H.Con.Res. 181 (ih) Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to war crimes against United States military personnel and their families, and in particular to the war crimes committed in El Salvador against United States Army pilots David H. Picket...

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106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 180


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 13, 1999

                                Received

                           September 29, 1999

               Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not have 
                    granted clemency to terrorists.

    Whereas the Armed Forces of National Liberation (the FALN) is a 
            militant terrorist organization that claims responsibility 
            for the bombings of approximately 130 civilian, political, 
            and military sites throughout the United States;
    Whereas its reign of terror resulted in 6 deaths and the permanent 
            maiming of dozens of others, including law enforcement 
            officials;
    Whereas 16 members of the FALN were tried for numerous felonies 
            against the United States, including seditious conspiracy;
    Whereas at their trials, none of the 16 defendants contested any of 
            the evidence presented by the United States;
    Whereas at their trials, none expressed remorse for their actions;
    Whereas all were subsequently convicted and sentenced to prison for 
            terms up to 90 years;
    Whereas not a single act of terrorism has been attributed to the 
            FALN since the imprisonment of the 16 terrorists;
    Whereas no petitions for clemency were made by these terrorists, 
            but other persons, in an irregular procedure, sought such 
            clemency for them;
    Whereas on August 11, 1999, President William Jefferson Clinton 
            offered clemency to these 16 terrorists, all of whom have 
            served less than 20 years in prison;
    Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of 
            Prisons, and 2 United States Attorneys all reportedly 
            advised the President not to grant leniency to the 16 
            terrorists;
    Whereas the Federal Bureau of Prisons reportedly based its decision 
            in part on the existence of audio recordings indicating 
            that some of the 16 have vowed to resume their violent 
            activities upon release from prison;
    Whereas the State Department in 1998 reiterated two longstanding 
            tenets of counterterrorism policy that the United States 
            will: ``(1) make no concessions to terrorists and strike no 
            deals; and ``(2) bring terrorists to justice for their 
            crimes'';
    Whereas the President's offer of clemency to the FALN terrorists 
            violates longstanding tenets of United States 
            counterterrorism policy;
    Whereas the President's decision sends an unmistakable message to 
            terrorists that the United States does not punish 
            terrorists in a severe manner, making terrorism more 
            likely; and
    Whereas the release of terrorists is an affront to the rule of law, 
            the victims and their families, and every American who 
            believes that violent acts must be punished to the fullest 
            extent of the law: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that making concessions to terrorists 
is deplorable and that President Clinton should not have offered or 
granted clemency to the FALN terrorists.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 9, 1999.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.

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