FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1996                          (202) 616-2777

                                               TDD (202) 514-1888



                                 

               STATEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO

        ON TODAY'S ACTION ON ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION



     Following passage of an amendment sponsored by Rep. Robert

Barr to anti-terrorism legislation now before the House of

Representatives, Attorney General Janet Reno released the following

statement:



          "I am extremely disappointed at today's Congressional

     action.  It keeps too many Americans vulnerable to terrorists

     and madmen by stripping away provisions that might have helped

     protect law enforcement from killer bullets and help trace

     explosives.  It bars changes in the law that would have made

     it possible to trace terrorists' phone calls in a way that is

     now permitted in organized crime investigations.  It guts

     provisions for the swift expulsion of foreign terrorists and

     barriers to fund-raising to support terrorism overseas."



          "It is simply unfair to undercut America's law

     enforcement officers by asking them to put their life on the

     line with outdated tools.  Terrorism, at home and abroad,

     poses increasing threats to innocent Americans.  President

     Clinton proposed these sensible measures to protect the

     American public more than a year ago, and there is no excuse

     for failure to enact these provisions."





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