IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 180
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not have granted
clemency to terrorists.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
Mr. FOSSELLA (for himself, Mr. DREIER, Mr. HYDE, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. AR-
CHER, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. BART-
LETT of Maryland, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr.
BALLENGER, Mr. DELAY, Mr. STUMP, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr.
PICKERING, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. COX, Mr.
TANCREDO, Mr. UPTON, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. ROGAN, Mr.
PACKARD, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. BUYER, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. VITTER,
Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon,
Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. WICKER, Mr. FRANKS of New
Jersey, Mr. WELLER, Mr. EWING, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr.
COBURN, and Mr. SHADEGG) submitted the following concurrent resolu-
tion; which was 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 re-
sponsibility for the bombings of approximately 130 civil-
ian, political, and military sites throughout the United
States;
•HCON 180 IH
Whereas its reign of terror resulted in 6 deaths and the per-
manent maiming of dozens of others, including law en-
forcement 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 ac-
tions;
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 terror-
ists, 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 re-
portedly 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 indi-
cating that some of the 16 have vowed to resume their
violent activities upon release from prison;
Whereas the State Department in 1998 reiterated two long-
standing tenets of counterterrorism policy that the
•HCON 180 IH
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 ter-
rorists violates longstanding tenets of United States
counterterrorism policy;
Whereas the President’s decision sends an unmistakable mes-
sage to terrorists that the United States does not punish
terrorists in a severe manner under the law, making ter-
rorism 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.
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