106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3205

AN ACT

To enhance the capability of the United States to deter,

prevent, thwart, and respond to international acts of

terrorism against United States nationals and interests.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Counterterrorism Act

5 of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE ATTACK ON THE

2 U.S.S. COLE.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings:

5 (1) On October 12, 2000, the United States

6 naval vessel U.S.S. Cole was attacked in Aden,

7 Yemen.

8 (2) The attack occurred while the U.S.S. Cole

9 was refueling, and was unprovoked.

10 (3) Seventeen United States sailors were killed

11 in the attack, and thirty-nine were injured.

12 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that the United States Government should—

14 (1) continue to take strong and effective actions

15 to investigate rapidly the unprovoked attack on the

16 United States naval vessel U.S.S. Cole;

17 (2) ensure that the perpetrators of this cow18 ardly act are swiftly brought to justice; and

19 (3) take appropriate actions to protect from ter20 rorist attack all other members and units of the

21 United States Armed Forces that are deployed over22 seas.

23 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

24 Congress makes the following findings:

25 (1) The Commission on National Security in

26 the 21st Century, chaired by former Senators Hart
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1 and Rudman, concluded that ‘‘[s]tates, terrorists,

2 and other disaffected groups will acquire weapons of

3 mass destruction and mass disruption, and some will

4 use them. Americans will likely die on American soil,

5 possibly in large number.’’.

6 (2) United States counterterrorism efforts must

7 be improved to meet the evolving threat of inter8 national terrorism against United States nationals

9 and interests. The bipartisan National Commission

10 of Terrorism chaired by Ambassador Paul Bremer

11 and Maurice Sonnenberg was mandated by Congress

12 to evaluate current United States policy and make

13 recommendations on improvements. This Act stems

14 from the findings and recommendations of that

15 Commission.

16 (3) The face of terrorism has changed signifi17 cantly over the last 25 years. With the fall of the

18 Soviet Union, many state-sponsored terrorist groups

19 have been replaced by more loosely knit organiza20 tions with varying motives. These transnational ter21 rorist networks are more difficult to track and pene22 trate than state sponsored terrorist groups, and

23 their actions are more difficult to predict.

24 (4) State support of terrorism has not dis25 appeared. Despite political change in Iran, the coun-
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1 try continues to be the foremost state sponsor of ter2 rorism in the world. In April 2000, the Department

3 of State issued ‘‘Patterns of Global Terrorism’’,

4 which provides a detailed account of Iran’s contin5 ued support of terrorism.

6 (5) According to the report of the National

7 Commission on Terrorism, there are indications of

8 Iranian involvement in the 1996 bombing of the

9 Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia, in which

10 19 United States soldiers were killed and more than

11 500 injured. In October 1999, President Clinton of12 ficially requested cooperation from Iran in the inves13 tigation of the bombing. Thus far, Iran has not re14 sponded to this request.

15 (6) Terrorist attacks are becoming more lethal.

16 A growing number of terrorist attacks are designed

17 to kill the maximum number of people. Although

18 conventional explosives have remained the weapon of

19 choice, terrorist groups are investing in the acquisi20 tion of unconventional weapons such as nuclear,

21 chemical, and biological agents.

22 (7) Syria was placed on the first list of state23 sponsors of terrorism by the United States Govern24 ment in 1979, due to its long history of using ter-
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1 rorism to advance its interests. Syria continues to

2 support terrorist training and logistics.

3 (8) According to the National Commission on

4 Terrorism, the 1995 guidelines of the Central Intel5 ligence Agency on the use of terrorists as informants

6 set up complex procedures for seeking approval to

7 recruit as informants terrorists who have been in8 volved in human rights violations. That Commission

9 found that these guidelines have inhibited the re10 cruitment of essential, if sometimes unsavory, ter11 rorist informants. As a result, that Commission con12 cluded that the United States has relied too heavily

13 on foreign intelligence services in attempting to un14 cover information about terrorist organizations.

15 (9) No other country, much less any sub16 national organization, can match United States sci17 entific and technological prowess (including quality

18 control) in biotechnology and pharmaceutical pro19 duction, electronics, computer science, and other

20 pursuits that could help overcome and defeat the

21 technologies used by future terrorists.

22 (10) Currently, the United States focuses its ef23 forts to discourage private financial support to ter24 rorists on prosecutions under the provisions of the

25 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
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1 1996 (Public Law 104–132) and the amendments

2 made by that Act. Under an amendment made by

3 that Act, section 219 of the Immigration and Na4 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) requires the Secretary

5 of State to designate groups that threaten United

6 States interests and security as Foreign Terrorist

7 Organizations (FTOs). There are currently 29

8 FTOs. The National Commission on Terrorism rec9 ommended that the Secretary of State ensure that

10 the list of FTO designations is credible and updated

11 regularly.

