July 31, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7979 my staff—Brian Chelcen and Peter The agreement will provide full com- up with sanctions and incentives, can Quaranto—be granted floor privileges pensation to pay settlements already change the behavior of countries whose for the remainder of this Congress. reached in the Pan Am 103 and LaBelle policies threaten our interests. There The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- cases and enough funds to ensure that is a lesson in here for more productive pore. Without objection, it is so or- every American claimant in these approaches we could have taken earlier dered. cases involving Libyan terrorism will with other problematic countries. It is Ms. MIKULSKI. I ask unanimous receive financial compensation com- important for countries like Iran, consent that a fellow in Senator BINGA- parable to the Pan Am 103 and LaBelle North Korea, and Syria that pursue MAN’s office, Michele Mazzocco, be settlements. No U.S. taxpayer money malevolent policies to see that there is given floor privileges during this bill. will be used to pay these claims. The a roadmap back into the international The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without regime in Libya is notoriously unpre- community if they modify their behav- objection, it is so ordered. dictable, so there is a chance that the ior. In short, the model of normaliza- The Senator from Wyoming is recog- deal could fall apart. But there is rea- tion with Libya, if applied to other nized. son to believe that the Libyan leader, cases, can prove that our goal is con- Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I, too, ask Colonel Qadhafi, has decided it is in his duct change, not regime change and unanimous consent to extend floor interest to settle all of these cases, can actually produce that change. privileges to Ann Clough for the re- rather than let them languish in court For these reasons, I support the nas- mainder of the consideration of the for years or decades, at the expense of cent Libyan-American agreement to conference report. progress in the Libyan-American rela- comprehensively settle all outstanding The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without tionship. Should the government of American claims against Libyan ter- objection, it is so ordered. Libya change its position and fail to rorism. Libya’s renunciation of its provide the complete funding, the vic- f weapons of mass destruction programs tims will retain their full rights to pro- LIBYAN CLAIMS RESOLUTION ACT and its previous support for terrorism ceed with their legal challenges. is something all of us should welcome. But before Libya is willing to sign Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I I support the carefully calibrated the agreement, it wants legal assur- ask unanimous consent that the Sen- movement toward the full normaliza- ate proceed to the immediate consider- ances that upon providing the full funding it will be immune from further tion of bilateral relations. ation of S. 3370, introduced earlier But it should be underscored that legal repercussions stemming from today by Senators BIDEN, LUGAR, LAU- this legislation does not exonerate or these cases. This legislation, if signed TENBERG, WARNER, LEAHY, and LEVIN. excuse Libya for its despicable and into law by the President, provides The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cowardly support for terrorism. I hope such assurances, allowing the deal to clerk will report the bill by title. that the agreement can provide a mod- go forward. It authorizes the Secretary The legislative clerk read as follows: icum of justice and closure for the vic- of State to work with the Libyans to A bill (S. 3370) to resolve pending claims tims of Libyan terrorism and their set up the funding mechanism. It against Libya by United States nationals, families. But it is small consolation in- and for other purposes. assures the Libyans that if and only if full compensation has been paid to all deed and will not bring back the lives There being no objection, the Senate that have been lost, nor undo the suf- proceeded to consider the bill. American victims of Libyan terrorism, they will be immune from further fering endured by survivors. Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today, Neither does today’s legislation indi- claims of this nature. And it assures with the passage of the Libyan Claims cate a shift in my views of the funda- the American claimants that their law- Resolution Act, the United States mental nature of the Qadhafi regime. suits will not be extinguished unless moves closer to a comprehensive reso- Yes, Americans are interested in the funding promised by the agreement lution of all outstanding claims by U.S. Libya’s external behavior. But we are nationals against Libya for its support is provided. If this bill is approved by the House, also concerned about the human rights for terrorism over several decades. Congress will have joined with the conditions within Libya. Though his These claims include, most notably, President to solve an issue of national support for terrorists has ended, Qa- the Pan Am 103 bombing over and international importance, while dhafi’s Libya remains a police state Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 protecting the interests of its nationals that brooks no political opposition. innocent human beings in December who have valid claims against Libya. Four decades after coming to power in 1988 and the bombing of the LaBelle Under the Constitution, there is no a military coup, Qadhafi continues to discotheque in Berlin in April 1986 in question the executive and the legisla- rule by personal fiat. He may have had which two American military per- tive branches have the authority to a change of mind about Libya’s poli- sonnel were killed and scores more in- work together in this manner to settle cies, but I doubt that it has been jured. There are many other pending claims so as to help the hundreds of matched by a change of heart. claims involving attacks against American claimants who will benefit It is critical that the Bush adminis- Americans that are attributable to from this initiative. This cooperative tration pursue a broader engagement Libya. These, too, will be resolved by effort—and the prompt bipartisan sup- with the Libyan people and civil soci- this legislation. Although less well port for it—is also a good example of ety. This relationship must be about known in the public’s memory, they how the two branches should work to- more than securing contracts for were no less devastating to their vic- gether to advance our national inter- American oil companies. We have tims and no less an affront to human- ests. learned the hard way that our vital in- ity. I wish to be clear about what my sup- terests can be threatened by relation- For several months now, the Bush ad- port for this legislation means and does ships that ignore the huge deficiencies ministration has been negotiating with not mean. It is clearly in the interest in governance and basic freedoms in the Government of Libya on a com- of the United States to develop better many Middle Eastern countries and are prehensive settlement to compensate relations with Libya. Libya is an im- based exclusively on commercial and American victims of Libyan terror. portant country as a gateway between security interests. So I am disap- The State Department has reported to Europe and Africa, which shares a bor- pointed that this comprehensive claims us in recent days that an agreement der with the Darfur region of Sudan, settlement agreement is not accom- has been reached but has not yet been and is a member of OPEC. Colonel Qa- panied by a comprehensive plan to en- signed. I commend the fine effort of As- dhafi appears to have made a break gage Libyan society. I urge the Bush sistant Secretary of State David Welch with his past support for terrorism and administration to put as much energy and Deputy Legal Adviser Jonathan efforts to acquire weapons of mass de- into developing such a plan as it did in Schwartz, who led the U.S. delegation struction. That is good news for Libya, the negotiations for a claims settle- in these very difficult negotiations. for the United States, and for the ment. Signature on the agreement awaits ac- world. For more than 4 years, I have called tion by Congress, and that is what we It also is a powerful demonstration for the release of Fathi Eljahmi, a cou- are doing today. that diplomatic engagement, backed rageous Libyan democracy advocate VerDate Aug 31 2005 02:20 Oct 23, 2008 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00175 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD08\S31JY8.REC S31JY8 mmaher on PROD1PC76 with CONG-REC-ONLINE S7980 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 31, 2008 with serious health problems whose 1986 bombing of the La Belle Dis- (1) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional only crime was to speak truth to cotheque in Berlin, Germany. On April committees’’ means the Committee on For- power. Though the change in direction 5, 1986, Libya directed its agents to exe- eign Relations and the Committee on the Ju- in Libyan foreign policy in the last few cute a terrorist attack in West Berlin diciary of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the years is as commendable as it is re- for the sole purpose of killing as many Judiciary of the House of Representatives; markable, Mr. Eljahmi’s continuing American military personnel as pos- (2) the term ‘‘claims agreement’’ means an captivity is a reminder that basic fun- sible. The La Belle Discotheque was international agreement between the United damental freedoms such as rule of law known to be frequented by large num- States and Libya, binding under inter- and the freedom of speech do not exist bers of U.S.