Thread: Rep. Myrick: Three Al Qaeda Caught Crossing Mexico Border in

That's exactly right, William. That's a claim that is very serious and should not be made lightly because this is something that we FEAR will happen and that is highly POSSIBLE so she needs to make sure she verifies claims like that before she speaks out. People just are not PASSIVE anymore. They HEAR things like that and they don't let politicians get away with slip-ups anymore.

Looks like someone finally exposed this story as a lie.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ ... 161649.htm

Posted on Mon, Nov. 14, 2005

Suggestion: Get facts before news conference

Bad info given to back illegal-immigration bill

TIM FUNK

tfunk@charlotteobserver.com


Reps. Sue Myrick and Patrick McHenry made a few alarming statements last week during their news conference to promote legislation to fight illegal immigration in North Carolina.

Trouble is, Myrick's claim -- that three al-Qaida members were recently arrested near the Mexican border -- isn't true.

"An honest mistake," Myrick spokesman Andy Polk said later.

And the accuracy of what McHenry said -- that some of the 9-11 terrorists had N.C. driver's licenses -- is questionable. There's no proof that any of the hijackers did; the man who masterminded the attacks might have -- 20 years ago.

Illegal immigration has emerged as the No. 1 hot-button issue in Washington and in North Carolina -- home to some300,000 undocumented immigrants. So Republicans Myrick of Charlotte and McHenry of Cherryville were certainly addressing matters of concern to their constituents.

But members of Congress should be right when quoting facts, lest they be accused of manipulating information to make their case.

Myrick's legislation would deny North Carolina $890 million in federal highway money unless it stopped accepting taxpayer ID numbers as proof of identity or residence by those seeking licenses.

She said the bill, which also would apply to five other states, is needed for national security.

Then she said this:

"This is a critical issue today. I mean, they just arrested, down on the border -- what? a couple of weeks ago? -- three al-Qaida members who came across from Mexico into the United States. That's a given fact. They were holding them in the jail down there."

Two days after the news conference, Myrick's spokesman acknowledged that no such al-Qaida arrests had taken place.

Polk said Myrick told him she thought she had read it in her news report -- a stack of newspaper and magazine articles from her staff. Polk went through the stack. He found a year-old Time magazine report that talked about an al-Qaida operative seized in Pakistan who had disclosed potential plans to slip into the United States from Mexico.

"She thought (the Time article) was current," Polk said. "An inadvertent mistake."

I found the Time article -- dated Nov. 22, 2004. It said that Sharif al-Masri, "a key al-Qaida operative," told interrogators that the group had considered plans to "smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the U.S." But it called his account "unproved." The article mentioned no actual border crossings or arrests.

Bill co-sponsor McHenry also spoke at the news conference.

He opened by saying that illegal immigrants looking for driver's licenses gravitate to North Carolina "because we roll out the red carpet for them."

Then he said this:

"In fact, some of the 9-11 terrorists had North Carolina driver's licenses." He later repeated his claim, but reduced the number from "some" to "one."

I knew that some of the 9-11 hijackers had gotten driver's licenses from Virginia and Florida -- neither of which would be covered by Myrick's bill. But I had never heard that any of the 9-11 hijackers had a N.C. driver's license.

I asked McHenry for his source.

First, he said he was pretty sure he had read it in the Raleigh News & Observer. Then he cited state Sen. Fern Shubert of Union County. "I know she talked about it (when she and McHenry were in the legislature)."

He went on: "If my memory serves, it was a student (who had the N.C. driver's license)."

I asked if it was one of the terrorists in the hijacked planes.

Yes, he said.

I called Republican Shubert, who had made immigration a top issue in her 2004 run for governor. Did she ever say that any of the 9-11 terrorists had a N.C. driver's license?

"I'm pretty sure I've never said that," she replied.

McHenry later had Aaron Latham, his spokesman, call me to clarify: It wasn't any of the 9-11 hijackers, it was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- the Al Qaida leader who planned the 9-11 plot.

Latham told me that a report by the Center for Immigration Studies indicated Mohammed had attended two N.C. colleges.

"It doesn't explicitly say he had a driver's license," added Latham, who sent me the report.

