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American Morning
Discussion With Senator Susan Collins
Aired September 23, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Is Saudi Arabia truly committed to fighting terror and does the kingdom have connections to al Qaeda? Those are nagging questions that will be raised once again today during a hearing of the Senate's Governmental Affairs Committee.
Its chairwoman is Susan Collins of Maine and she joins us from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Good morning to you, senator.
It's nice to see you.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME), GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Asses for me the role of Saudi Arabia in combating terror. Do you think that they're indifferent or have you seen significant progress?
COLLINS: There has been progress since the bombing in Saudi Arabia in May. But there are still troubling links between the Saudi government and groups that are suspected of funding terrorist groups, like al Qaeda and Hamas. And we are going to this morning talk with administration officials about whether or not our country is being aggressive enough in listing suspected terrorist financiers.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the money, in fact. The Saudi government promised that they would start tracking the money more aggressively to see if it actually was getting into the hands of terrorist leaders. At the same time, they also said they want to crack down on the money being donated from the populace, as well.
Do you think that they are doing enough on both of those fronts?
COLLINS: It remains to be seen. Certainly the rhetoric from Saudi Arabia has become much stronger in recent months. But we need to make sure that that rhetoric is matched with action. I think that the Saudis are taking terrorist financing more seriously since the bombing in their own homeland. But there are still many indications that they could do much more to cut off the flow of funds to terrorist groups.
O'BRIEN: What should the administration be doing in order to get that to happen?
COLLINS: It was exactly two years ago that the president issued an executive order that gave the federal government the power to freeze bank accounts and cut off the flow of funds from organizations that are suspected of terrorist ties. We have not used that power as effectively as I would like and that's what we're going to talk about at the hearing this morning.
The evidence suggests that there's a different standard when it comes to listing organizations that have links with high Saudi officials.
O'BRIEN: There are, of course, terror cells outside of Saudi Arabia and outside of Iraq. Give me a sense of what other countries are the focus of this congressional hearing now.
COLLINS: We're looking at Saudi Arabia in this first set of hearings because Saudi Arabia has been described by the Treasury's general counsel as the epicenter of terrorist financing. It's the country about which the most questions have been raised.
But our effort is an international one. The executive order calls on not just American banks to cooperate, but, in fact, triggers a host of international sanctions that apply to the bank accounts of these organizations that are suspected of providing funding.
O'BRIEN: And, of course, the Saudis have said that they are the partner to the United States in the war on terror.
Senator Collins, it's nice to have you, as always.
Thanks so much.
COLLINS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 23, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Is Saudi Arabia truly committed to fighting terror and does the kingdom have connections to al Qaeda? Those are nagging questions that will be raised once again today during a hearing of the Senate's Governmental Affairs Committee.
Its chairwoman is Susan Collins of Maine and she joins us from Washington, D.C. this morning.
Good morning to you, senator.
It's nice to see you.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME), GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Asses for me the role of Saudi Arabia in combating terror. Do you think that they're indifferent or have you seen significant progress?
COLLINS: There has been progress since the bombing in Saudi Arabia in May. But there are still troubling links between the Saudi government and groups that are suspected of funding terrorist groups, like al Qaeda and Hamas. And we are going to this morning talk with administration officials about whether or not our country is being aggressive enough in listing suspected terrorist financiers.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the money, in fact. The Saudi government promised that they would start tracking the money more aggressively to see if it actually was getting into the hands of terrorist leaders. At the same time, they also said they want to crack down on the money being donated from the populace, as well.
Do you think that they are doing enough on both of those fronts?
COLLINS: It remains to be seen. Certainly the rhetoric from Saudi Arabia has become much stronger in recent months. But we need to make sure that that rhetoric is matched with action. I think that the Saudis are taking terrorist financing more seriously since the bombing in their own homeland. But there are still many indications that they could do much more to cut off the flow of funds to terrorist groups.
O'BRIEN: What should the administration be doing in order to get that to happen?
COLLINS: It was exactly two years ago that the president issued an executive order that gave the federal government the power to freeze bank accounts and cut off the flow of funds from organizations that are suspected of terrorist ties. We have not used that power as effectively as I would like and that's what we're going to talk about at the hearing this morning.
The evidence suggests that there's a different standard when it comes to listing organizations that have links with high Saudi officials.
O'BRIEN: There are, of course, terror cells outside of Saudi Arabia and outside of Iraq. Give me a sense of what other countries are the focus of this congressional hearing now.
COLLINS: We're looking at Saudi Arabia in this first set of hearings because Saudi Arabia has been described by the Treasury's general counsel as the epicenter of terrorist financing. It's the country about which the most questions have been raised.
But our effort is an international one. The executive order calls on not just American banks to cooperate, but, in fact, triggers a host of international sanctions that apply to the bank accounts of these organizations that are suspected of providing funding.
O'BRIEN: And, of course, the Saudis have said that they are the partner to the United States in the war on terror.
Senator Collins, it's nice to have you, as always.
Thanks so much.
COLLINS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