12 (11) It is in the interest of the United States

13 that the Federal Government take a broader ap14 proach to cutting off the flow of financial support

15 for terrorism from within the United States. Anyone

16 providing to terrorist organizations funds that he or

17 she knows will be used to support terrorist acts

18 should be prosecuted under all relevant statutes, in19 cluding statutes addressing money laundering, con20 spiracy, and tax or fraud violations. In addition,

21 Federal agencies such as the Office of Foreign As22 sets Control (OFAC) of the Internet Revenue Serv23 ice and the Customs Service should be better utilized

24 to thwart terrorist fundraising. Such activities

25 should not violate constitutional rights and values.
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1 (12) Current controls on the transfer and pos2 session of biological pathogens that could be used in

3 biological weapons are inadequate. Controls on the

4 equipment needed to turn such pathogens into weap5 ons are virtually nonexistent. The National Commis6 sion on Terrorism concluded that the standards for

7 the storage, transport, and handling of biological

8 pathogens should be as rigorous as the current

9 standards for the physical protection and security of

10 critical nuclear materials.

11 SEC. 4. SYRIA.

12 It is the sense of Congress that the United States

13 should keep Syria on the list of countries who sponsor ter14 rorism until Syria—

15 (1) shuts down training camps and other ter16 rorist support facilities in Syrian-controlled territory;

17 and

18 (2) prohibits financial or other support of ter19 rorists through Syrian-controlled territory.

20 SEC. 5. IRAN.

21 It is the sense of Congress that the United States

22 should keep Iran on the list of countries who sponsor ter23 rorism, and make no concessions to Iran, until Iran—

24 (1) demonstrates that it has stopped supporting

25 terrorism; and
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1 (2) cooperates fully with the United States in

2 the investigation into the 1996 bombing of the

3 Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia.

4 SEC. 6. GUIDELINES ON RECRUITMENT OF TERRORIST IN5 FORMANTS.

6 (a) REPORT ON GUIDELINES.—Not later than six

7 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

8 Director of Central Intelligence shall submit to Congress,

9 including the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate

10 and the House of Representatives, a report on the Direc11 tor’s response to the findings of the National Commission

12 on Terrorism regarding the recruitment of terrorist in13 formants.

14 (b) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report under sub15 section (a) shall set forth the following:

16 (1) A detailed response to the findings referred

17 to in that subsection, and a detailed description of

18 any other policy considerations that prompted the

19 1995 guidelines of the Central Intelligence Agency

20 on the use of terrorists as informants.

21 (2) Recommendations, if any, for legislation to

22 enhance the recruitment of terrorist informants, in23 cluding any limitations that may be necessary to as24 sure that the United States does not encourage

25 human rights abuse abroad.
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1 SEC. 7. REVIEW OF AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL AGENCIES TO

2 ADDRESS CATASTROPHIC TERRORIST AT3 TACKS.

4 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Attorney General shall

5 conduct a review of the legal authority of various Federal

6 agencies, including the Department of Defense, to respond

7 to, and to prevent, pre-empt, detect, and interdict, cata8 strophic terrorist attacks.

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall

11 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report

12 on the review conducted under subsection (a). The report

13 shall include any recommendations that the Attorney Gen14 eral considers appropriate, including recommendations

15 whether additional legal authority for particular Federal

16 agencies is advisable in order to enhance the capability

17 of the Federal Government to respond to, and to prevent,

18 pre-empt, detect, and interdict, catastrophic terrorist at19 tacks.

20 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

21 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON22 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con23 gress’’ means the following:

24 (A) The Committees on Appropriations,

25 Armed Services, and the Judiciary and the Se26 lect Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
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1 (B) The Committees on Appropriations,

2 Armed Services, International Relations, and

3 the Judiciary and the Permanent Select Com4 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Rep5 resentatives.

6 (2) CATASTROPHIC TERRORIST ATTACK.—The

7 term ‘‘catastrophic terrorist attack’’ means a ter8 rorist attack against the United States perpetrated

9 by a state, substate, or nonstate actor that involves

10 mass casualties or the use of a weapon of mass de11 struction.

12 SEC. 8. LONG-TERM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO AD13 DRESS CATASTROPHIC TERRORIST ATTACKS.

14 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that—

16 (1) there has not been sufficient emphasis on

17 long-term research and development on technologies

18 useful in fighting terrorism; and

19 (2) the United States should make better use of

20 its considerable accomplishments in science and

21 technology to prevent or address terrorist attacks in

22 the future, particularly attacks involving chemical,

23 biological, or nuclear agents.

24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than

25 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
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1 President shall establish a comprehensive program (in2 cluding a comprehensive set of requirements for the pro3 gram) of long-term research and development relating to

4 science and technology necessary to prevent, pre-empt, de5 tect, interdict, and respond to catastrophic terrorist at6 tacks.