I checked the 9-11 Commission Report, which confirms that Mohammed left Kuwait -- in 1983 -- to enroll at Chowan College in Murfreesboro. He later transferred to N.C. A&T in Greensboro, where he earned a degree in engineering in 1986.

Whether he had an N.C. driver's license couldn't be determined late last week.

But a relevant fact is embedded in the report McHenry's aide sent me: Mohammed came to North Carolina on a student visa.

In other words, he was not an illegal immigrant.

OFF AND ON THE HILL

Hayes hailed by textile groups

Rep. Robin Hayes says he still expects Democrats to make an issue of his controversial vote for CAFTA. But the Concord Republican will have an answer when he hits the campaign trail in 2006. The new U.S.-China textile deal, which Hayes cast as a payoff for his CAFTA vote, has been widely hailed by industry groups. Even the head of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, who had ferociously opposed CAFTA, showed up at a news conference last week to salute Hayes for helping to push the Bush administration to get an industry-friendly agreement with China.Auggie Tantillo, the group's executive director, explained that in Washington, yesterday's opponent can become today's friend.

"Whenever two people agree on every issue, take a picture of that because that's a very rare sight," he said. "Robin Hayes came to the table and said, `I want to fix the China (import) problem,' and that was completely in concert with our interests."

Justice judging Wake Forest contest

• Chief Justice John Roberts will deliver on a promise this week when he returns to Wake Forest University on Friday. He'll be among three judges for the law school's annual "moot" or mock court competition. Roberts last visited the Winston-Salem school in February, when he answered students' questions and pledged to return. Since then, he's ascended to the highest seat on the country's highest court. His return is big news on campus: The Old Gold & Black, the school's newspaper, stripped news editor Kevin Koehler's story about it across the top of the front page.

• The Wall Street Journal, which uses drawings instead of photographs of newsmakers, ran the likeness of Sen. Richard Burr last week. The Winston-Salem Republican was mentioned in an article about federal efforts to prepare for a possible outbreak of the avian flu. Burr has introduced a bill that would create a new federal agency to push for development of emergency drugs.

• S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster testified in Washington last week before the Senate's energy and commerce committees. The subject: Price gouging at gas pumps just after Hurricane Katrina. McMaster, a Republican, said his office got more than 1,500 complaints about high prices. He told the senators he's proposing changes that would beef up the S.C. statute against gouging.

Tim

Funk

Ouch, that stings.

W

Me thinks someone has put foot in mouth. Hayes thinks he will be re-elected.... Not if I can help it. I will make sure everyone remembers what he and others like him did with their CAFTA/NAFTA support.

Thanks for finding that article, Brian. I hate to be UNFAIR in assessing someone until I'm sure of my facts. Seems like Ms. Myrick could take a lesson from that! I think that's a PRETTY SERIOUS "honest mistake", don't you??? I mean --- HOW could ANYONE make a claim that was that serious without extensive research to back it up??? And, I did think it was odd that NOBODY on our site had heard that piece of information. You know, if that had been the case, it would have been front page news for DAYS or WEEKS.

To address Richard Burr's plan for the Avian flu vaccine plan--I read something about that in the last couple of days and this is the thing that is REALLY BAD about that legislation. HE wants all research done by these pharmaceutical companies kept SECRET. I will try to find the article.

Here it is! It can be found at www.journalnow.com:



Secrecy worries are raised over plan
Burr's antiterrorism agency would have disclosure exemption
By Mary M. Shaffrey
JOURNAL WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, November 15, 2005


WASHINGTON

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has been getting a lot of attention for his work on a bill proposing the creation of a single federal agency responsible for developing potential vaccines and countermeasures for use in case of a bioterrorist attack.

But BARDA - the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency - would be allowed to operate shrouded in secrecy.

That troubles many public-health and open-government advocates.

"I am not aware of any agency that has the full FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) exemption, even the CIA," said Mark Tapscott, the director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation.

"What do they think they will be doing that will not be covered by the exemptions that the CIA has in place?" he said. "There needs to be a detailed explanation for why."

The agency would report directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, would receive a full exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, and would offer limited liability to companies that manufacture drugs that could be used in the event of an attack.

