Funding the Hunt for Bin Laden

Yesterday, my colleagues in the U.S. Senate approved my amendment to reconstitute a task force dedicated to the capture of Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaeda leadership. The amendment adds $200 million to the intelligence budget for this task force. It also requires classified reporting to Congress on our national strategy and ongoing efforts to bring these terrorists to justice. The Senate showed its overwhelming support for this amendment with a vote of 96-0.

Nearly five years have passed since the murderous attacks of September 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden remains at large, eager to recruit more people to his cause, and capable of attacking our country again. Yet, according to numerous press reports, the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit has been deactivated.

Osama bin Laden planned, financed, and organized a terrorist operation that killed thousands of Americans, and he is still on the loose. Bringing the chief mastermind behind these attacks to justice should be a chief priority in our war on terror. With its unanimous vote, the Senate agrees that Osama bin Laden must be brought to justice.