Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Hole in War on Terrorism:
Finance Intelligence Failures Highlight Ties to Oil, Weak Policy on Saudi Arabia
9 December 2002
Disappointed in the administration's weak efforts to pursue international terrorist finance networks, U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Barney Frank today called for a shift in national policy and requested a hearing of the Financial Services Committee into the failures of the Department of the Treasury to reign in terrorist money. "The administration's response to the problem of terrorist financing would have to be characterized as weak, given the extent of reports of Saudi Arabian money flowing to al Qaeda terrorists," said Inslee, who sits on the Financial Services Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. Inslee continued,
"Considerations of access to Saudi Arabian oil seem to hampering the administration's ability to cut off financing to terrorist funding networks. We know that at least fifteen of the nineteen hijackers on September 11th were Saudi citizens. A key aide to the ruler of Saudi Arabia has conceded that hundreds of millions of dollars sent abroad by Saudi charities each year might have gone to al Qaeda. The independent Council of Foreign Relations reports that "it is worth stating clearly and unambiguously what official U.S. government spokespersons have not: For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for al Qaeda; and for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem."
Why is the President letting Saudi Arabia off the hook with a pledge to police itself? Why won't our President intervene and aggressively confront this immediate threat to our national security? The answer is obvious; our country is addicted to Mideast oil, and this administration has failed to offer America a vision of how to break that addiction by developing a clean energy future. For the sake of our own security, we must be clear-headed; we must put the bulk of our efforts and resources into thwarting the most serious threats, and that includes stopping the flow of Saudi Arabian money to terrorists. We still have not caught Osama bin Laden. We still have not secured Afghanistan.
I am disappointed by the recent media offensive by Saudi Arabia, which failed to act for such a long time. Their effort is more than a day late and a dollar short. I hope that the President will become more engaged the efforts to stop terrorism at its roots. In the meantime, as a member of the Committee on Financial Services, I will call for hearings to investigate ties between Saudi Arabian banks and terrorism.
The text of Inslee's letter requesting hearings follows:
December 9, 2002
The Honorable Michael G. Oxley
Chairman, House Financial Services Committee
2129 RHOB
Washington, DC 20515Dear Chairman Oxley:
During the 107th Congress, the House Financial Services Committee showed its commitment to eradicate terrorist financing by passing out of committee H.R. 3004, the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act. Provisions of the bill were eventually incorporated into Title III of the Patriot Act that became Public Law 107-56 on October 26, 2001.
Title III, Sec. 330 of the Patriot Act, which urges U.S. negotiations for international cooperation to investigate money laundering, financial crimes, terrorist financing, and record sharing with U.S. law enforcement officials, must be more aggressively pursued. We respectfully ask that the committee hold hearings next year, which would include direct testimony from, and questioning of the Administration as to what they have done to urge the international community to vigorously pursue a global anti-money laundering and terrorist financing campaign.
Mr. Chairman, the need to establish this global program is paramount, as is evidenced by recent news reports of an F.B.I. investigation uncovering a trail of funds to terrorists through charities. You may also be aware that the non-partisan organization, Council on Foreign Relations, published a report in October of this year that stated, "Saudi Arabian based charities have been the most important source of funds for al Qaeda, and that for years, Saudi Officials have been turning a blind eye to this problem." We believe that this Administration should have been more vigilant in demanding a stronger commitment on the part of the government of Saudi Arabia to monitor the Kingdom's charities. The Administration should use all the resources provided for under the Patriot Act.
As an example, the Administration could have threatened to implement Sec. 311. "Special Measures" of the Patriot Act, which allows the Secretary of the Treasury to restrict access to U.S financial systems for states that lack adequate anti-money laundering regimes or fail to cooperate with the United States.
It is clear that al Qaeda, an undisputed enemy of the United States, is funded through a global financial system so vast that disrupting it will require a worldwide effort. Thus far we have not seen adequate evidence that this administration has utilized all the resources at its disposal, or has fully committed itself to establishing a global campaign.
Mr. Chairman, the Financial Services Committee voiced its commitment to establish an anti-terrorism funding measure by overwhelmingly passing H.R. 3004, and the U.S Congress voiced the same commitment by overwhelmingly passing the U.S. Patriot Act. We should hold those that are charged with implementing the Patriot Act to the highest standard. We should immediately exercise our oversight duty.
Very truly yours,
Jay Inslee
Barney Frank