The Clinton Administration should act swiftly to strengthen its policy with respect to nations that sponsor international terrorism, U.S. Senator John Ashcroft (MO) said today. A strong U.S. response would force regimes such as Syria to reconsider their support for terrorist organizations.

Ashcroft, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the sponsor of legislation to close a loophole in American law that is being used to benefit Syria and the Sudan. Ashcroft's statement comes in the wake of today's terrorist bombing in Jerusalem that claimed at least six lives, and injured more than 160 people.

Here is the text of Ashcroft's statement:

"The Administration has displayed a disturbing reluctance to forcefully confront all nations that sponsor international terrorism. The United States has imposed trade embargoes on almost every state sponsor of terrorism, but, for some reason, the Administration has been reluctant to apply the same standards to the terrorist states of Sudan and Syria.

"I introduced legislation, which is now part of the pending State Department Authorization bill, to prohibit financial transactions between U.S. citizens and the governments of all state sponsors of terrorism, including Sudan and Syria. This legislation was introduced to close a regulatory loophole created by the Administration. The loophole has allowed almost all financial transactions to proceed with Sudan and Syria -- in spite of Congress' intent in the Anti-terrorism Act of 1996 to restrict such business dealings.

"The Administration's hesitancy to confront Sudan and Syria in a forceful way becomes more incomprehensible with each passing terrorist attack designed to undermine the Middle East peace process. Today comes the horrifying news that terrorists set off three nail-studded bombs in a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, with an estimated toll of six dead, including the three suicide bombers, and more than 160 wounded. The attack in late July killed 17 people.

"Sudan and Syria harbor and support some of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah -- the groups responsible for so much of the terrorist violence against Israel and the peace process.

"Hamas is reported to be claiming responsibility for today's outrage. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks in early 1996 which killed 59 Israeli citizens, but Syria's President Assad refused to condemn the attacks and these groups still find refuge in Syria. Hezbollah launches attacks against Israel from Syrian-dominated Lebanon, but Syria permits Iran to re-supply this terrorist group through Damascus and allows the organization to continue its war of terror against Israel. Hamas claims responsibility for the bombing in late July in Jerusalem and vows, along with Hezbollah, to continue suicide attacks against Israel.

"The Administration has opposed my legislation for fear of jeopardizing the peace process, but President Clinton himself stated at a news conference on August 6, 1997 that those groups responsible for the Jerusalem bombings in late July were 'trying to murder the peace process.' These are the same terrorist organizations that Sudan and Syria are supporting.

"I believe strongly that the United States must speak with a single voice in the world. I strongly support the ongoing efforts to establish peace in the Middle East. I have made it clear to the Administration that I am prepared work with them to resolve their concerns about the anti-terrorism legislation that is awaiting final action in Congress.

"Unfortunately, the Administration's resistance to the pending legislation is part of a larger picture of inactivity and complacency in combating international terrorism. While the Administration failed to enforce the prohibition on financial transactions with terrorist states contained in the Anti-terrorism Act of 1996, it also has failed to issue a list of foreign terrorist organizations called for in that same Act, even though the Act was passed almost sixteen months ago. Members of terrorist organizations named on this list would not be able to enter or raise money in the U.S. The failure to issue this list is allowing some terrorist organizations to continue such activity in our own country.

"The United States cannot deal with terrorists with words alone. We must impose the sanctions available to us in U.S. law. Terrorist violence must be met with forceful policies which make these governments feel a bit of the pain they have caused in the lives of thousands of innocent people. Appeasing such rogue regimes only engenders further hostility, whereas serious policies which confront such governments with punitive sanctions force them to reevaluate their support for terrorists which threaten U.S. citizens."

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