Peter Deutsch: “as we get ready to vote on the Anti- Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, I would like to focus on the fundraising…”

“as we get ready to vote on the Anti- Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, I would like to focus on the fundraising provision of this legislation. Ever since the bombings at the World Trade Center and in Oklahoma City, exhaustive efforts have been made to curtail fundraising activities of terrorist organizations here in the United States. It is completely unacceptable that a terrorist organization like Hamas can establish a fundraising center just down the road from the United States Capitol. The fundraising provision in the anti-terrorism bill serves as a crucial first step at ending extremist fundraising operations here in the United States. It enables the United States Government to designate those organizations, such as Hamas, that serve solely as agents of violence and destruction, and prevents them from raising money here in America. Additionally, it prohibits individuals from providing material resources to designated terrorist organizations. But this is only a first step. During the House debate, I drafted an amendment that would have created an even stronger fundraising provision.”