Conference Report On H.R. 1, Implementing Recommendations Of The 9/11 Commission Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1, IMPLEMENTING RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 2007)

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Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi and gentleman from New York (Mr. King) for their work for homeland security because it is truly a bipartisan issue. It was my privilege to serve on the committee with both of them in a previous Congress, and I miss that service during this current Congress.

I rise today to compliment the majority for yielding to the will, the will of the American people, because the provision that does protect John Does from lawsuits was curiously stripped out of the conference report previously. I'm pleased, though, that today's final conference report includes those provisions protecting John Does from lawsuits for reporting suspicious activity.

In March, Mr. King and I teamed up as the House passed the sense of my Protecting Americans Fighting Terrorism Act as the motion to recommit to the Rail and Transportation Security Act, H.R. 1401, by a 304-121 margin. Again, that was 304 ``yeses'' to 121 ``noes.''

Today, we finally adopt and send this provision, along with this bill, to the President, something that is not only a right step but a critical step.

This provision will make America safer, will make Americans more aware of terrorist activity and will show the terrorists that we are standing strong in the war on terror.

Ever since 9/11, law enforcement agencies have been telling the American people that they should immediately report suspicious activity that they see. Citizens are on the front line of our domestic war on terror. Our Founding Fathers declared eternal vigilance be the price of liberty.

It was Brian Morgenstern, an alert American, who stopped the Fort Dix terrorists by speaking up and reporting what he saw on videotapes.

It was an alert ambulance crew in June who noticed the Haymarket car bomb in London, England. However, terrorists and their supervisors are trying to use our freedoms against us.

On 9/11, the hijackers knew how the crew on the plane would respond and used that knowledge against them to carry out their attacks. Last November, 6 imams who behaved in manners and methods similar to those 9/11 terrorists were reported to authorities. Now, those six imams are using our courts to terrorize the Americans who reported their behavior.

The John Doe provision in this act will simply help stop this terrible shakedown of alert and responsible Americans. If we are serious about fighting terrorism, if we are serious about protecting Americans and asking them to help protect each other, then we need to pass the provision that is in this bill today.

I know most Americans were shocked to know that this simple, commonsense issue became an issue of partisan sniping. We should have never had to fight over this provision.

Today, we're going to make a choice. The Israelis said it best, There's no room in the world for political correctness. Today, we're going to make that choice, choosing political correctness or securing the American people. We will tell the trial lawyers you cannot terrorize Americans in our courts.

Vote ``yes'' on this conference report. I thank the gentlemen both for their work.

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