[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 6 (Monday, February 13, 1995)]
[Pages 227-228]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the ``Omnibus Counterterrorism Act 
of 1995''

February 9, 1995

To the Congress of the United States:

    I am pleased to transmit today for your immediate consideration and 
enactment the ``Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995.'' Also transmitted 
is a section-by-section analysis. This legislative proposal is part of 
my Administration's comprehensive effort to strengthen the ability of 
the United States to deter terrorist acts and punish those who aid or 
abet any international terrorist activity in the United States. It 
corrects deficiencies and gaps in current law.
    Some of the most significant provisions of the bill will:

[[Page 228]]

<bullet>    Provide clear Federal criminal jurisdiction for any 
            international terrorist attack that might occur in the 
            United States;
<bullet>    Provide Federal criminal jurisdiction over terrorists who 
            use the United States as the place from which to plan 
            terrorist attacks overseas;
<bullet>    Provide a workable mechanism, utilizing U.S. District Court 
            Judges appointed by the Chief Justice, to deport 
            expeditiously alien terrorists without risking the 
            disclosure of national security information or techniques;
<bullet>    Provide a new mechanism for preventing fund-raising in the 
            United States that supports international terrorist 
            activities overseas; and
<bullet>    Implement an international treaty requiring the insertion of 
            a chemical agent into plastic explosives when manufactured 
            to make them detectable.
    The fund-raising provision includes a licensing mechanism under 
which funds can only be transferred based on a strict showing that the 
money will be used exclusively for religious, charitable, literary, or 
educational purposes and will not be diverted for terrorist activity. 
The bill also includes numerous relatively technical, but highly 
important, provisions that will facilitate investigations and 
prosecutions of terrorist crimes.
    It is the Administration's intent that section 101 of the bill 
confer Federal jurisdiction only over international terrorism offenses. 
The Administration will work with Members of Congress to ensure that the 
language in the bill is consistent with that intent.
    I urge the prompt and favorable consideration of this legislative 
proposal by the Congress.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
February 9, 1995.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
February 10.