Federal News Service - Panel I of Hearing of the House Financial Services Committee - Transcript

Federal News Service

HEADLINE: PANEL I OF A HEARING OF THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCING, MONEY LAUNDERING AND THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

CHAIRED BY: REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL OXLEY (R-OH)

WITNESSES: LEE HAMILTON, VICE CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION;

LOCATION: 2128 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

BODY:

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Hamilton, I think your commission needs to be commended for so many different things, one of which is to point out the powerful tool that following the money provides in knowing what the terrorists are up to. My concern is that your comments might be misinterpreted to argue for a fatalistic reduction in our effort to turn off the money to the terrorists. We were not able to stop them from getting the roughly $30 million they needed for what they did, but the other way to look at that glass and say it's half full is to say we did stop them from getting $60 million or $100 million, or $200 million a year which they would have put to even more diabolical use.

My first question relates to the fact-it's my understanding that your commission's term of office expired this weekend. I can't think of a better investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars than what your commission has done. And yet, you've left a lot of unanswered questions, as naturally you would.

You've identified them. You've said additional work should be done. It strikes me that, much as you might like to relax, your commission are the best people to do it.

Perhaps you could explain to this committee how important it is that we keep the commission in business, and perhaps you'd inspire all of my colleagues to co-sponsor legislation to do just that.

MR. HAMILTON: The commission, of course, is a statutory body, and created by you and the Congress and by the president. And you're right, it went out of business this weekend. We-all of the commissioners believe that the recommendations we have made are worthwhile and should be considered, and each of them is committed to trying to help advance the case for the recommendations. Each of the commissioners have said that they will not involve themselves in partisan politics with regard to the terrorism issue. And we'll do our level best to try to meet that commitment.

Now we have, because of pending business, if you would, and unanswered questions, decided to stay in business on a private basis, and we have raised money for that purpose, not from the government but from private sources. I'm not quite up to date on all of that, but we are going to be opening an office here very shortly. Chairman Kean and one or two of the other commissioners have been more involved in it than I.

And we will continue to function. There are a lot of inquiries that still come in to the commission. There are questions that we have not answered. And we are deeply committed to trying to see implementation of some of our reforms.

We need help in doing that. We got to have staff. We got to have people to write testimony and do research. And of course the e- mails continue to come. I mean, my office just receives e-mails every day and requests for testimony and speaking and all the rest of it. Can't possibly meet all of those demands, and we do need some help.

REP. SHERMAN: Well, one approach is that you continue but morph into a foundation. Another approach is that we continue you as a government-funded commission with all of the official imprimatur, liberating you from the time that it would take to raise funds one donor at a time, one schmooze at a time. Which is the better approach to serve this nation and to begin to answer the many questions that still remain unanswered?

MR. HAMILTON: We leave that judgment to you and to your colleagues, Mr. Sherman. We're not going to try to do that. We've moved ahead on a private basis.

REP. SHERMAN: I think it may be obvious to my colleagues that your time is best spent doing the work of the commission rather than doing the work of forming some new-and funding some new foundation. But let me move on to one more question.

Your commission explodes the false impression that Osama bin Laden had access to a personal fortune of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars, yet he is one of the many sons of one of the richest families in the world. He did at one point inherit tens of millions of dollars or interests in family businesses worth tens of millions of dollars. Do we have any idea who controls this money or who took it away from his control, and who then should disgorge that money so that we can provide compensation not only to the victims of 9/11 but also to the victims in East Africa, for whom there is no other source of compensation?

REP. OXLEY: The gentleman's time has expired.

The gentleman may respond.

MR. HAMILTON: We think that with regard to Osama bin Laden's assets, most of them were spent during the period he was in Sudan before he moved to Afghanistan. And he was supporting at that point quite a large organization.

We think a number of his assets were frozen by the Saudis, and we found no evidence that the 9/11 attack itself was financed with his personal funding.

REP. SHERMAN: Well, I would hope the Saudi government would disgorge whatever assets it has frozen.

REP. OXLEY: The gentleman, Mr. Royce.