May 22, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H 5373

out there that is so easily converted

into a major bomb?

How far do we go out of fear into this

bunker mentality? How will Americans, in fact, resist this temptation to

be held hostage to that kind of fear?

We suggest that America will not be

hostage to that fear, that solutions

such as the Porter process may, in fact,

be available, may have been available

for 27 years and certainly cannot be ignored today.

Even if Mr. Porter’s process is completely effective, as he intended, we

know that ammonium nitrate can be

chemically produced relatively easily

instead of purchased. There are many

other ways to make an explosive, other

than using fertilizer in our country. In

fact, according to ATF statistics, most

criminal explosives in the United

States involve something other than

fertilizer and there would need to be effective compliance by fertilizer manufacturers worldwide if we are going to

get control of this problem.

So I do not want to leave the impression that ammonium nitrate fertilizer

is in and of itself a present and clear

danger to the public. It can safely be

used and stored; in fact, it is. The bottom line is that experts have concluded

that it should be relatively easy to

look at the technical and economic issues regarding Mr. Porter’s patent developed and issued in 1968 and that it is

highly desirable for us to conduct those

studies not in the near future but in

the very near future.

b 1615

In light of the commonly available

information on fertilizer, its low cost,

the commonly available information

on how this common fertilizer can be

converted into this huge bomb material, as well as the tragic incidents we

have seen, when, in fact, someone has

become so insane as to do what we saw

in Oklahoma City, it would be irresponsible for us to fail to follow up on

the work Mr. Porter conducted 30 years

ago.

Thirty years ago, 28 years ago, 25

years ago, this Nation and the fertilizer industry were asked to take this

issue seriously. Today, can we fail,

after having seen what happened in

Oklahoma City, after having seen how

easy it is for that to happen again anywhere in America, if someone is insane

enough to conduct that kind of terrorist attack upon public or private buildings, can we not take it seriously

today? Do not Mr. Porter and Mr.

Colbert deserve our attention to that

issue today?

Mr. Porter appeared today after his

patent has long expired, after he has no

financial interest whatsoever in this

process, he appeared today to urge us

to take it seriously.

Mr. Colbert came from Kansas City

on his own nickel to fly to Washington,

DC, without a financial interest left in

this issue, to come and tell us to take

it seriously. Can we not heed their advice? Can we not heed, I am sure, the

message of Oklahoma City and take seriously what may be one of the answers, not all of the answers, to making this country a little more safe, to

ending some of this fear which causes

us to close down avenues like Pennsylvania, and to shut ourselves up into

some kind of bunker mentality?

Mr. Speaker, I urge those within near

reach of this special order to encourage

this Congress, to encourage all who

have something to say about what may

be done in the next several weeks or

months, to study this issue to make

sure that it is not ignored in 1995 the

way it was ignored in the late 1960’s,

the way it was ignored in 1970 and later

on in Wisconsin when lawmakers had a

chance then to visit this issue seriously and do something about the problem.

A bill of the Senate of the following

SENATE BILL REFERRED

ftitle was taken from the Speaker’s

table and, under the rule, referred as

follows:

S. 184. An act to establish an Office for

Rare Disease Research in the National Institutes of Health, and for other purposes; to

the Committee on Commerce.

By unanimous consent, permission to

SPECIAL ORDERS GRANTED

faddress the House, following the legislative program and any special orders

heretofore entered, was granted to:

(The following Members (at the request of Mrs. SCHROEDER) to revise and

extend their remarks and include extraneous material:)

Ms. KAPTUR, for 5 minutes, today.

Mr. OWENS, for 5 minutes, today.

Mrs. SCHROEDER, for 5 minutes,

today.

By unanimous consent, permission to

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

frevise and extend remarks was granted

to:

(The following Members (at the request of Mrs. SCHROEDER) and to include extraneous material:)

Mr. SERRANO in three instances.

Mrs. SCHROEDER.

Mr. STARK.

Mr. LANTOS.

Mr. OWENS.

Ms. KAPTUR.

(The following Members (at the request of Mr. GOSS) and to include extraneous material:)

Mr. TALENT.

Mr. MARTINI.

Mr. PORTMAN.

Mr. SHAYS.

Mr. SHUSTER.

Mrs. JOHNSON

fof Connecticut.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I move

that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 4 o’clock and 17 minutes

p.m.), under its previous order, the

House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, May 23, 1995, at 10:30 a.m.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS,

fETC.

Under clause 2 of rule XXIV, executive communications were taken from

the Speaker’s table and referred as follows:

889. A letter from the Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs, Department of

State, transmitting copies of international

agreements, other than treaties, entered into

by the United States, pursuant to 1 U.S.C.

112b(a); to the Committee on International

Relations.

890. A letter from the Secretary of State,

transmitting a letter expressing his concerns

with regard to H.R. 1561, the American Overseas Interests Act; to the Committee on

International Relations.

891. A letter from the Chairman, Council of

the District of Columbia, transmitting a

copy of D.C. Act 11–51, ‘‘Toll Telecommunication Temporary Amendment Act of 1995,’’

pursuant to D.C. Code section 1–233(c) (1); to

the Committee on Government Reform and

Oversight.

892. A letter from the Chairman, Council of

the District of Columbia, transmitting a

copy of D.C. Act 11–52, ‘‘Emergency Assistance Clarification Temporary Amendment

Act of 1995,’’ pursuant to D.C. Code, section

1–233(c) (1); to the Committee on Government

Reform and Oversight.

893. A letter from the Chairman, Council of

the District of Columbia, transmitting a

copy of D.C. Act 11–53, ‘‘Merit Personnel

Early Out Retirement Revisions Temporary

Amendment Act of 1995,’’ pursuant to D.C.

Code, section 1–233(c) (1); to the Committee

on Government Reform and Oversight.

894. A letter from the Chairman, Council of

the District of Columbia, transmitting a

copy of D.C. Act 11–54, ‘‘Revolving Credit Account Late Fee Act of 1995,’’ pursuant to D.C.

Code, section 1–233 (c) (1); to the Committee

on Government Reform and Oversight.

895. A letter from the Chairman, Council of

the District of Columbia, transmitting a

copy of D.C. Act 11–55, ‘‘Budget Implementation Exemption Temporary Amendment Act

of 1995,’’ pursuant to D.C. Code, section 1–

233(c) (1); to the Committee on Government

Reform and Oversight.

896. A letter from the Chairman, Council of

the District of Columbia, transmitting a

copy of D.C. Act 11–56, ‘‘Foreign Trade Zones

Act of 1995,’’ pursuant to D.C. Code, section

1–233(c) (1); to the Committee on Government

Reform and Oversight.

897. A letter from the Agency Freedom of

Information Officer (1105), Environmental

Protection Agency, transmitting a report of

activities under the Freedom of Information

Act for calendar year 1994, pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 552(d); to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.

898. A letter from the Chairman, Federal

Trade Commission, transmitting a report of

activities under the Freedom of Information

Act for calendar year 1994, pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 552(d); to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.

PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON

fUnder clause 2 of rule XIII, reports of

committees were delivered to the Clerk

for printing and reference to the proper

calendar, as follows:

Mr. GOSS: Committee on Rules. House

Resolution 155. Resolution providing for the