S.Amdt. 1387

1. Adds SEC. 1088. DESIGNATION OF THE HAQQANI NETWORK AS A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION at the end of subtitle H of title X

   Adds a section

   In S. 1867 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   Section 382 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking "biological or chemical" each place it appears in subsections (a) and (b).

   Inserted: SEC. 1088. DESIGNATION OF THE HAQQANI NETWORK AS A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) In a September 28, 2011, press briefing White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated that "[w]e have said unequivocally that the Haqqani network was responsible for the recent attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul and on ISAF headquarters in Kabul. And the fact that they are able to operate in Afghanistan because they have a safe haven in Pakistan is a matter of great concern. And we have urged our counterparts in Pakistan to take action and raise with them the importance of doing so".

   Inserted: (2) 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".

   Inserted: (3) The report further states that, in mid-2011, the Haqqanis undertook several high-visibility attacks in Afghanistan that led to a spike in frustrations being expressed by top United States and Afghanistan officials. 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. But it was a September 13 attack on the United States Embassy compound in Kabul that appears to have substantively changed the nature of relations between the United States and Pakistan. The well-planned, well-executed assault sparked a 20-hour-long gun battle and left 16 Afghans dead, 5 police officers and at least 6 children among them.

   Inserted: (4) The report further states that "U.S. and Afghan officials concluded the Embassy attackers were members of the Haqqani network. Days after the raid, Admiral Mullen called on General Kayani to again press for Pakistani military action against Haqqani bases. Apparently unsatisfied with his counterpart's response, Mullen returned to Washington, DC, and began ramping up rhetorical pressure to previously unseen levels, accusing the ISI of using the Haqqanis to conduct a "proxy war" in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Secretary Panetta issued what was taken by many to be an ultimatum to Pakistan when he told reporters that the United States would "take whatever steps are necessary to protect our forces" in Afghanistan from future attacks by the Haqqanis.

   Inserted: (5) In September 22, 2011, testimony before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, 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".

   Inserted: (6) In October 27, 2011, testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that "with respect to the Haqqani Network, it illustrates this point. There was a major military operation that was held in Afghanistan just in the past week that rounded up and eliminated more than 100 Haqqani Network operatives. And 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".

   Inserted: (7) At the same hearing, Secretary of State Clinton further stated that "[w]ell, Congressman, 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".

   Inserted: (8) 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." "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," the designation continued. In June 2011, "Mali Khan's deputy provided support to the suicide bombers responsible for the attacks on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack resulted in the death of 12 people". Jason Blazakis, the chief of the Terrorist Designations Unit of the Department of State, has also been quoted in several media outlets as stating Khan also has links to al-Qaeda.

   Inserted: (9) 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 Department of State as a terrorist in March 2008, and in March 2009, the Department 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.

   Inserted: (10) The Haqqani Network meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization in that it is a foreign organization, it engages in and retains the capability and intent to engage in terrorism, and it threatens the security of United States nationals and the national defense, foreign relations, and economic interests of the United States.

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   Inserted: (b) Designation.--

   Inserted: (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall designate the Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).

   Inserted: (2) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirement in paragraph (1) if the President submits to the appropriate committees of Congress a certification in writing that--

   Inserted: (A) the Haqqani Network does not threaten the security of United States nationals and the national defense, foreign relations, and economic interests of the United States; and

   Inserted: (B) the waiver is in the national security interests of the United States.

   Inserted: (3) Justification.--The certification submitted under paragraph (2) shall include a written justification for the waiver covered by the certification.

   Inserted: (4) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this section, the term "appropriate committees of Congress" means--

   Inserted: (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and

   Inserted: (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.

   Original wording

   At the end of subtitle H of title X, add the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed