Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, Congress enacted the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1992 in order to help combat international terrorism and to provide some level of financial justice to American victims of terrorism. The 1992 act added a civil remedy to the ATA's existing criminal regime, removing jurisdictional hurdles that often confounded terrorism victims' ability to get their day in court. The act has been largely successful. However, from time to time, the 1992 act has also needed modifications to ensure that it is fully serving its purposes. For instance, just last Congress, in the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, I helped lead the charge in the House to amend the civil liability provision to make sure that those who aid and abet or conspire with foreign terrorist organizations are liable under the ATA. In addition, in 2012, the Judiciary Committee worked to lengthen the statute of limitations on civil ATA claims to provide victims with the time they need to file these often complex lawsuits. The bill we are considering today, the Anti-terrorism Clarification Act, builds on these previous technical amendments to the ATA. It makes three needed improvements in order to better ensure that victims of international terrorism can obtain justice in U.S. courts against terrorists and their supporters. First, the bill clarifies the ATA's act of war exception.…”