Drug companies say they need to be free of public scrutiny to protect their research.

"The confidentiality is not meant to hide untoward results," said George Painter, the president and CEO of Chimerix Inc., a biotechnology company, based in Research Triangle Park, that is working on a smallpox vaccine, among others.

"To immediately have that information available would be harmful to a company because their competition could immediately get ahold of the work that's been done," he said.

Painter added that investors would be reluctant to pay for the work if they were not assured it would be protected from other companies usurping the results for free.

But Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a patients' advocacy organization, said that the FOIA exemption could prove fatal.

If federal authorities declare an emergency in case of biological attack, she said, people would be asked to take medication about which they have no knowledge.

Fisher said she fears that without the oversight, public hearings on drug effects would cease and there would be no one to hold accountable for problems that arise because there would be no record. Furthermore, people who eventually take the medication will be doing so without informed consent, she said.

Doug Heye, a spokesman for Burr, said that the FOIA exemption was not automatic. It would only be used in limited circumstances, and the people making the decision would all be public officials.

"The exemption is for limited situations for proprietary use or national-security concerns that would make it necessary," Heye said.

"The purpose of BARDA is to provide information, not shield it."

But even some who have been consulted on the bill are worried. Dr. Tara O'Toole, who is otherwise very supportive of the bill, said that the secrecy issue gives her pause.

"I think it sort of frightens people," said O'Toole, the director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Public-interest groups are almost equally concerned about the limited-liability protections in the bill.

As written now, the bill says companies that manufacture products to combat a bioterror attack - or massive flu outbreak - would be shielded from lawsuits if the product was made following Food and Drug Administration guidelines, and was made in good faith.

Under the bill, if a company was determined to have defrauded the government or was a so-called "bad actor," they would not be shielded from protection.

"If there is no protection, the industry will view (manufacturing these types of drugs) as too risky," said Peter Young, chairman of NC Bio and president of AlphaVax, a vaccine company based in Research Triangle Park. AlphaVax is currently working on several different biodefense vaccines, and Young said that the legislation is needed for the work to continue.

O'Toole said that the flu vaccine shortage of 2004 is proof of why this coverage is needed.

"This is why we did not have enough flu vaccine last year. We only had two manufacturers, and when one had a problem, we were in trouble," she said.

There is no money in making these types of drugs, O'Toole and others said. Companies are not interested in investing millions of dollars in research and development for medications that would be taken for only a few weeks.

"You're drunk. You're driving. You're illegal. You're deported,� she said in August. “Period."

Unfortunately, drunk driving is a felony, punishable by jail time, if I'm not mistaken. Therefore we are stuck. It would be nice if we could just send them home but it doesn't normally work out that way. They get put in the prison system and we get to feed and clothe them while they congregate with other felons to hatch new plots. And it appears that even when they are released we don't make sure they go back to where they came from. It is a vicious circle.

I still say the best solution to stop the flow so that we can work on the problem is a fence on the border guarded by our own troops.

It was proven that just the PRESENCE of the MinuteMen on the border kept out hundreds of illegals. Just the presence of troops on the border would keep out millions.

A fence would make it that much easier because they can't walk through a fence and chances are the military patrol would catch them before they could run and steal bolt cutters to cut through.

Therefore, a fence patrolled by the military and competent border agents at the legal cross points would keep ALL illegals who come by land out. Why can't the government see that?

I agree with the FENCE!

I LOVE your new avatar, JJ!! So CUTE. A Chi-HUA-HUA!!!

Originally Posted by Brian503a

Looks like someone finally exposed this story as a lie.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ ... 161649.htm

Damn...

It is possible this could have been some disinfo work to discredit the Immigration Reform Movement?

Or, 3 where caught, and a gag order is now in place, under the guise of, not wanting to alarm the public..or more importantly, so John Q. Public does not put Bush&Co's feet to the fire for failing to enforce our southern border.

Dont worry. Most citizens will not be that concerned about Myrick's inaccuracy. They just want to know that SHe and McHenry and Jones etc... are trying to do something.

The Charlotte Observer can throw any stones they want and the immigration enforcement team wins because it is being discussed at all.

W