    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [September 8, 1999]
    [Pages 1507-1508]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Senate Transmitting the International Convention for the
    Suppression of Terrorist Bombings
    September 8, 1999

    To the Senate of the United States:
        With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to
    ratification, I transmit herewith the International Convention for the
    Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted by the United Nations General
    Assembly on December 15, 1997, and signed on behalf of the United States
    of America on January 12, 1998. The report of the Department of State
    with respect to the Convention is also transmitted for the information
    of the Senate.
        In recent years, we have witnessed an unprecedented and intolerable
    increase in acts of terrorism involving bombings in public places in
    various parts of the world. The United States initiated the negotiations
    of this convention in the aftermath of the June 1996 bombing attack on
    U.S. military personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in which 17 U.S. Air
    Force personnel were killed as the result of a truck bombing. That
    attack followed other terrorist attacks including poison gas attacks in
    Tokyo's subways; bombing attacks by HAMAS in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; and
    a bombing attack by the IRA in Manchester, England. Last year's
    terrorist attacks upon United States embassies in Nairobi and Dar es
    Salaam are recent examples of such bombings, and no country or region is
    exempt from the human tragedy and immense costs that result from such
    criminal acts. Although the penal codes of most states contain
    provisions proscribing these kinds of attacks, this Convention provides,
    for the first time, an international framework for cooperation among
    states directed toward prevention of such incidents and ensuing
    punishment of offenders, wherever found.
        In essence, the Convention imposes binding legal obligations upon
    States Parties either to submit for prosecution or to extradite any
    person within their jurisdiction who commits an offense as defined in
    Article 2, attempts to commit such an act, participates as an
    accomplice, organizes or directs others to commit such an offense, or in
    any other way contributes to the commission of an offense by a group of
    persons acting with a common purpose. A State Party is subject to these
    obligations without regard to the place where the alleged act covered by
    Article 2 took place.
        Article 2 of the Convention declares that any person commits an
    offense within the meaning of the Convention if that person unlawfully
    and

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    intentionally delivers, places, discharges or detonates an explosive or
    other lethal device in, into or against a place of public use, a state
    or government facility, a public transportation system, or an
    infrastructure facility, with the intent (a) to cause death or serious
    bodily injury or (b) cause extensive destruction of such a place,
    facility or system, where such destruction results in or is likely to
    result in major economic loss. States Parties to the Convention will
    also be obligated to provide one another legal assistance in
    investigations or criminal or extradition proceedings brought in respect
    of the offenses set forth in Article 2.
        The recommended legislation necessary to implement the Convention
    will be submitted to the Congress separately.
        This Convention is a vitally important new element in the campaign
    against the scourge of international terrorism. I hope that all states
    will become Parties to this Convention, and that it will be applied
    universally. I recommend, therefore, that the Senate give early and
    favorable consideration to this Convention, subject to the
    understandings and reservation that are described in the accompanying
    State Department report.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    September 8, 1999.