7 (c) REPORT ON PROPOSED PROGRAM.—Not later

8 than 30 days before the commencement of the program

9 required by subsection (b), the President shall submit to

10 Congress a report on the program. The report on the pro11 gram shall include the following:

12 (1) A description of the proposed organization

13 and mission of the program.

14 (2) A description of the current capabilities of

15 the Federal Government to rapidly identify and con16 tain an attack in the United States involving chem17 ical or biological agents, including any proposals for

18 future enhancements of such capabilities that the

19 President considers appropriate.

20 (d) CATASTROPHIC TERRORIST ATTACK DEFINED.—

21 In this section, the term ‘‘catastrophic terrorist attack’’

22 means a terrorist attack against the United States per23 petrated by a state, substate, or nonstate actor that in24 volves mass casualties or the use of a weapon of mass de25 struction.
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1 SEC. 9. DISSEMINATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMA2 TION TO THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.

3 (a) REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF INTELLIGENCE

4 REPORTING FUNCTION.—Not later than 180 days after

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the

6 Federal Bureau of Investigation shall submit to the Com7 mittee on the Judiciary and the Select Committee on In8 telligence of the Senate and the Committee on the Judici9 ary and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

10 of the House of Representatives a report on the feasibility

11 of establishing within the Bureau a comprehensive intel12 ligence reporting function having the responsibility for dis13 seminating among the elements of the intelligence commu14 nity information collected and assembled by the Bureau

15 on international terrorism and other national security

16 matters.

17 (b) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report under sub18 section (a) shall include the following:

19 (1) A description of the requirements applicable

20 to the creation of the function referred to in that

21 subsection, including the funding required for the

22 function.

23 (2) A discussion of the legal and policy issues,

24 including any reasonable restrictions on the sharing

25 of information and the potential effects on open

26 criminal investigations, associated with dissemi-
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1 nating to the elements of the intelligence community

2 law enforcement information relating to inter3 national terrorism and other national security mat4 ters.

5 SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

6 OF CERTAIN INTELLIGENCE OBTAINED BY

7 INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS.

8 (a) REPORT ON AUTHORITIES RELATING TO SHAR9 ING OF CRIMINAL WIRETAP INFORMATION.—Not later

10 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

11 the President shall submit to the Committee on the Judici12 ary and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate

13 and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Permanent

14 Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep15 resentatives a report on the legal authorities that govern

16 the sharing of criminal wiretap information under relevant

17 United States laws, including section 104 of the National

18 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403–4). The report shall

19 include—

20 (1) a description of the type of information that

21 can be shared by the Department of Justice or other

22 United States law enforcement agencies with ele23 ments of the United States intelligence community,

24 including a description of all such information that

25 the Department of Justice or other such law en-
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1 forcement agencies currently share with elements of

2 the United States intelligence community and the

3 legal limitations if any, that apply to the use of such

4 information by elements of the intelligence commu5 nity; and

6 (2) recommendations, if any, for such legislative

7 language as the President considers appropriate to

8 improve the capability of the Department of Justice,

9 or other law enforcement agencies, to share foreign

10 intelligence information or counterintelligence infor11 mation with elements of the United States intel12 ligence community on matters such as

13 counterterrorism.

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the terms

15 ‘‘foreign intelligence’’ and ‘‘counterintelligence’’ have the

16 meanings given those terms in paragraphs (2) and (3),

17 respectively, of section 3 of the National Security Act of

18 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a).

19 SEC. 11. JOINT TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FUNDRAISING.

20 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con21 gress that—

22 (1) many terrorist groups secretly solicit and

23 exploit the resources of international nongovern24 mental organizations, companies, and wealthy indi25 viduals;
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1 (2) the Federal Government could do more to

2 utilize all the tools available to the Federal Govern3 ment to prevent, deter, and disrupt the fundraising

4 activities of international terrorist organizations; and

5 (3) the employment of any such tools to combat

6 terrorism must not violate speech, association, and

7 equal protection rights guaranteed by the Constitu8 tion of the United States.

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT TASK FORCE.—Not

10 later than six months after the date of the enactment of

11 this Act, the President shall establish a joint task force

12 for purposes of developing and implementing a broad ap13 proach toward discouraging the fundraising activities of

14 international terrorist organizations. The approach shall

15 utilize all criminal, civil, and administrative sanctions

16 available under Federal law, including sanctions for money

17 laundering, tax and fraud violations, and conspiracy. The

18 approach shall not infringe upon constitutional and civil

19 rights in the United States.

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date

21 of the enactment of this Act, the joint task force estab22 lished under subsection (b) shall submit to Congress a re23 port on the activities of the joint task force. The report

24 shall include any findings and recommendations (including

25 recommendations for modifications of United States law
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1 or policy) that the joint task force considers appropriate

2 regarding United States efforts to thwart the fundraising

3 activities of international terrorist organizations while pro4 tecting constitutional and civil rights in the United States.

