[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 114 (Monday, July 30, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BULGARIA TERRORIST ATTACKS

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise to express my outrage at the 
recent attack on a tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, that killed five 
Israeli citizens and the Bulgarian driver and injured scores of 
passengers. This heinous act was obviously the handiwork of terrorists 
who prey on innocent civilians in order to shock and horrify the world 
and try to rally some to a twisted, violent ideology. The terrorists 
must be stopped.
  I am equally outraged by the fact that the Burgas attack appears to 
be the latest in a series of attacks on Israeli citizens. There have 
been several since the beginning of this year alone, two aimed at 
Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia in February, as well as a foiled 
plot against tourists in Cyprus the week before the tragedy in Burgas. 
The attacks targeting Israeli Embassy personnel in India and Georgia 
fell on the 18th anniversary of a suicide bombing of the Jewish 
Community Center in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people. Argentine 
authorities blamed that attack on Hezbollah operatives.
  All of these attacks have the hallmarks of Iranian involvement or 
plots by their surrogates. The day after the attacks in India and 
Georgia, Iranian nationals involved in a bomb-making plot in Thailand 
were arrested after they accidentally detonated their homemade 
explosives, severely injuring one of the perpetrators. Thai officials 
reported that the improvised explosives found in Bangkok were the same 
as those used in India and Georgia.
  I understand that the investigation of the Burgas attack is ongoing 
and the United States and other countries are working closely with 
Bulgarian officials. White House counterterrorism chief John Brenan has 
visited Bulgaria, and, while he did not implicate Iran or Hezbollah in 
public statements he made while there, he pointed out that both Tehran 
and its Lebanese surrogate have been implicated in attacks on civilians 
in the past.
  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel has 
``fully substantiated intelligence'' that the Burgas attack was carried 
out by Hezbollah. I have not seen that information, but I think that 
based solely on press reports of results thus far in the investigations 
of these attacks, one can reasonably conclude that Iran and Hezbollah 
have been involved--further evidence of Iran's longstanding use of 
political violence and sponsorship of terrorism to achieve its goals.
  According to a recent edition of the Jewish Press, the Director of 
Israel's Mossad and the Chief of its Shin Bet have said that Iran and 
Hezbollah have tried to commit terrorist attacks against Israeli 
diplomats, businessmen and tourists in over 20 countries during the 
past 2 years.
  We must stand with the people and the Government of Israel. We must 
lead the international community in redoubling efforts to assist 
Israel, and all countries on whose soil these heinous acts are 
committed, in tracking down the terrorists and bringing them to justice 
and continue to work to prevent such attacks in the future.
  I am confident that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support 
our government's work with Israel and the international community to 
counter Iran's insidious network of terror.

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