H.R. 2828, U.S. Embassy Bombings in Africa
I strongly support H.R. 2828, which authorizes the Secretary of State to provide compensation to the relatives of the victims of the United States embassy bombings in East Africa on August 7, 1998. I congratulate my friend, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., for introducing this bill, and I command Congressman Lantos for bringing the bill to the House Floor.
Mr. Speaker, nine years ago, on August 7, 1998, terrorists affiliated with Al Qaeda bombed United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These terrorist attacks were one of the first warnings of the threat posed by Al Qaeda, the international terrorist organization that hijacked American airplanes and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9-11 three years later.
The embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, killed over 200 United States embassy employees, twelve of whom were United States citizens, and injured thousands of people. The embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed eleven employees and injured over 80 people. The terrorist attacks of 9-11 killed nearly three thousand innocent people.
The United States Government provided compensation to the families of the victims of the 9-11 attacks. It is, therefore, entirely appropriate that the United States Government provide compensation to the families of the victims of the embassy bombings in East Africa, which occurred three years earlier.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I offer my sympathies to the families of the victims of these embassy bombings, as well as all victims of Al Qaeda's acts of terror.
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