Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright Statement for the Record before the Senate Committee on Appropriations Hearing on Terrorism Washington, D.C., May 13, 1997 U.S. Department of State

From the original document at http://secretary.state.gov/www/statements/970513b.html

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this Statement for the Record to provide a brief overview of U.S. policy toward international terrorism and the role of the Department of State in coordinating U.S. policy and activities to counter the threat.

Although my schedule does not permit me to testify in person today, I want to emphasize that the struggle against international terrorism is one of our government's top foreign policy priorities. Terrorism poses a dangerous threat to American citizens and to our interests in a safe and stable world. Terrorism is a threat that is not going to go away. We must continue our efforts to deter it, contain it and encourage other countries to do the same. Coordination within our government and coordination with other governments is a major part of this effort.

The Terrorist Threat

The continuing threat was outlined to Congress on April 30 when the State Department released its annual survey of international terrorism. The publication, Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1996, reports that terrorism abroad continues to impose a heavy human, political and economic toll on the foreign policy and security interests of the United States and many other nations.

Although the number of international terrorist attacks fell to 296 last year, compared with 440 in 1995, the death toll worldwide in 1996 rose to 311, compared with 177 in 1995. Twenty-four Americans were killed. This toll indicates a greater ruthlessness by terrorists and a growing pattern of inflicting mass casualties.

The threat of terrorism to American interests was demonstrated in the truck bombing of the Al Khobar apartment complex near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American airman, and suicide bombings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where the casualties included eight American citizens killed or injured.

Identifying, monitoring and defeating international terrorists is a more challenging task today because of their diverse character, organization, and motivations. In the past, established secular terrorist groups, revolutionaries, and state sponsors of terrorism were in the vanguard. Today, some states like Iran are still very active in terrorism, but involvement by other states has declined, because of growing international consensus against terrorism, in general, and, in the case of Libya, sanctions. Today's terrorists vary widely from relatively established extremist groups such as HAMAS and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to cultist, such as the Aum Shinrikyo in Japan and apparently ad hoc groups such as the one that attacked the World Trade Center.

Terrorists also have increasing access to powerful explosives and weapons and are using technology such as computers, cellular phones and encryption. The threat of use of weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological or nuclear, by terrorists is another problem. We are taking extensive measures to detect and deter such threats.

U.S. Policies

To deal effectively with the variety of terrorist threats, U.S. counterterrorism efforts abroad are grounded on these basic policies:

-- We make no concessions to terrorist demands, recognizing that to do so only invites further terrorism.

-- We are determined to seek out relentlessly and punish terrorists wherever they may be, using the combined assets of U.S. law enforcement, diplomacy, intelligence, and, if necessary, our military assets. We have a long memory and reach when it comes to terrorists who attack Americans.

-- We insist that terrorism is a crime, whatever its motives or causes, and we promote the rule of law to criminalize it and bring terrorists to justice.

-- We designate states which sponsor terrorism, imposing a wide range of U.S. sanctions against them. And we encourage other nations to do the same.

-- We seek maximum cooperation from other governments, recognizing that, as terrorism is increasingly transnational, international cooperation is critical.

Coordinated Interagency Process

Effective counterterrorism calls for the skills and resources of many U.S. Government agencies. Coordination is essential. The President has designated the Department of State, in keeping with its foreign policy responsibilities, as the lead agency for coordination of our counterterrorism policy and operations abroad. The FBI has been designated as the lead agency for countering terrorism in the United States.

When international terrorist crises arise, an emergency response team, led by S/CT and including crisis management experts from various agencies, as needed, can be deployed promptly anywhere in the world. The team's job is to respond to requests from the U.S. Ambassador on the scene and the host government for advice and assistance in resolving the crisis. Flexibility and responsiveness are the watchwords of this team.

The Department of State and other agencies also participate in counterterrorism exercises--sometimes with friendly states abroad--that are critical for maintaining readiness to meet new threats. They range from "table top" simulations to actual deployments. Scenarios include terrorist hostage taking, hijackings, and threats or attacks involving weapons of mass destruction.

The Departments of State and Justice and the FBI work closely together on law enforcement aspects of counterterrorism abroad, and with foreign governments concerned--for example, when the FBI investigates terrorist crimes against U.S. interests abroad and in cases involving the apprehension and extradition of terrorists overseas to bring them to trial in the United States. Close coordination between our Ambassadors and host governments abroad, rapid reaction, and intricate planning are critical to success in such operations.

