Remarks by Speaker Sheldon Silver

Unveiling of the Terrorism Prevention, Preparedness and Enforcement Act

Speaker's Conference Room, Albany, NY
Tuesday, March 23, 2004

This afternoon, the Assembly Majority is unveiling The Terrorism Prevention, Preparedness and Enforcement Act.

Joining me in support of this plan are:

• The Chair of the Assembly's Committee on Ways and Means, Assembly Member Herman "Denny" Farrell;
• Majority Leader, Paul Tokasz;
• The Chair of the Committee on Local Governments, Assembly Member Bob Sweeney;
• And a host of Assembly Majority Members.

• The Chair of the Assembly's Committee on Codes, Assembly Member Joe Lentol;
• The Chair of our Committee on Governmental Operations; Assembly Member RoAnn Destito;
• And the Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Legislative Caucus, Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat.

In constructing The Terrorism Prevention, Preparedness and Enforcement Act, we asked ourselves the basic question:

What could we do to prevent terrorists from ever taking control of an airliner filled with passengers, and crashing it into a skyscraper or a nuclear power plant, or any densely populated place?

What could we do to prevent a terrorist from hijacking a tanker truck filled with highly toxic chemicals and causing a spill in the heart of a major metropolis?

Not only how to react when an act of terrorism has already taken lives, but how do we prevent terrorists from taking lives in the first place?

Our legislation will crack down hard on potential terrorists while significantly enhancing this State's ability to prevent an act of terrorism from occurring here again.

As you can see from the materials provided, our comprehensive plan is geared to achieve six basic goals:

• We enact tough new criminal penalties for offenders who commit or threaten to commit acts of terrorism.
• We ban certain deadly weapons which could be used to carry out a terrorist attack.
• We provide vital support for our "first responders" who are New York's front-line troops in the war on terrorism.
• We advance measures to better safeguard our critical transportation and other vital infrastructure.
• And, we transform the current overlapping, ill-defined patchwork of state agencies now responsible for combating terrorism, into a single agency with a clearly defined mission and effective legislative, budgetary and public oversight.

Let me briefly mention a few specifics.

• We increase the penalties for chemical and biological weapons threats, terrorist money laundering, terrorist accomplices, and for cyber terrorism.
• We establish mandatory life without parole for chemical and biological weapons crimes.
• We extend - and in some cases eliminate - the statute of limitations for terrorist crimes.
• And we add terrorism crimes to the DNA databank and the Eavesdropping Law.
• As we mentioned during our press conference on gun-control, we ban .50 caliber sniper weapons.
• We support the development of a statewide emergency response communications system that incorporates local first responders.
• We recommended heightened security at our airports, railroads, subways, ferries, and at our chemical and nuclear plants.
• And we provide for the direction of these measures through a single, statutorily created "Office of Public Security."

Our proposal contrasts with the Governor's proposal in one very fundamental way.

We not only exact tough criminal penalties on terrorists after the fact, we take significant steps toward preventing a terrorist attack from occurring.

Let me be crystal clear about this:

We support tough penalties against terrorists, but threatening suicidal terrorists with longer prison terms is not going to stop terrorism.

Only by taking concrete steps to safeguard New York from another terrorist attack, can we make people safer.

As you know, a great deal of rhetoric has been swirling around the Capitol on the issue of terrorism, and on how we should respond to it.

At a time when unity is essential, much of the rhetoric, unfortunately, has been and continues to be divisive.

Protecting New Yorkers and indeed all Americans isn't about seeking political advantage.

It's about planning. It's about prevention.

It's about protecting New Yorkers through effective enforcement.

It's about the preservation of our hard-fought American freedoms.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

On September 11th, 2001, I watched those passenger jets strike the towers from my living room window.

I felt the ground beneath my feet shake when the towers came crashing down.

These vile acts occurred in neighborhoods that I call home; to people I grew up with, and whose pain and sorrow I have shared.

Homes and businesses were destroyed in an Assembly District that I represent.

I dealt with the immediate day-to-day needs of the very frightened residents of Lower Manhattan.

No one can lecture me about the price of terrorism.

I will not allow - no responsible public servant should allow - this tragedy to be exploited for political advantage.

We are striving to prevent these tragedies.

That is why we are focusing on enforcement: the less-than-glamorous, every-day job of protecting ourselves and each other.

That is the key to stopping the next September Eleventh.

I and the Members of my Conference were particularly disturbed by the comments that have come from the media and from individuals asserting that the African American and Hispanic Members of this Conference had personally lobbied me to oppose tougher penalties on terrorists.

This is not only patently false, it is offensive.

In the debate over how best to address terrorism, there is no room for racial rhetoric.

In his State of the State Message, Governor George Pataki noted that the Legislature, and I am quoting him directly, had, "Passed more than 100 tough new anti-crime laws;" laws that have helped make New York, "The safest large state in America."

Those laws were passed with overwhelming support from our Members.

We will continue to support tougher penalties on terrorists and other criminals where such penalty increases are warranted.

I am joined by Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, the Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Legislative Caucus who will also speak on this important subject in a few moments.

I hope that the Senate and the Governor will consider our ideas.

I hope that we can put the divisive rhetoric aside, and better protect the people who elected us.