Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 9, 2002
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke testifies about proposals to fight terrorism

SEATTLE — Gov. Gary Locke today told the Washington State House of Representatives Select Committee on Community Security that his proposed legislation would provide important new tools to fight terrorism.

Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire proposed the legislation in November with the support of state law enforcement and prosecutors’ organizations.

The governor thanked committee chair Rep. Chris Hurst (D-31) and ranking committee member Rep. Barbara Lisk (R-15) for inviting him to testify before the committee.

Locke told the committee, meeting in Seattle, that new threats have become tragically clear to all Americans in the past four months, beginning with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and continuing with the use of deadly anthrax spores to contaminate mail delivered to various parts of the country.

“Sadly but unmistakably, the world we knew on September 10 no longer exists,” Locke said. “While we have had no credible threat of terrorist activity in Washington state since then, we have learned that no community in our country can expect to be fully safe from such threats.”

The governor outlined four bills that he said would protect Washington from terrorism and make the state a full partner with the federal government in protecting the country.

• The Anti-Terrorism Act is intended to provide the greatest measure of protection and safety for the people of Washington and to preserve and protect their constitutional rights. The bill provides severe criminal penalties for terrorist acts that cause death or major harm to people or property, for using or possessing weapons of mass destruction, for terrorist hoaxes, for providing material support to terrorists, and for possessing false identification for terrorist purposes. The bill also applies the state’s racketeering and money-laundering laws to terrorist operations, permitting courts to order forfeiture of assets and restitution to victims after a conviction or civil trial.
  
  
• Another bill prohibits price gouging during emergencies like terrorist attacks and natural disasters. It makes such behavior a violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act, allowing consumers and the Attorney General to sue those who take advantage of other
  
  
• A third bill recognizes that critical documents relating to our terrorist response and planning efforts need to be protected so they don’t fall into the wrong hands. This bill exempts from disclosure records that include:
  
  
  1. Intelligence and national security records received from federal agencies
     
     
  2. Law enforcement and emergency personnel communication codes and deployment plans
     
     
  3. Computing, telecommunications and network security codes and passwords
  
  
  
• The final bill proposal includes a comprehensive system and regulation for money transmitters and money exchangers operating in Washington state. The governor noted it has become apparent that those responsible for the terrorist events of Sept. 11 freely transferred money around the globe to finance their activities. Washington currently lacks any regulation of these activities. The bill would help prevent terrorist organizations from entering this business and provide needed consumer protection.

“We believe these bills are needed,” Locke said. “They have been designed to help us meet the threat of terrorism without sacrificing our freedom or abridging the constitutional rights of anyone in our state.”

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Related Links:
- Attorney General of Washington
- Rep. Barb Lisk
- Washington State House of Representatives
- Rep. Christopher Hurst

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