Congressman Lamar Smith 21st district of Texas

Contact: Christopher Chichester 202-225-4236

Washington, May 12, 2004 - Mr. Chairman, I support, H.R. 1678, the "Anti-Hoax Terrorism Act of 2003." In the 107th Congress I introduced H.R. 3209, which passed the House by a vote of 423 to Zero. But no action was taken in the Senate. I, along with Mr. Schiff and others, reintroduced this bill as H.R. 1678 in this Congress.

This legislation is needed because some have used the shadow of fear cast by the 2001 terrorist attacks to further terrorize others with hoaxes of biological and chemical attacks. Since that time, the hoaxes have increased. Now, for reasons I cannot fathom, some have terrorized the families of our military men and women with hoaxes claiming their loved ones have been killed in action.

The purpose of H.R. 1678 is to address this serious and growing problem. At a November 7, 2001, hearing, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation described how these hoaxes threaten the health and safety of the American public and the national security of the nation.

In 2003, after the country went to war with Iraq, military families became the targets of hoaxes to convince them that their loved ones had been killed in action. Last July, the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on the bill and the problems hoaxes have created for law enforcement, the public, and the families of U.S. soldiers serving overseas.

One witness, the uncle of a U.S. soldier, testified that an individual who claimed to be a U.S. official called him and stated that his nephew had been killed in Iraq.

Neither terrorist hoaxes nor the war-time hoaxes are adequately covered by current Federal law. So I hope my colleagues will support this bill.