The strengthening of international law and increased adherence to the ten international conventions on terrorism, and expanding extradition treaties have also enhanced our efforts against international terrorism. The U.S. has led the way in ratifying and bringing into effect these conventions.

The U.S. initiative in the Group of Eight last year led to the introduction of a new draft treaty on Suppression of Terrorist Bombing that is now being negotiated at the UN.

State Sponsors of Terrorism, Consultations

Identifying state sponsors of terrorism, enforcing U.S. sanctions against them, and attempting to mobilize allied support are important weapons in our foreign policy arsenal. Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, North Korea and Cuba have been designated by the Secretary of State as state sponsors. Of these, Iran is the most flagrant violator, and we have imposed a variety of comprehensive sanctions to change Iranian behavior. We are also active in working with other states to ensure strict compliance with United Nations sanctions against Libya, Sudan and Iraq. In the case of Libya, for example we are determined to bring to justice, in a Scottish or U.S. court, as mandated by the Security Council, the Libyan government agents who have been indicted for the bombing of Pan American flight 103 in 1988.

State also organizes regular bilateral consultations with foreign governments worldwide. Justice, FBI, the intelligence community and DOD form part of the interagency U.S. Government team which meets with its overseas counterparts, as we are doing in Spain and Italy this week.

There also are increasing multilateral efforts to combat terrorism. We have worked in the Group of Seven, plus Russia, for example, to tighten cooperation among the major industrial states. The twenty-five counterterrorism recommendations of the G-7/P-8 Ministerial held in Paris last July are a solid basis for international cooperation. The United States plans to give this effort further momentum at the Summit we will host in Denver in June.

We are also working with the European Union and the Organization of American States on counterterrorism cooperation. A series of conferences last year included a meeting in March of counterterrorism experts from the Middle East, whose governments took part in the Sharm El Sheikh Summit.

The State Department meanwhile supports efforts of Treasury, FBI and Justice to combat fundraising by foreign terrorist organizations in the U.S. and to encourage other governments to take steps against terrorism fund raising. These efforts are discussed in many of our bilateral meetings.

Research and Development

We know of members' concerns about the threat of terrorism from biological, chemical and nuclear agents and we share that concern. Improved technology is an important tool for countering these as well as more conventional terrorist threats. The U.S. Government has a Technical Support Working Group, known as the TSWG which is comprised of 50 government agencies and operates a vigorous program of research, development, and rapid prototyping of antiterrorism and counterterrorism technologies.

The goal of the TSWG is to develop new technologies which can be used by many federal, state and local agencies. There is special emphasis on explosives detection technology and a strong focus on detection of and protection against terrorist use of materials of mass destruction. The Department of State, through S/CT, provides policy guidance for the TSWG program, and the Department of Defense is the executive agent. Both agencies also provide funding. State also leads three bilateral R&D programs with Canada, the United Kingdom and Israel. They also contribute funds and expertise, thus creating a strong multiplier effect for the U.S. Government's investment.

Other Counterterrorism Activities of the Department of State

Within the Department of State, other bureaus also play important roles and work with other agencies:

The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is part of the intelligence community and provides timely, around the clock, intelligence and analysis on terrorism. INR also compiles and maintains our computerized TIPOFF system, an important border control mechanism which links visa sections at our missions abroad to a master data base of names of terrorists, criminals and drug traffickers.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs, charged with the protection of Americans overseas, works closely with S/CT and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security to provide warnings to Americans overseas about terrorist and other risks.

The Office of the Legal Adviser provides daily guidance on all legal aspects of counterterrorism, treaties and extradition issues and works closely with the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Finally, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security has the role of protecting U.S. missions and diplomats overseas and in the United States. It also implements State's Antiterrorism Training Assistance (ATA) Program which has trained about 18,000 foreign officials, and the State Department's international terrorism information rewards program.

In sum, there is an aggressive, coherent, well coordinated interagency effort under the leadership of the Department of State to combat international terrorism and mobilize support from other nations abroad in this campaign.

But good counterterrorism policies and programs cannot do this job alone. The United States also needs to maintain its leadership in dealing with a host of problems and conflicts abroad that, if neglected, can lead to terrorism, other forms of violence, and even war. We must continue to foster strong relationships with nations around the world, whose help we need to pursue terrorists. We cannot do this alone.

Preserving the leadership of the United States in dealing with a broad range of threats to our national security also requires adequate resources for Foreign Affairs.

The United States has a proud record of leadership in combating international terrorism. We are determined to maintain and strengthen our capabilities against the dynamic and varied threat, to keep terrorists on the defensive, where they belong, to bring them to justice, and to minimize the risk they pose to civil society.

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