Bill Posey: “I thank my good friend Chairman Goodlatte for introducing this legislation. Mr. Speaker, this bill we are considering…”

“I thank my good friend Chairman Goodlatte for introducing this legislation. Mr. Speaker, this bill we are considering is, obviously, as you heard from both sides, a great piece of legislation that will ensure American victims of international terrorism can obtain justice in U.S. courts by holding accountable those who commit, aid, or abet terrorist activity abroad. I have long been fighting for victims of terrorism. In fact, in 2014, I introduced legislation that would allow victims of narcoterrorism to recover court-awarded damages. A version of the bill, known as the CAPTIVE Act, passed the House by unanimous consent in 2016. I am ecstatic that we have a bill that seeks to help a number of victims, including those I have been fighting for since 2014. On February 13, 2003, four Americans who were Department of Defense contractors on a U.S. Government counternarcotics flight mission in Colombia were shot down by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC. It is a violent guerilla gang heavily involved in narcotics trafficking. The pilot, Tom Janis, who was immediately executed by the terrorists, and three Floridians, Keith Stansell, Mark Gonsalves, and Tom Howes, who is my constituent, were kidnapped, held hostage in the jungle, and tortured for more than 5\1/2\ years until they were rescued by the Colombian army.…”