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“EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD LIBYA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S3033-S3034 on April 27, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE UNITED STATES POLICY
TOWARD LIBYA
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 512, S. Res. 287.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 287) expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the United States policy toward Libya, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I urge the Senate to approve this resolution, which Senator Helms, Senator Lautenberg and I submitted on the travel ban and other U.S. restrictions on contacts with Libya. The resolution was approved on April 13 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
At the end of March, a team of State Department officials visited Libya as part of a review of the ban that has been in effect since 1981 on U.S. travel to that nation. State Department officials were in Libya for 26 hours, visiting hotels and other sites. Based on the findings of this delegation, the State Department is preparing a recommendation for the Secretary of State to help her determine whether there is still
``imminent danger to . . . the physical safety of United States travelers,'' as the law requires in order to maintain the ban.
Under the provisions of the travel ban, American citizens can travel to Libya only if they first obtain a license from the Department of the Treasury. In addition, the State Department must first validate a passport for travel to Libya.
The travel ban was imposed originally for safety reasons and predates the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. But lifting the ban now, just as the two Libyan suspects are about to go on trial in The Netherlands for their role in that atrocity, will undoubtedly be viewed as a gesture of good will to Colonel Qadhafi.
After the State Department announced that it would send this consular team to Libya, a Saudi-owned daily paper quoted a senior Libyan official as saying the one-day visit by the U.S. team was a ``step in the right direction.'' The official said the visit was a sign that
``the international community was convinced that Libya's foreign policy position was not wrong and there is a noticeable improvement in Libya's relations with the world.''
Libya's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the visit demonstrated that the Administration ``has realized the importance of Libya'' and that Libya feels ``the negative chapter in our relations is over.''
Libya's Secretary for African Unity told reporters that the visit to Libya by U.S. officials was a welcome step and that ''. . . we welcome the normalization between the two countries.''
The good will gesture was certainly not lost on Colonel Qadhafi, who said on April 4, when asked about a possible warming of relations with the United States: ``I think America has reviewed its policy toward Libya and discovered that it is wrong . . . it is a good time for America to change its policy toward Libya.''
I have been in contact with many of the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, and they are extremely upset by the timing of this decision. They are united in their belief that the U.S. delegation should not have been sent to Libya and that it would be a serious mistake to lift the travel ban before justice is served. The families want to know why the Secretary of State made this friendly overture to Colonel Qadhafi just six weeks before the trial in the Netherlands begins. They question how much information the State Department was able to obtain by spending only 26 hours in Libya. They wonder why the State Department could not continue to use the same sources of information it has been using for many years to make a determination about the travel ban.
There is no reason to believe that the situation in Libya has changed since November 1999, when the travel ban was last extended on the basis of imminent danger to American citizens. Indeed, in January 2000, President Clinton cited Libya's support for terrorist activities and its non-compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions 731, 748, and 863 as actions and policies that ``pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and vital foreign policy interest of the United States.''
These American families have waited for justice for eleven long years. They felt betrayed by the decision to send the consular delegation to Libya. They have watched with dismay as our close ally, Great Britain, has moved to reestablish diplomatic relations with Libya, before justice is served for the British citizens killed in the terrorist bombing. The State Department denies it, but the families are concerned that the visit signals a change in U.S. policy, undermines U.S. sanctions, and calls into question the Administration's commitment to vigorously enforce the Iran Libya Sanctions Act. That Act requires the United States to impose sanctions on foreign companies which invest more than $40 million in the Libyan petroleum industry, until Libya complies with the conditions specified by the UN Security Council in its resolutions.
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, in which 188 Americans were killed, was one of the worst terrorist atrocities in American history. Other American citizens are waiting for justice in other cases against Libya as well. Libya is also accused in the 1986 La Belle discotheque bombing in Germany, which resulted in the deaths of two United States servicemen. The trial of five individuals implicated in that attack began in December 1997 and is ongoing. In March 1999, six Libyan intelligence agents, including Colonel Qadhafi's brother-in-law, were convicted in absentia by a French court for the bombing of UTA Flight 772, which resulted in the deaths of 171 people, including seven Americans. A civil suit against Colonel Qadhafi based on that bombing is pending in France.
The State Department should not have sent a delegation to Libya now and it should not lift the travel ban on Libya at this time. The Department's long-standing case-by-case consideration of passport requests for visits to Libya by U.S. citizens has worked well. It can continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The resolution the Senate is now considering states the Sense of the Senate that Libya's refusal to accept responsibility for its role in terrorist attacks against United States citizens suggests that the imminent danger to the physical safety of United States travelers continues. It calls on the Administration to consult fully with the U.S. Congress in considering policy toward Libya. It states that the travel ban and all other U.S. restrictions on Libya should not be eased until all cases of American victims of Libyan terrorism have been resolved and the government of Libya has cooperated fully in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
I urge my colleagues to approve this resolution.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 287) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 287
Whereas 270 people, including 189 Americans, were killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988;
Whereas this bombing was one of the worst terrorist atrocities in American history;
Whereas 2 Libyan suspects in the attack are scheduled to go on trial in The Netherlands on May 3, 2000;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council has required Libya to cooperate throughout the trial, pay compensation to the families if the suspects are found guilty, and end support for international terrorism before multilateral sanctions can be permanently lifted;
Whereas Libya is accused in the 1986 La Belle discotheque bombing in Germany which resulted in the death of 2 United States servicemen;
Whereas in March 1999, 6 Libyan intelligence agents including Muammar Qadhafi's brother-in-law, were convicted in absentia by French courts for the bombing of UTA Flight 772 that resulted in the death of 171 people, including 7 Americans;
Whereas restrictions on United States citizens' travel to Libya, known informally as a travel ban, have been in effect since December 11, 1981, as a result of ``threats of hostile acts against Americans'' according to the Department of State;
Whereas on March 22, 4 United States State Department officials departed for Libya as part of a review of the travel ban; and
Whereas Libyan officials have interpreted the review as a positive signal from the United States, and according to a senior Libyan official ``the international community was convinced that Libya's foreign policy position was not wrong and there is a noticeable improvement in Libya's relations with the world'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) Libya's refusal to accept responsibility for its role in terrorist attacks against United States citizens suggests that the imminent danger to the physical safety of United States travelers continues;
(2) the President should consult fully with Congress in considering policy toward Libya, including disclosure of any assurances received by the Qadhafi regime relative to the judicial proceedings in The Hague; and
(3) the travel ban and all other United States restrictions on Libya should not be eased until all cases of American victims of Libyan terrorism have been resolved and the Government of Libya has cooperated fully in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
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