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Combating Terrorism: American Leadership
Fact sheet released at the Ministerial Meeting on Terrorism in
Paris, France, July 30, 1996.
For three years, President Clinton has led an international campaign
to combat terrorism in concert with other leaders of the member
countries of the Eight (the United States, Britain, Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia), as well as with allies in
the Middle East and elsewhere. The President has directed that
U.S. counterterrorism policy be based on three tenets. First,
the U.S. will make no deals with terrorists or submit to blackmail.
Second, we will treat terrorists as criminals. Third, we will
work to prevent terrorist acts by bringing maximum pressure on
states that sponsor terrorists through sanctions, by urging other
states to do the same, and by creating a robust antiterrorism
capability.
At home:
- President Clinton has introduced
significant new domestic counterterrorism legislation. The Anti-Terrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act -- enacted in April -- strengthens
our ability to prevent terrorist acts, identify those who commit
such acts, and bring them to justice. This year, President Clinton
renewed an Executive Order blocking assets in the United States
of terrorist groups, making it more difficult for them to finance
terrorism.
- The President announced on July
25 increased security measures at U.S. airports with a special
focus on international flights. Steps being taken immediately
include more intensive passenger screening on international flights,
and more intensive screening of carry-on baggage on international
and domestic flights. The Federal Aviation Administration will
implement a number of additional steps, among them the deployment
of state-of-the-art explosives detection systems in some airports.
At the United Nations:
Last October, at the 50th UN General
Assembly, President Clinton called on all nations to join in the
fight against the threats to their citizens' security posed by
terrorism, crime, narcotics trafficking, illicit arms trafficking,
and the smuggling of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
The following steps already have been taken in response to President
Clinton's call:
- In June, the UN Crime Commission
passed a U.S. co-sponsored "International Declaration on
Crime and Public Security." If adopted at the UN General
Assembly this fall, this Declaration would extend world-wide the
goals of regionally-adopted anti-crime and counterterrorism measures.
- Regional efforts, which are already
bringing results, were launched at meetings such as the Summit
of the Americas (Miami, December 1994) and the U.S.-EU New Transatlantic
Agenda (Madrid, December 1995).
With Other States:
- President Clinton imposed an embargo
against Iran in May 1995, depriving it of the benefits of trade
and investment with the United States until it changes its unacceptable
behavior. The Administration continues to work to convince our
allies to adopt similar policies, which will deny Tehran the revenues
it needs to finance its support for terrorism. Congress has approved
Iran/Libya sanctions legislation, which President Clinton will
sign into law shortly.
- Twenty-nine delegations, including
Israel, most Arab countries, and our European and Japanese allies,
pledged support against terrorism at the "Summit of the Peacemakers"
co-hosted by President Clinton and President Mubarak at Sharm
el-Sheikh, Egypt in March.
- Following the Sharm el-Sheikh summit,
President Clinton and then-Israeli Prime Minister Peres signed
an agreement in which our two nations agreed to cooperate on a
range of counterterrorism efforts. That agreement called for
the formation of a joint counterterrorism group, which will bring
together policymakers and experts to consider practical steps
to formalize cooperation.
[end of document]
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