[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 140 (Thursday, August 5, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5935-S5951]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION
______
By Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Cornyn, Mr.
Blumenthal, Mr. Grassley, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Booker, and Mr.
Murphy):
S. 2654. A bill to require a declassification review of certain
investigation documents concerning foreign support for the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes; to the Select
Committee on Intelligence.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, today, I was very proud to introduce
with my colleague Senator Menendez, who is leading this effort, and
Senator Cornyn, Senator Grassley the September 11 Transparency Act.
Members of this body have heard me talk about this issue before. It
has been a repeated issue for me but for this body as well.
We passed JASTA because we wanted the 9/11 families to have access to
the courts and have their fair day in court. We passed the resolution
in 2018 to require that the government declassify, to the maximum
extent possible, all of the information surrounding 9/11. JASTA was
passed over President Obama's veto. His veto was overridden on a
bipartisan basis. The resolution demanding more declassification was
passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed by the
President.
The letters that we have written, the questions that I posed in
hearings, the press conferences held, the constant effort to provide
documents and information to those families so they can have their fair
day in court has been a continuing and constant one and, so far,
completely unavailable.
Administration after administration--Obama, Trump, and hopefully not
but apparently Biden--have resisted these calls for declassifying and
disclosure.
That information is evidence that those families need to seek justice
in their effort to hold accountable the Government of Saudi Arabia for
its alleged complicity, its aiding and abetting, its support for the 9/
11 attack. They want to hold them liable in an American court, which
JASTA enables them to do. They want to pinpoint responsibility and
liability so that we will know, as Americans, whether the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia was, in fact, complicit and supportive of those attackers.
The truth they seek is not just for themselves; it is for the
American people, and the concealment by successive administrations
denies the American people the truth they deserve and need.
Today, I was proud to stand with Senator Menendez and some of those
families led by Terry Strada and Brett Eagleson in front of this
Capitol as we announced our introduction of the act, the September 11
Transparency Act, that would very simply require the Director of
National Intelligence, the Attorney General, and the Director of the
CIA to conduct declassification reviews of certain investigative
documents in their 9/11 file. It is a baby step toward full disclosure
and truthtelling.
But I was so proud to stand with these families, represented by Terry
Strada, among others, when she said:
Yes, we know the Kingdom played a major role in supporting,
and financing al Qaeda and evidence demonstrates that Saudi
agents who the Kingdom sent here aided and abetted some if
not all the 19 hijackers leading into the attack.
It is an indisputable fact the hijackers were living in our
country 12-18 months prior to 9/11 planning and plotting the
murder of thousands and that the FBI and the CIA knew of at
least two of them, Nawaf Al-Hamzi and Khalid Al-Midhar.
She further said:
By keeping evidence hidden that will shed light on the
brutal murder of our loved ones, our own government is not
only perpetuating our continued pain and suffering, but it is
also leaving the facilitators of the attacks unaccountable
and our nation vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Her remarks were so powerful, I hope that every one of my colleagues
will read them.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the remarks from Terry Strada
be printed in the Record
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
September 11th will mark the 20th anniversary of the murder
of my husband Tom and nearly 3,000 people; all brutally slain
on orders given by the known Saudi terrorist, Usama bin Laden
and his 19 mostly Saudi Islamist al Qaeda terrorists when
they infiltrated our country and carried out the deadliest
terrorist attack in our nation's history.
For reasons I do not know and cannot fathom, a select group
of FBI and CIA operatives knew some of the 19 hijackers were
known terrorists traveling freely on American soil using
their real names. How much of their planning and plotting
were they privy to--I do not know, but clearly, the agencies
did absolutely nothing to stop them and failed at the most
important job they had; they failed to protect America and
her populace.
Along with the entire world, I watched in horror our
country under a violent attack. I witnessed on live
television the toxic black smoke billowing from the north
tower. I spoke with my husband and heard first-hand the fear
and panic he and my dear friends were experiencing in the
hell-fire they were engulfed in. I watched the North Tower
collapse, knowing the father of my three children and my
husband's life was being extinguished right before my eyes.
Now, 20 years later, the DOJ and FBI continue to protect
the very country who produced 15 of the 19 hijackers, the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Yes, we know the Kingdom played a major role in supporting,
and financing al Qaeda and evidence demonstrates that Saudi
agents who the Kingdom sent here aided and abetted some if
not all the 19 hijackers leading into the attack.
It is an indisputable fact the hijackers were living in our
country 12-18 months prior to 9/11 planning and plotting the
murder of thousands and that the FBI and CIA knew of at least
two of them, Nawaf Al-Hamzi and Khalid Al-Midhar.
Rather than hold the Kingdom accountable, the State
Department, FBI, and the CIA continue to betray the 9/11
community and cower to the Kingdom's desperate pleas of
keeping Saudi Arabia's involvement in murdering our loved
ones a secret, while the Department of Justice ignores our
pleas for the truth; instead, choosing to help keep the
Kingdom's dirty little secret--that they support radical
Islamist terrorism and the hateful ideology that spawned the
largest mass murder in our country's history and death of my
husband and our children's father . . . for what and why I
ask?
