II
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1959
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 7, 2011
Mr. Burr (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Coats, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Warner, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Graham, Mr. Corker, Mr. Kirk, and Mr. Udall of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To require a report on the designation of the Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation
Act of 2011
.
Report on designation of the Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization
Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
A report of the
Congressional Research Service on relations between the United States and
Pakistan states that [t]he terrorist network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani
and his son Sirajuddin, based in the FATA, is commonly identified as the most
dangerous of Afghan insurgent groups battling U.S.-led forces in eastern
Afghanistan
.
The report further states that, in mid-2011, the Haqqanis undertook several high-visibility attacks in Afghanistan. First, a late June assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul by 8 Haqqani gunmen and suicide bombers left 18 people dead. Then, on September 10, a truck bomb attack on a United States military base by Haqqani fighters in the Wardak province injured 77 United States troops and killed 5 Afghans. A September 13 attack on the United States Embassy compound in Kabul involved an assault that sparked a 20-hour-long gun battle and left 16 Afghans dead, 5 police officers and at least 6 children among them.
The report
further states that U.S. and Afghan officials concluded the Embassy
attackers were members of the Haqqani network
.
In September 22,
2011, testimony before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen stated that [t]he Haqqani
network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services
Intelligence agency. With ISI support, Haqqani operatives plan and conducted
that [September 13] truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy.
We also have credible evidence they were behind the June 28th attack on the
Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and a host of other smaller but effective
operations
.
In October 27, 2011, testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that “we are taking action to target the Haqqani leadership on both sides of the border. We’re increasing international efforts to squeeze them operationally and financially. We are already working with the Pakistanis to target those who are behind a lot of the attacks against Afghans and Americans. And I made it very clear to the Pakistanis that the attack on our embassy was an outrage and the attack on our forward operating base that injured 77 of our soldiers was a similar outrage.”.
At the same
hearing, Secretary of State Clinton further stated that I think everyone
agrees that the Haqqani Network has safe havens inside Pakistan; that those
safe havens give them a place to plan and direct operations that kill Afghans
and Americans.
.
On November 1,
2011, the United States Government added Haji Mali Kahn to a list of specially
designated global terrorists under Executive Order 13224. The Department of
State described Khan as a Haqqani Network commander who has
overseen hundreds of fighters, and has instructed his subordinates to
conduct terrorist acts.
The designation continued, Mali Khan has
provided support and logistics to the Haqqani Network, and has been involved in
the planning and execution of attacks in Afghanistan against civilians,
coalition forces, and Afghan police
. According to Jason Blazakis, the
chief of the Terrorist Designations Unit of the Department of State, Khan also
has links to al-Qaeda.
Five other top Haqqani Network leaders have been placed on the list of specially designated global terrorists under Executive Order 13224 since 2008, and three of them have been so placed in the last year. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the overall leader of the Haqqani Network as well as the leader of the Taliban's Mira shah Regional Military Shura, was designated by the Secretary of State as a terrorist in March 2008, and in March 2009, the Secretary of State put out a bounty of $5,000,000 for information leading to his capture. The other four individuals so designated are Nasiruddin Haqqani, Khalil al Rahman Haqqani, Badruddin Haqqani, and Mullah Sangeen Zadran.
Report
Report required
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress—
a detailed report on whether the Haqqani Network meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization as set forth in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); and
if the Secretary determines that the Haqqani Network does not meet the criteria set forth under such section 219, a detailed justification as to which criteria have not been met.
Form
The report required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
Appropriate committees of Congress defined
In this subsection, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
