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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 com-
plicated by the diffuse nature of domestic terrorism and
the coordination necessitated by having 14 full congres-
sional 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, func-
tional 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 im-
prove its ability to oversee issues related to domestic ter-
rorism;
Whereas having a single executive agency with direct and
complete responsibility for issues related to domestic ter-
rorism would make it possible for Congress to coordinate
•HRES 52 IH
effectively with the executive branch on the issue of do-
mestic terrorism;
Whereas the Nation is still sorrowed by, and will never for-
get, 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 do-
mestic 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
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) domestic terrorism is a grave danger to the
national security of the United States;
(2) the President should—
(A) examine the organization of the execu-
tive branch and identify the coordination and
communication problems that have existed in
recent years among the numerous executive
agencies that deal with issues related to domes-
tic terrorism; and
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(B) formulate a plan to reorganize the ex-
ecutive branch to minimize or eliminate such
problems;
(3) Congress should establish a panel to exam-
ine the adequacy of its committee structure to deal
with issues related to domestic terrorism and to con-
sider the creation of more effective structures, in-
cluding a Select Committee on Domestic Terrorism;
and
(4) the President and Congress should work to-
gether to reach a mutual conclusion regarding the
most effective reorganizations to address the threat
of domestic terrorism.
Æ