Every Administration since 9/11 continues to turn their
backs on us, the victims' family members and survivors. Why
are we standing here today adversaries to the FBI and
Department of Justice instead of allies?--And perversely, why
do they stand as allies to the Kingdom against us?
Critical documents are being held from public view because
the DOJ refuses to release them in any format. In fact, in
many cases they have refused to even look at documents
responsive to the subpoena served on them in April 2018.
Instead, our government argues it would just be too much of a
burden for the most advanced country of the free world to
review documents it is supposed to be vigilant about
retaining from one of the most important investigations the
Country has ever performed. Let me underscore that--we, the
9/11 Community--we the American public--are too burdensome in
the eyes of the bureaucracy. We are asking too much for them
to tell us what they uncovered in looking into the attacks on
all of us.
By keeping evidence hidden that will shed light on the
brutal murder of our loved ones, our own government is not
only perpetuating our continued pain and suffering, but it is
also leaving the facilitators of the attacks unaccountable
and our nation vulnerable to future terrorist attacks.
This travesty of justice must come to an end in order for
this chapter of our lives to close and keep Americans safe
from the endless grief and gruesome carnage terrorist attacks
leave behind.
For two decades, Congress has shown a united front and been
a staunch supporter for transparency regarding 9/11 and our
quest for the truth. Many here today have walked beside us on
our path of grief. They have worked hard for us and the
American people by passing a resolution to release the ``28
pages'' excised from the Joint Inquiry. Those pages offered
us clear facts about the Saudis involvement in 9/11. Congress
also worked for seven years on the Justice Against Sponsors
of Terrorism Act--JASTA; ultimately voting unanimously for
its passage with unfettered enthusiasm and then overriding a
Presidential veto to enact JASTA, cementing our right to our
day in court and we believed--ensuring all evidence would see
the light of day.
No one standing here today anticipated the level of
pushback, lack of respect, or the extent to which our State
Department, the Department of Justice, and the FBI would go
to withhold vital investigative reports from the 9/11
community and the nation at large--all in an effort to
protect the Kingdom from embarrassment and accountability.
Attorney General Garland, Director of National Intelligence
Haines, FBI Director Wray and the State Department--by
ignoring our direct pleas to them--are showing us where their
loyalty lies time and time again--with a foreign nation
capable of murdering their own.
Aside from the occasional disingenuous words to recognize
our loss--by protecting the Saudis they have not shown their
allegiance to us the American public and the victims' family
members and survivors. They have ignored numerous letters,
not only from us, but from several members of
[[Page S5936]]
Congress as well. We have never been met with such disdain.
Not only have they snubbed our invitations to meet in person,
the DOJ has fought vigorously to avoid producing mountains of
documents responsive to subpoenas served on the government
over three years ago.
This legislation in the Congress and I pray this
Administration will right that wrong. While the DOJ claims it
has distributed thousands of pages to our representatives,
that claim falls patently short of what was requested.
Instead of allowing the DOJ to continue cherry picking what
documents it wants to release and tolerating their
indefensible excuse that it would be ``too burdensome'' to
search their files, we now have the full force of the United
States Senate--and we anticipate all of Congress--supporting
a full declassification review process for all relevant
documents related to the Saudis and 9/11.
As a tragic result of 9/11 and the war on terror tomorrow
will sadly mark the 10th anniversary of the deadliest
incident and largest loss of life in the Naval Special
Warfare, when 30 American troops, including 16 commandos from
the Navy's Seal Team 6 Call Sign Extortion 16, helicopter was
shot down killing all on board in the Tangi Valley, Wardak
Province in Afghanistan. They were there fighting for all of
us, rooting out the evil created by the Kingdom that
threatens our freedoms and our way of life.
The truths we seek with ``The 9/11 Transparency Act'' are
not just for us, but for all of our fallen heroes. May every
brave warrior, rescue worker and those who have died from 9/
11 related illnesses rest in peace.
We sincerely thank Senator Menendez and these Senators
introducing 'The 9/11 Transparency Act''; another great
bipartisan effort from our esteemed leaders and ask that the
entire body of Congress act bravely and cohesively in support
of our right to know what the government has uncovered about
who facilitated the attacks on us 20 years ago. Yes, let us
never forget--but let us never let it happen again. Thank
you.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. We are fast approaching 9/11, the 20th anniversary of
that horrific, unspeakable murder of thousands of our fellow citizens,
including Terry Strada's husband and Brett Eagleson's father.
Brett Eagleson put it very, very starkly and simply. I am not
quoting, but essentially his warning to us ought to reverberate in
these Halls. Public officials on that anniversary will be making
speeches about how we should never forget, about how we need to
commemorate the memories of all who perished in 9/11. But, as he said,
their words will ring shallow or hollow if their own government
continues to refuse to disclose documents and evidence needed for them
to seek justice. Those families deserve better.
