Federal News Service - Panel I of a 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:

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REP. WATERS: Thank you very much.

REP. FRANK: -- disinterest in what Mr. Hamilton has to say.

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Frank.

I'd like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and our ranking member for scheduling this important meeting.

Mr. Chairman, the 9/11 commission's report and its staff monograph on terrorist financing are a tremendously valuable resource to this committee as we consider the wide range of issues that necessarily are implicated when we evaluate how we can make it more costly and difficult for terrorists to engage in terrorism without either sacrificing civil liberties or duly disrupting commerce.

I'd like to commend Chairman Kean, Vice Chairman Hamilton and the other members of the 9/11 commission and the commission staff for the care and attention that obviously went into these documents. And I thank all of them for their work. They have certainly performed an exceptional public service.

Mr. Chairman and members, I'm going to take a line of questioning that may be a little bit uncomfortable, but I think it is absolutely necessary.

First of all, I'd like to note that as it is reported, the 9/11 commission confirmed last month that it had found no evidence that the government of Saudi Arabia funded al Qaeda terrorist network and the 9/11 hijackers received funding from Saudi citizen Omar al-Bayoumi or Princess Haifa Faisal, wife of Ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar Sultan. I'd like to ask what went into that investigation that would lead you to that conclusion.

And the reason I would like to ask that is there are so many reports. Time magazine, for example, reported that the Saudis still appear to be protecting charities associated with the royal family which funnel money to terrorists.

Also, as you know, there has been a lot written lately about the relationship of both President Bush and his father to the Saudis, not only their personal friendships but their money relationships-relationships that include the Harken Energy, Halliburton and the Carlyle Group. And of course a lot has been written about the $1 million that was funded to the Bush library by the Saudis.

Also, it is noted that in this cozy relationship that this administration has with the-have with the Saudis, it goes so far as to identify that Robert Jordan, the ambassador that was appointed to Saudi Arabia, had no diplomatic experience, does not speak Arabic and cannot be considered a serious diplomat as it relates to representing our interests in a country where many of us have very, very serious concerns.

So I would like to know how did the commission reach the conclusion or find no evidence that the government of Saudi Arabia funded-furnished al Qaeda or the network with any funds, or that they're not still funding these charities. Did you have CIA information that helped you to document that? As a matter of fact, it appears that before 9/11, according to U.S. News-a 1996 CIA report found that a third of the 50 Saudi-backed charities it studied were tied to terrorist groups.

Similarly, a 1998 report by the National Security Council had identified the Saudi government as the epicenter of terrorist funding, becoming the single greatest force in spreading Islamic fundamentalism and funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to jihad groups and al Qaeda cells around the world.

Now I must admit that this information that I'm reading to you now came from the Center for American Progress.

I won't go on any further. I think you get the picture. What I'm trying to say to say to you is, if you've come to this conclusion that the Saudi government had no-is not responsible for continuing to fund these charities, where dollars ended up with some of the 9/11 hijackers, how did you come to this conclusion? And what have you explored about this relationship of this administration to the Saudi government? Obviously it's very cozy. They helped to escort members of Osama bin Laden's family out of the country. The princess who was found to have been giving money to charities associated with 9/11 hijackers-all leads us to a conclusion that this cozy relationship has to be broken up, and there's something to this funding.

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

REP. WATERS: And I would just ask you to relate to that.