Thompson Calls on King to Convene Ammonium Nitrate Hearings
Canadian Terror Plot Most Recent Example of a Threat That Must Be Addressed
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Today, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, called on Committee Chairman Peter T. King (R-NY) to allow a hearing and mark-up of H.R. 3197, the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act. In his letter, Rep. Thompson explains that H.R. 3197 can secure the legitimate use of ammonium nitrate for commerce, while sealing security vulnerabilities. The text of the letter appears below:
________________
June 6, 2006
Congressman Peter T. King
Chairman
Committee on Homeland Security
176 Ford House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman King,
The news that Royal Canadian Mounted Police foiled a plot by a group of al-Qaeda sympathizers to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate for use in terrorist attacks in Canada brings to focus a homeland security issue that warrants attention—the risk posed by unrestricted access to ammonium nitrate.
As a Mississippian, I know that ammonium nitrate is an enormously effective fertilizer for our nation’s crops and is a mainstay in our nation’s agricultural sector. Unfortunately, as the Ranking Member of this Committee, I also know that, in the wrong hands, ammonium nitrate can be utilized to deadly effect, if included in an improvised explosive device. In just over a decade, it was used in numerous deadly bombing including those conducted by domestic terrorists in 1995, in Oklahoma City and by groups linked to al-Qaeda in 2002 and 2003 in Bali, Indonesia and Istanbul, Turkey respectively.
On May 19, 2006, staff from our Committee went to New York City to meet with officials in the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Counter-Terrorism division to discuss legislation I co-authored to regulate ammonium nitrate, H.R. 3197, the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act. The NYPD indicated their interest in ammonium nitrate regulation stemmed from their experience in 1993, when Islamist terrorists detonated a car bomb in the parking garage under Tower One of the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring over 1,000 people. The NYPD has been studying the risk posed by ammonium nitrate and has been tracking State laws that, in the absence of Federal regulations, have been passed in recent years. The patchwork of laws that exists today will not prevent a would-be terrorist from crossing State lines to acquire tons of ammonium nitrate from a feed store, no questions asked.
In December 2005, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack considered H.R. 3197, which grants the Department of Homeland Security the power to regulate those who produce, sell, store, or distribute ammonium nitrate-based fertilizer. This bill is a common-sense piece of legislation that will not burden commerce but will put into effect practical safeguards for securing ammonium nitrate-based fertilizer. In light of the Canadian incident, I believe it is critical that the Full Committee move forward with its consideration of this legislation. I, for one, do not want to wait until an incident occurs on U.S. soil to consider this issue. As such, I request that we hold a hearing and mark-up of this legislation during the week of June 26th.
Sincerely,
Bennie G. Thompson
Ranking Member
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact Dena Graziano or Todd Levett at (202) 226-2616.