5 SEC. 12. IMPROVEMENT OF CONTROLS ON PATHOGENS

6 AND EQUIPMENT FOR PRODUCTION OF BIO7 LOGICAL WEAPONS.

8 (a) REPORT ON IMPROVEMENT OF CONTROLS.—(1)

9 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment

10 of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress

11 a report on the means of improving United States controls

12 of biological pathogens and the equipment necessary to de13 velop, produce, or deliver biological weapons.

14 (2) Subject to paragraph (3), the report under para15 graph (1) should include the following:

16 (A) A list of the equipment identified by the At17 torney General, in consultation with the Secretary of

18 Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv19 ices, the Director of Central Intelligence, other ap20 propriate Federal officials, and other appropriate

21 members of public and private organizations, as crit22 ical to the development, production, or delivery of bi23 ological weapons.

24 (B) Recommendations, if any, for such legisla25 tive language as the Attorney General considers ap-
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1 propriate to make illegal the possession of the bio2 logical pathogens by anyone who is not properly cer3 tified for the possession of such pathogens, or for

4 other than a legitimate purpose.

5 (C) Recommendations, if any, for such legisla6 tive language as the Attorney General considers ap7 propriate to control the domestic sale and transfer

8 of the equipment identified under subparagraph (A),

9 including any appropriate steps to track, tag, or oth10 erwise mark or monitor such equipment.

11 (3) The recommendations of the Attorney General

12 under paragraph (2) shall take into consideration the im13 pact of additional controls on legitimate industrial or med14 ical activities, and shall include an assessment of the eco15 nomic and scientific effects of such controls on such activi16 ties.

17 (4) The Attorney General shall consult with the Sec18 retary of Health and Human Services in preparing any

19 recommendations under paragraph (2)(B), and shall in20 clude in the report under paragraph (1) a detailed descrip21 tion of the methodology and criteria used to define and

22 determine the types and classes of pathogens covered by

23 such recommendations.

24 (b) IMPROVED SECURITY OF FACILITIES.—Not later

25 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
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1 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consulta2 tion with other appropriate Federal officials and appro3 priate members of public and private organizations, shall

4 submit to Congress a report with detailed analysis and

5 recommendations for appropriate regulations, or modifica6 tions to current law, to enhance the standards for the

7 physical protection and security of the biological patho8 gens described in subsection (a) at research laboratories

9 and other facilities in the United States that create, pos10 sess, handle, store, or transport such pathogens in order

11 to protect against the theft or other diversion for illegit12 imate purposes of such pathogens from such laboratories

13 and facilities. The report shall include a detailed descrip14 tion of the methodology and criteria used to define and

15 determine the types and classes of pathogens covered by

16 the report.

17 SEC. 13. REIMBURSEMENT OF PERSONNEL PERFORMING

18 COUNTERTERRORISM DUTIES FOR PROFES19 SIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE.

20 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR FULL REIMBURSEMENT.—

21 (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and sub22 ject to paragraph (2), the head of an agency employing

23 a qualified employee shall reimburse the qualified em24 ployee for the costs incurred by the qualified employee for

25 professional liability insurance.
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1 (2) Reimbursement of a qualified employee under

2 paragraph (1) shall be contingent on the submission by

3 the qualified employee to the head of the agency concerned

4 of such information or documentation as the head of the

5 agency concerned shall require.

6 (3) Amounts for reimbursements under paragraph

7 (1) shall be derived from amounts available to the agency

8 concerned for salaries and expenses.

9 (b) QUALIFIED EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of this

10 section, the term ‘‘qualified employee’’ means an employee

11 of an agency whose position is that of—

12 (1) a law enforcement officer performing official

13 counterterrorism duties; or

14 (2) an official of an element of the intelligence

15 community performing official counterterrorism du16 ties outside the United States.

17 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

18 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means any

19 Executive agency, as that term is defined in section

20 105 of title 5, United States Code, and includes any

21 agency of the Legislative Branch of Government.

22 (2) ELEMENT OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMU23 NITY.—The term ‘‘element of the intelligence com24 munity’’ means any element of the intelligence com25 munity specified or designated under section 3(4) of
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1 the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.

2 401a(4)).

3 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER; PROFES4 SIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE.—The terms ‘‘law en5 forcement officer’’ and ‘‘professional liability insur6 ance’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec7 tion 636(c) of the Treasury, Postal Service, and

8 General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (5

9 U.S.C. prec. 5941 note).

Passed the Senate November 14 (legislative day,

September 22), 2000.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3205

AN ACT

To enhance the capability of the United States to

deter, prevent, thwart, and respond to international acts of terrorism against United Statesnationals and interests.