Frank Lautenberg: “I offer an amendment to this intelligence reform bill because I think it is consistent with the mission of that bill.…”

“I offer an amendment to this intelligence reform bill because I think it is consistent with the mission of that bill. There has been a lot of work and a lot of debate about the bill, and I personally am supporting it, but I offer an amendment to do something we very much intend to have happen, and that is to shut down the source of revenue for terrorist organizations. The 9/11 Commission report talks about the critical issue of terrorist financing because as President Bush has said, money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations. Amazingly, some of our very own corporations help provide revenue indirectly to terrorists by doing business with state sponsors of terrorism. My amendment would close the loophole in the law that allows this to happen, thereby cutting off a major source of revenue for terrorists. As the 9/11 Commission stated: Vigorous efforts to track terrorists' financing must remain front and center in the U.S. counterterrorism efforts. We need to starve the terrorists at the source and that is why our sanctions program in law is so critical, but now we know a loophole in the law exists that enables companies to do business with Iran, which openly boasts about its support for Hamas and Islamic jihad.”