Mark Kirk: “3 years ago Osama bin Laden was able to run his al Qaeda network freely, thanks to the protection of the Taliban regime.…”

“3 years ago Osama bin Laden was able to run his al Qaeda network freely, thanks to the protection of the Taliban regime. Today, he is on the run, frequently crossing the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan to elude coalition forces. Last January, I traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to determine how Osama bin Laden continues to avoid capture. When I traveled to the Kyber Agency, I was reminded that the State Department had run a very successful rewards program that had previously led to the arrest and capture of Mir Amal Kansi, a terrorist who had murdered two CIA employees and injured three others in a 1993 shooting outside CIA headquarters in Virginia. The promise of a significant monetary reward was enough for some Pakistanis to turn Kansi in to the proper authorities. The program worked before, and it could easily work again. When I returned, I talked to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of the Committee on International Relations, and had help from the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking Democratic member, and we introduced legislation to increase the maximum reward this program could offer from 25 to $50 million for some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. It made sense that we increase the reward for information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden.”