And the cause is bigger than just those families. It is the American
people who deserve better. They deserve and they need to know the truth
about whether the complicity and other kinds of potential criminal
activity can be proved in a court of law, can be used to learn about
future action to be taken. If Agencies of the U.S. Government,
including our intelligence Agencies, knew about those attackers and the
danger they posed and failed to take sufficient action, we should know
those facts as well.
It is incomprehensible why the U.S. Government has failed to provide
this truth to the American people. There has been no explanation for
the failure to declassify. There is no explanation for invoking the
State Secrets Act. The courts have said that that privilege, the state
secrets privilege, cannot be invoked unless it could reasonably be
expected that there would be a harm to our national security. No
Agency, no official of the U.S. Government has ever said what harm
could result, especially 20 years after that attack.
The idea that sources or methods could be endangered seems
farfetched. Certainly, there has been no such contention. The idea that
maybe the Saudis would be embarrassed is a possible explanation, but it
is no excuse--none--for refusing to declassify and disclose this
information. The fact that the Saudis may be embarrassed or they may be
held liable is no valid reason to withhold this truth from those
families and from the American people.
The administration, at the very least, owes us an explanation. We
demanded it again and again at the Attorney General's confirmation
hearing, at the oversight hearings for the Director of the FBI, at
hearings for confirming lower but top-ranking officials of the
Department of Justice, and every one of them has promised to look into
it but nothing back--no explanation, no justification.
So Senator Menendez and I, along with our colleagues Senators Cornyn
and Grassley, have introduced the September 11th Transparency Act. It
wouldn't require the declassification of any document, but it would
require the review, and it is not unprecedented, because this Congress,
7 years ago, passed and President Obama signed the Intelligence
Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2014. It had a similar provision
requiring the Director of National Intelligence to complete a
declassification review of documents collected during the Osama bin
Laden raid in Pakistan in 2011.
This measure should have broad bipartisan support, just as JASTA did
and the resolution calling for declassification in 2018, and I have
been proud to stand with my Republican colleagues in favor of simple
justice.
As Senator Schumer said today at that meeting in front of the
Capitol, ``Justice, justice, justice.'' That is what these families
deserve. That is what the American people should expect of their
government, not concealment or obstruction and obfuscation.
Right now, these families are in a struggle against the Government of
Saudi Arabia but, equally so, against their own government in seeking
fairness and transparency, disclosure, when it counts for them and when
it should count for the American people.
We will continue this fight. I don't expect any single speech will
persuade administration officials--certainly no single speech of mine--
but they are going to be making speeches as we go closer to 9/11. Let
them keep in mind that the voices and faces of those families--Brett
Eagleson and Terry Strada and others who were there that day and many
others in Connecticut, as well as New Jersey and New York and all
around the country--will be there as well, and ultimately, our
government must be held accountable for telling the American people the
truth.
I yield the floor.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in a little over a month, we will
remember one of the most horrific events to ever occur on U.S. soil.
The lives of those we lost can never be replaced. But their memories
forever live on through their spouses, children, family, and friends.
For the last 20 years, the Federal Government has failed these
individuals. Tens of thousands of pages of documents relating to the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks remain classified. Without their
release, victims, their families, and the public still do not have the
full picture of everything that led up to that day and who was
involved. While some of these documents must remain classified for
defense or national security reasons, a comprehensive review of these
materials is long overdue. In fact, in 2004, the chairmen of the 9/11
Commission, Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, wrote that this declassification
review should be conducted no later than 2009.
We have fallen short. But today, I hope to remedy this wrong, and I
am proud to join my colleagues, Senators Menendez, Cornyn, and
Blumenthal, on the bipartisan September 11 Transparency Act of 2021.
The bill follows familiar legislative precedent, requiring that any
documents that can be released, must be released. It is the same step
Congress took in requiring the executive branch to conduct a full
review of the documents captured at Abbottabad during the Osama Bin
Laden raid and publish all materials to the fullest-extent possible.
This is not the first time I have requested this review. In 2018, I
coponsored a Senate Resolution calling on the administration to
declassify 9/11 documents to the greatest extent possible. I am sad to
say, that review was never conducted. Last year, I joined my colleagues
on a letter to Inspector General Horowitz, asking for an IG
investigation into the FBI's handing of the 9/11 classified documents.
We never received a response.
I have been a long-standing champion of victims of terror, injured or
killed both at home and abroad. For example, in 1992, I sponsored the
Anti-Terrorism Act, allowing Americans who fall victim to acts of
terrorism while abroad to seek damages in U.S. courts, and subsequent
clarifying laws. And I plan to continue to stand firm for these
individuals.
September 11 is a wrong that can never be righted. But we can be on
the right side of history and finally put lingering questions to rest
by expeditiously declassifying any documents
[[Page S5937]]
held by the Federal Government related to 9/11 to the greatest extent
possible.
Thank you.
______
