Tom Harkin: “I compliment and commend my friend and colleague from Virginia for his unrelenting efforts to make sure victims of…”

“I compliment and commend my friend and colleague from Virginia for his unrelenting efforts to make sure victims of terrorism and their families are duly compensated for the acts of terrorism done to them and to their families by various government entities abroad. Senator Allen has been in the forefront of this fight. I am proud to join him as a cosponsor of this amendment to again reinforce our commitment to the American victims of State-sponsored terrorism. We are united as Americans to meet the threat of terrorism. Even as we track down the terrorists and defend America, we must never forget that terrorists acts are ultimately stories of human tragedy. We must never forget the victims, victims such as Kathryn Koob from Waverly, IA, who sought to build cross-cultural ties between the Iranian people and the American people, only to be taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held captive for 444 nightmarish days in Iran. This amendment by Senator Allen and myself and others will enable American victims of terrorism to receive compensation from blocked or frozen assets of foreign governments that sponsored the attacks upon them.”