[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17400-17401]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CONDEMNING ATTACK ON AMIA JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN BUENOS AIRES, 
                        ARGENTINA, IN JULY 1994

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 21, 2004

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, in 1994, a terrorist bomb 
destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, 
known by its Spanish acronym, AMIA, killing 85 people and wounding 200. 
To this day, the attack on the AMIA remains the deadliest anti-Semitic 
incident since World War II.
  I take this opportunity to condemn the attack on the AMIA Jewish 
Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina on July 18, 1994, and to 
honor the victims of this heinous act.
  The AMIA attack, which showed the same cowardice as the September 11, 
2001, attack, tragically illustrates the intention of Islamic 
terrorists to bring their jihad against Western values to our own 
hemisphere.
  Substantial evidence attributes the attack on July 18, 1994, to the 
terrorist group Hizballah, based in Lebanon and sponsored by Iran. 
Evidence indicates that the tri-border region where Argentina, 
Paraguay, and Brazil meet was used to channel resources for the purpose 
of carrying out the AMIA attack by terrorists linked with Iran.
  Regrettably, the scheming of international terrorist organizations 
such as Hizballah and al-Qaeda are not confined to the tri-border 
region. Much of the Western Hemisphere is ideal for international 
terrorist groups to establish bases due to the ill equipped and poorly 
trained security agencies across the region.
  Terrorism is their technique, but hatred is their ideology. The fight 
against terrorism must remain a top priority. Nowhere is this more true 
than in America's backyard.
  While the case has been officially under investigation for over 9 
years, the responsible parties have not yet been apprehended.
  Massive judicial and investigative irregularities, destruction of 
evidence, and cover-ups have already distorted the long-delayed trial.
  The biggest blow to the trial came last year when Federal Judge Juan 
Jose Galeano, who had spent nine years probing the bombing,

[[Page 17401]]

was removed from the case. It was revealed he paid $400,000 in State 
money to a witness in return for testimony needed to move the stalled 
case forward.
  So now, the court is focusing on investigating the investigation 
rather than look into who was to blame.
  Make no mistake about it, failure to duly punish the culprits of the 
AMIA attack serves to reward terrorists and help spread terrorism. 
Therefore, I strongly urge the Government of Argentina to fulfill its 
international obligations and its promise to the Argentine people by 
pursuing the local and international connections to this act of 
terrorism, wherever it may lead, and to properly punish all those who 
are involved.
  Argentina owes it to itself, its people and the human family to 
conduct an intense, fearless and comprehensive investigation that will 
lead to the identification and prosecution of the principal criminals.

                          ____________________