Campaigning with Giuliani, Corker Blasts Ford for Failure to Condemn Clinton Pardon of 16 Convicted Terrorists
Campaigning With Giuliani, Corker Blasts Ford for Failure to Condemn Clinton Pardon of 16 Convicted Terrorists
While State Delegation and Overwhelming Number of U.S. House Members Voted to Condemn F.A.L.N. Terrorist Pardon, Ford Abandoned Tennessee Values to Vote "Present"
Campaigning today with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker charged that Washington Congressman Harold Ford abdicated good judgment and his responsibility to fight terrorism when he failed to vote with an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress to condemn then-President Clinton's pardon of sixteen F.A.L.N. terrorists convicted of bombings within the United States.
"If Harold Ford didn't take a tough stand against F.A.L.N. terrorists, why should Tennesseans trust him to be tough against Al Qaeda and others around the world whose only objective is to kill Americans?" asked Corker. "As your Senator, I will never abdicate my responsibility to protect our citizens, and never fail to vote in favor of condemning and stopping terrorism and terrorists. Congressman Ford sent the wrong message to terrorists around the world with this misguided vote, and he needs to be held accountable."
The F.A.L.N., the Spanish acronym for Armed Forces of National Liberation, staged violent attacks against Americans in a struggle for Puerto Rican independence between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, and was responsible for six deaths and some 150 injuries during bombings and armed attacks. In August 1999, President Bill Clinton pardoned sixteen of the terrorists.
On September 9, 1999, 311 Members of the U.S. House - a strong bipartisan majority, including every member of the Tennessee delegation, except Ford -- voted to stand up to terror, and to condemn terrorist acts against our nation and our citizens. Ford failed to vote in favor of condemning then-President Clinton for pardoning the 16 terrorists convicted of "seditious conspiracy against the United States."
* Pease, R-Ind., motion to suspend the rules and adopt the concurrent resolution to express the sense of Congress that the President should not have offered or granted clemency to 16 members of a Puerto Rico independence group convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States." (H. Con. Res. 180, CQ Vote #398: Motion Agreed To 311-41: R 218-0; D 93-41; I 0-0, September 9, 1999, Ford Voted Present)
"Searching through the record," Corker continued, "Congressman Ford's only excuse for failing to vote to condemn the terrorists is because he said it would have been like rebuking the Constitution.' My message to Congressman Ford is that if cold blooded murderers like Bin Laden had their way, we'd HAVE no Constitution. What was Congressman Ford thinking?"
Commenting on Ford's mysterious act of voting "present," Corker said, "If you think about it, his vote just to be present' is a metaphor for his entire record in Washington: votes on both sides of issues -- like taxes, the Patriot Act, partial birth abortion, and endless others - and take either side whenever it's politically convenient. Tennessee wants and deserves a Senator who will take a stand - a Senator who will vote to condemn terror and violence - not a Senator who simply shows up to cast a meaningless, weak vote of "present."
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