DATE= 11/4/97 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-222169 TITLE=U-S CONGRESS: DEALING WITH TERRORISM BYLINE=NELSON BROWN DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: // CORRECTING NAME TO SKELTON THROUGHOUT // INTRO: A CONGRESSIONAL PANEL IS REVIEWING HOW U-S AUTHORITIES ARE PREPARING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHICH MIGHT INVOLVE THE USE OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. FROM WASHINGTON, VOA'S NELSON BROWN HAS THE STORY. TEXT: WITH THE TRIAL OF OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING SUSPECT TERRY NICHOLS NOW UNDERWAY, MANY AMERICANS ARE RE-LIVING THAT DAY IN 1996 WHEN A HUGE BOMB DESTROYED A FEDERAL OFFICE BUILDING IN THAT MIDWESTERN CITY. FOR YEARS, MANY PEOPLE LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES BELIEVED INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM WAS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED TO CITIZENS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. BUT THREE INCIDENTS CHANGED THAT VIEW: THE 1993 BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER COMPLEX, IN THE HEART OF NEW YORK CITY; THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, IN THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA, AND THE 1995 EXPLOSION IN SAUDI ARABIA, WHICH TARGETTED YOUNG AMERICAN SOLDIERS. DURING A HEARING TUESDAY, CONGRESSMAN IKE SKELTON SAID ALL THREE INCIDENTS SHARE IN COMMON ONE UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH. // SKELTON ACTUALITY // AMERICANS DIED BRUTALLY, WITHOUT WARNING, UNNECESSARILY, AND IN A MANNER THAT WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE IMITATED IN THE FUTURE. IN 1995 AND 1996, ABOUT ONE-FOURTH OF ALL INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ACTS WERE AGAINST U-S TARGETS. // END ACT // CONGRESSMAN SKELTON SAID THE NUMBER OF TERORRIST INCIDENTS BOTH WORLDWIDE AND IN THE UNITED STATES HAS DECLINED IN RECENT YEARS, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN MORE VIOLENT AND LETHAL. LEGISLATION ENACTED IN 1996 REQUIRED PRESIDENT CLINTON TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO ADDRESS HOW THE GOVERNMENT CAN BETTER PREPARE FOR ACTS OF TERRORISM, ESPECIALLY THE POSSIBLE USE OF NUCLEAR, CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS. AND HOW CAN THE GOVERNMENT HELP STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES RESPOND TO SUCH EMERGENCIES ONCE THEY OCCUR. TUESDAY, REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN CURT WELDON'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE HELD A HEARING TO REVIEW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE. // OPT // CONGRESSMAN SKELTON TOLD THE PANEL THAT WHILE THE BETTER-KNOWN DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION LEAD THE WAY, MORE THAN 40 DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES AND BUREAUS ARE INVOLVED. THUS, HE SAYS, COORDINATION BECOMES A MAJOR PROBLEM. // END OPT // // SKELTON ACT // MANY DIFFERENT FEDERAL AGENCIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS POSSESS EXISTING OR EMERGING CAPABILITIES FOR RESPONDING TO A WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION ATTACK; YET, UNEVEN AND INCOMPATIBLE LEVELS OF EXPERTISE OFTEN EXIST, DUPLICATION AND POOR COMMUNICATION MAY COMPLICATE OUR EFFORT, AND PUBLIC COMPLACENCY, SAD AS IT IS, MAY THREATEN TO WEAKEN OUR OVER ALL CAPABILITY. // END ACT // // OPT // REPRESENTATIVES FROM SEVERAL AGENCIES DESCRIBED TRAINING AND COORDINATION EFFORTS NATIONWIDE. // OPT // SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMAN WELDON WAS CONCERNED ABOUT TRAINING AT THE LOCAL LEVEL FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE FIRST TO ARRIVE AT THE SCENE OF A DISASTER. // WELDON OPT ACT // THERE IS NO TRAINING IN THIS COUNTRY TO RESPOND TO DISASTERS. TO RESCUE PEOPLE IN BUILDINGS, TO GO INTO A SUBWAY AND RESCUE PEOPLE OUT OF A SUBWAY SYSTEM THAT HAS COLLAPSED. THERE'S NO TRAINING FOR THE KIND OF PROBLEMS THAT ARE REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS THAT RESULT FROM WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OR NATURAL DISASTERS. // END OPT ACT // MR. WELDON SAID ELEMENTS OF THE PROBLEM HE DESCRIBED EXISTED DURING THE PREVIOUS REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION AND THUS HE WAS NOT JUST POINTING THE FINGER AT PRESIDENT CLINTON. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL JAMES ROBERTS SAID THERE IS A LOT OF "HANDS-ON" TRAINING ALREADY UNDERWAY, BUT THE CHALLENGE WILL BE TO FIND HOW TO DO A BETTER JOB. (SIGNED) NEB/NCB/EH 04-Nov-97 4:37 PM EST (2137 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .