THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

        LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE CONGRESS ON THE OMNIBUS
                      COUNTERTERRORISM ACT OF 1995

I am pleased to transmit today for your immediate consideration and enactment the "Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995." Also transmitted is a section-by-section analysis. This legislative proposal is part of my Administration's comprehensive effort to strengthen the ability of the United States to deter terrorist acts and punish those who aid or abet any international terrorist activity in the United States. It corrects deficiencies and gaps in current law.

Some of the most significant provisions of the bill will:

• Provide clear Federal criminal jurisdiction for any international terrorist attack that might occur in the United States;
• Provide Federal criminal jurisdiction over terrorists who use the United States as the place from which to plan terrorist attacks overseas;
• Provide a workable mechanism, utilizing U.S. District Court Judges appointed by the Chief Justice, to deport expeditiously alien terrorists without risking the disclosure of national security information or techniques;
• Provide a new mechanism for preventing fund-raising in the United States that supports international terrorist activities overseas; and
  • Implement an international treaty requiring the insertion of a chemical agent into plastic explosives when manufactured to make them detectable.

The fund-raising provision includes a licensing mechanism under which funds can only be transferred based on a strict showing that the money will be used exclusively for religious, charitable, literary, or educational purposes and will not be diverted for terrorist activity. The bill also includes numerous relatively technical, but highly important, provisions that will facilitate investigations and prosecutions of terrorist crimes.

It is the Administration's intent that section 101 of the bill confer Federal jurisdiction only over international terrorism offenses. The Administration will work with Members of Congress to ensure that the language in the bill is consistent with that intent.

I urge the prompt and favorable consideration of this legislative proposal by the Congress.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON