Death of Osama bin Laden

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night at about 9 o'clock, I received a call at my home in Springfield, IL, from Vice President Biden. It was kind of a surprising call on a Sunday night, and I was even more surprised when he said Osama bin Laden had been captured and killed and President Obama would be making a statement very shortly. I waited up to hear that statement. I was catching a plane early this morning, but I wanted to hear it firsthand.

I guess every single one of us can remember where we were on 9/11. I know where I was. I was just a few feet away from here. We were in an office, a room just off the Capitol floor here--the Senate floor--in a meeting with Senator Daschle when we heard about a plane crashing into the Trade Center in New York and then another one. And then we realized this was not an accident. We watched, as America watched, and we wondered would we be next, this building, this big target of a building, the U.S. Capitol. Thank goodness the courage of passengers on a plane that was brought down in Pennsylvania probably saved many lives, maybe my own.

But we came to know that behind it all was a man named Osama bin Laden who declared war on the United States of America and was prepared to kill thousands of innocent people to push his terrible extremist agenda. For 10 years, we have been engaged in the largest global manhunt in history to find this man. President Bush, I am sure, used every resource of the government to do that job, and I commend him for that effort even though he was not successful. But last night, because of the courage of Navy SEALs and our military, who stepped up, Osama bin Laden was captured and killed.

I know, having spoken to people in the White House, that the President stuck his neck out on this because there was a question as to whether he was actually there. They believed there was enough evidence, and the President said: Go forward. We did it without any loss of life on the American side or any loss of innocent life of civilians.

But it appears now that we have taken away the leader of al-Qaida. That is a good development for all of us. I do not know if it means there will be a more peaceful world. We probably should assume the opposite for at least the time being, that these terrorist organizations will now strike at the United States to establish they are still credible. Well, we have to be vigilant. We have to stop them before it happens. And we have to pursue every single one of them for whatever it takes to bring them to justice.

Perhaps, though, it will go in another direction. Perhaps we will find that once al-Qaida, the head of the snake, has been chopped off, perhaps al-Qaida will start to wither, and I hope it does. If it does, maybe some other organizations will have second thoughts about the terrorism business. That would be the best outcome, even better if we could start bringing our troops home from Afghanistan.

I commend the men and women in uniform, those yesterday who showed such courage, those in the intelligence community who have worked night and day for almost 10 years trying to find this man. I commend the President for showing the kind of leadership we needed to bring to justice the most dangerous terrorist criminal on the face of the Earth. It is something that I think speaks well for our government and for our people.

There is one other point I would like to make, and the President made it last night in his statement. He repeated what had been said by President George W. Bush after 9/11. I had my differences with President Bush, but there were moments when I could not have agreed with him more and particularly the moment when he made it clear that our war against terrorism was not a war against Islam. It was not a war against Muslims or Muslim Americans. I was so glad he did it because we have seen ample evidence of discrimination against people of that religion who have had nothing to do with terrorism but, unfortunately, have been discriminated against. Last night, the President repeated what we all believe: Islam is not the enemy. Extremism and terrorism are the enemies. We will work with Muslim Americans and Muslims around the world to protect their religion, their honored religion, and will work with them to reduce terrorism.

The President also reminded everyone listening last night that when it came to the victims of Osama bin Laden's terrorism, Muslim people were the victims time and time again. He was no friend of the Muslim community himself. His life, unfortunately, of killing and violence took its toll in many communities, including Muslim communities around the world.

I commend those who continue to work night and day, at every single level--Federal, State, and local--to deal with the threat of terrorism. This eradication of Osama bin Laden is an important step, but there is still much more to be done in terms of fighting this battle. I take pride in the work that has been done, a pride that is shared, I am certain, by every resident of Illinois and people all across the United States.

Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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