IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 52

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the grave

danger of domestic terrorism and the need for improved organization

in the executive branch and Congress to deter, prevent, prepare for,

and respond to the impending threat of domestic terrorism.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 14, 2001

Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr.

CALVERT, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. RILEY, Ms. GRANGER, Mr.

FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BEREUTER, Ms.

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. WEINER, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the grave danger of domestic terrorism and the need

for improved organization in the executive branch and

Congress to deter, prevent, prepare for, and respond

to the impending threat of domestic terrorism.

Whereas domestic terrorism poses a significant threat to the

safety and security of all citizens of the United States;

Whereas there is no Government entity that oversees and coordinates the more than 40 executive agencies involved in
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deterring, preventing, preparing for, and responding to

terrorism;

Whereas the duty of Congress to oversee the activities of the

executive branch related to domestic terrorism is complicated by the diffuse nature of domestic terrorism and

the coordination necessitated by having 14 full congressional committees with responsibility for issues related to

domestic terrorism;

Whereas the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response

Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass

Destruction (established pursuant to section 1405 of the

Strom Thurmond Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal

Year 1999 (Public Law 105–261; 50 U.S.C. 2301 note))

found that the United States ‘‘has no coherent, functional national strategy for combating terrorism’’;

Whereas such advisory panel further found that Congress

must better organize itself to deal with issues related to

terrorism;

Whereas the United States Commission on National Security/

21st Century, the National Commission on Terrorism,

and the Center for Strategic and International Studies

have all concluded that the threat of domestic terrorism

is real, that the executive branch has not been organized

to deal effectively with the threat of domestic terrorism,

and that Congress needs to take decisive action to improve its ability to oversee issues related to domestic terrorism;

Whereas having a single executive agency with direct and

complete responsibility for issues related to domestic terrorism would make it possible for Congress to coordinate
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effectively with the executive branch on the issue of domestic terrorism;

Whereas the Nation is still sorrowed by, and will never forget, the injuries suffered and the lives lost as a result of

the bombing of the World Trade Center on February 26,

1993, and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal

Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 19,

1995;

Whereas the plan of terrorists to enter the United States

during the millennial celebration and kill citizens of the

United States is evidence of the continuing threat of domestic terrorism; and

Whereas the President and Congress have no greater duty

than to protect the lives of the citizens of the United

States: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) domestic terrorism is a grave danger to the

4 national security of the United States;

5 (2) the President should—

6 (A) examine the organization of the execu7 tive branch and identify the coordination and

8 communication problems that have existed in

9 recent years among the numerous executive

10 agencies that deal with issues related to domes11 tic terrorism; and
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1 (B) formulate a plan to reorganize the ex2 ecutive branch to minimize or eliminate such

3 problems;

4 (3) Congress should establish a panel to exam5 ine the adequacy of its committee structure to deal

6 with issues related to domestic terrorism and to con7 sider the creation of more effective structures, in8 cluding a Select Committee on Domestic Terrorism;

9 and

10 (4) the President and Congress should work to11 gether to reach a mutual conclusion regarding the

12 most effective reorganizations to address the threat

13 of domestic terrorism.

Æ