ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604250071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press WASHINGTON
Survivors of the bombings in Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center - some of them wiping away tears - watched President Clinton sign a bill Wednesday providing new tools and tougher penalties for the war against terrorism.
At a ceremony on the South Lawn, Clinton told the bombing survivors and the families of victims of 11 other terrorist attacks, ``We renew our fight against those who seek to terrorize us, in your names.
``We send a loud, clear message today all over the world, in your names: America will never surrender to terror.''
In a presidential election year, it was an opportunity for a warm display of bipartisanship on a sunny, spring day. It brought Clinton together on the same stage with his GOP presidential rival, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.
In all, nearly two dozen members of Congress joined the president. Dole stood behind the president as the bill was signed, and the two leaders shook hands afterward.
More than a year in the making, the bill expands the government's power to exclude suspected foreign terrorists from the United States.
Authorities say it also will make it easier for police to trace bombs to the criminals who made them by requiring chemical markers in some explosive materials.
Further, it imposes unprecedented curbs on federal appeals by death-row inmates.
In the South Lawn audience were 22 survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing a year ago; seven survivors of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; and four relatives of victims of Pan Am Flight 103, blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.
Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer were there. Their father, Leon Klinghoffer, was killed and thrown overboard in the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro.
Others in the audience included the parents of Matthew Mitchell Eisenfeld and Sara Duker. Engaged to be married, they were killed in a Jerusalem bus bombing in February.
``This is a good day,'' the president said, ``because our police officers are now going to be better prepared to stop terrorists, our prosecutors better prepared to punish them, our people being better protected from their designs.''
Despite the celebration, the bill was not as tough as Clinton wanted.
For example, Congress dropped provisions that would have made is easier to wiretap all phones used by suspected terrorists and would have enabled the military to help in cases involving chemical and biological weapons. Another provision that died would have given authorities access to consumer credit and other records of suspected terrorists.
``The forces of extremism did manage to take some very important parts out of this bill that are very much needed,'' Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters as he left the White House. ``And it is our hope that we can pass those parts of this bill later.''
The legislation authorizes $1 billion for federal law enforcement agencies to use in combatting terrorism. It also requires the death penalty for killing current or former federal employees because of their work and in certain international terrorism cases.
It also gives the government power to block foreign groups suspected of terrorism from raising money in the United States.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Victims of terrorist attacks join governmentby CNBofficials in watching President Clinton sign the bill.