Message from the Senate

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE

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Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, the lessons of history demonstrate that threats, left unchecked, become more dangerous over time. In the long-term isolationism is not an effective solution for peace-keeping nations.

Osama bin Laden, and the al Qaeda terrorist network he founded, were at war with the United States throughout the 1990s.

1993: The first attack on the World Trade Center

1996: Bin Laden calls on Muslims to harm U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

1998: Bin Laden claims: Muslims should kill Americans any where--including civilians.

May 1998: Bin Laden foreshadows the future. He warns the battle will ``move to American soil.''

June 1998, a grand jury investigation issued an indictment against bin Laden

On the 8th anniversary of the UN sanctions against Iraq, two simultaneous explosions occurred at the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The bomb in Kenya kills 213 people, including 12 American, injuring more than 4,500. In Tanzania, 11 are dead--85 injured.

August 20, 1998 President Clinton orders cruise missile attacks at suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical plant in the Sudan.

Soon after a new indictment was issued against bin Laden.

However, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were left virtually unchecked despite these and other terrorist attacks throughout the 1990s and up until 9/11.

Recently I visited Kenya, including the former site of the American Embassy in Nairobi. Today that site has been replaced by a park with a fountain, a memorial wall that has all the victim's names on it, and a memorial building. During past wars memorials to the victims of conflicts and those who served bravely to win them, have usually waited until the hostilities ended. In the name of all those who died at the sites of all the terrorist attacks, as well as those who have given the ultimate sacrifice to fight terrorism, we must ensure those memorials future by winning the war on terror.

Every event from bin Laden's first bomb in 1992 through today has been part of one long coordinating al-Qaeda war. The coordinated attacks in 1998 should have been a clear warning signal that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were determined, willing and able to attack Americans.

While Osama bin Laden had declared war on all Americans in 1998, the US didn't declare war on terror until September 12, 2001.

The opportunity to stop bin Laden before 9/11 came and went. The lessons of history assure us that left unchecked the forces of evil will grow stronger and will seek to harm us again. Today's discussion is about a simple choice; do we fight terrorism tomorrow or do we stop it with our actions today?

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