CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING KIDNAPPING AND MURDER OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL HIGGINS

SEC. 1638. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING KIDNAPPING AND MURDER OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL HIGGINS (a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The radical, Lebanese-based terrorist organization which calls itself the “Organization of the Oppressed of the Earth” announced on July 31, 1989, that it had executed Lieutenant 103 STAT. 1611Colonel William R. Higgins, a United States Marine assigned for service with the United Nations in the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), who was kidnapped in southern Lebanon on February 17, 1988. (2) That organization claimed to have executed Lieutenant Colonel Higgins in response to the capture on July 28, 1989, by Israeli commandos of a radical Muslim Shiite leader, Sheik Abdul Karim Obeid, believed to be associated with that organization. (3) That organization released to certain news agencies a videotape showing Lieutenant Colonel Higgins killed by hanging, though many forensic experts believe the videotape indicates that the person shown did not die from hanging. (4) The kidnapping of Lieutenant Colonel Higgins, who was engaged only in carrying out the legitimate United Nations peacekeeping activities to which he had been assigned, was wholly unjustified. (5) It is absolutely clear that the kidnapping and the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Higgins were outrageous acts of terrorism that deserve the condemnation of all civilized people. (6) There is strong evidence that the Government of Iran has supported the organization responsible for Lieutenant Colonel Higgins’ kidnapping and murder, as well as other terrorist and extremist forces inside Lebanon and throughout the Middle East. (b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that— (1) Congress is outraged by the kidnapping and murder of Lieutenant Colonel Higgins and condemns those actions as barbaric, cowardly, and utterly incompatible with the standards of conduct upheld by civilized people; (2) the President should use all available resources of the United States Government, including diplomatic and intelligence channels, to determine the identity of those persons responsible for the kidnapping and murder and the details regarding those terrorist acts; (3) the President should determine whether it would be possible to identify and bring to justice, or to retaliate against, those persons responsible for the kidnapping and murder in a manner consistent with United States and international legal requirements that would reduce the risk to Americans from terrorism; (4) the President should take strong and decisive action, possibly including the use of military force, to prevent or respond to acts of international terrorism. Such actions should be taken in concert with other nations where practicable, but the President should be prepared to act unilaterally, if necessary; (5) the United States should make clear to the new leadership in Iran (A) that the United States will not tolerate a continuation of past policies of support of groups which undertake terrorist actions against American citizens or direct assaults on American vital interests in the Middle East or elsewhere, and (B) that if such support should continue, the United States will hold the authorities in Iran accountable for that support and act accordingly; (6) the Secretary General of the United Nations should take all necessary steps to help ensure that the body of Lieutenant Colonel Higgins is returned to his country and family and that 103 STAT. 1612those responsible for his kidnapping and murder are immediately brought to justice; (7) the President should engage in urgent and continuing diplomatic contacts with all other governments concerning their policies and actions which might have relevance to the interests of the United States Government or increase the vulnerability of the United States citizens to attacks by terrorists; and (8) the President should continue to consult with other nations to ensure international cooperation and coordination to end terrorist attacks.