel to the U.S. free of duty. While 
utilization of this program, which began in 2006, is growing, it faced 
early challenges and has since been amended. The amendments have been 
helpful, but extending this program would help send a signal to 
potential investors to go into Haiti and build the factories that will 
employ hundreds or thousands more Haitian workers. The Renewing Hope 
for Haitian Trade and Investment Act would ``restart the clock'' on the 
HOPE program and extend it through 2022.
  Furthermore, a challenging investment climate and cumbersome Customs 
procedures for moving goods in and out of Haiti are imposing 
significant challenges to private-sector Haitian producers. The 
Renewing Hope for Haitian Trade and Investment Act would help in these 
areas, too.
  Over the past few weeks, I have reached out to a broad group of 
stakeholders in order to identify the near-term challenges that face 
Haiti's apparel production industry. We focused on identifying short-
term constraints that exist because of the January earthquake. I look 
forward to continuing to work with these stakeholders going forward in 
order to ensure quick passage of a bill that has a maximum amount of 
consensus between U.S. and Haitian producers, non-governmental 
organizations, and others.
  I would particularly like to acknowledge the leadership of Senator 
Bill Nelson on this proposal. His keen understanding of Haiti and how 
U.S. trade laws work to help Haitian economic development was critical 
to constructing this legislation. I look forward to working with 
Senators Nelson, Baucus, Grassley, and Chairmen Rangel and Levin on 
this proposal and other ideas to spur Haiti's economy. Each of these 
members is a vociferous champion of Haitian economic development, 
promoted in part by thoughtful trade and investment policies.
  I encourage all my colleagues to join in supporting this critical 
legislation to help Haitians who were flattened both economically and 
literally by last month's earthquake get back on their feet.
                                 ______