File #: Res 0072-2002    Version: * Name: Justice for Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl.
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 2/27/2002
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution in support of President George W. Bush's pledge to utilize the full resources of the United States government to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Sponsors: Joel Rivera, Maria Baez, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Ruben Diaz, Allan W. Jennings, Jr., Melinda R. Katz, Michael C. Nelson, Bill Perkins, Madeline T. Provenzano, Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., Diana Reyna, James Sanders, Jr., Martin J. Golden, Helen Sears, Yvette D. Clarke
Council Member Sponsors: 15
Attachments: 1. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting - 2/27
Res. No. 72 Title Resolution in support of President George W. Bush's pledge to utilize the full resources of the United States government to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Body By Council Members Rivera, Baez, Comrie, Diaz, Jennings, Katz, Nelson, Perkins, Provenzano, Recchia Jr., Reyna, Sanders Jr. and Golden; also Council Members Sears and Clarke Whereas, On January 23, 2002, Daniel Pearl, 38 years old and the South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, was abducted while on assignment in Pakistan; and Whereas, Shortly after the abduction, the kidnappers began relaying anti-American e-mails containing photographs that showed Daniel Pearl with a gun held to his head and erroneously accusing Mr. Pearl of working for American and Israeli intelligence; and Whereas, In a barbaric and abhorrent act of cowardice, Daniel Pearl's kidnappers murdered him, delivering a videotape depicting the horrible killing to Pakistani officials on February 22, 2002; and Whereas, The murder of Daniel Pearl was motivated by hatred - hatred for Americans, hatred for Jews, and hatred for the freedom he represented; and Whereas, Daniel Pearl is survived by his wife, Mariane, who is six months pregnant with their first child; and Whereas, By all accounts, Daniel Pearl was a wonderful person and a brilliant reporter, described by his family as "a musician, a writer, a storyteller and a bridge builder, he was a walking sunshine of truth, humor, and compassion;" and Whereas, Daniel Pearl is the ninth international journalist to be killed since the United States began its campaign to drive the Taliban and al-Qaida from Afghanistan; and Whereas, The abduction of a Daniel Pearl was a cowardly act - reporters, travel unarmed and unprotected through South Asia, seeking only to observe events in the region and dispatch the truth; and Whereas, The abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl is a continuation of the attacks of September 11th, an attack on all Americans and on all of us who live in a free society; and Whereas, Following news of Daniel Pearl's death, President George W. Bush stated, "Those who would threaten Americans, those who would engage in criminal, barbaric acts, need to know that these crimes only hurt their cause and only deepen the resolve of the Unites States of America to rid the world of these agents of terror;" and Whereas, Daniel Pearl, described by a colleague as "a reporter's reporter" will be remembered as an American hero; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York supports President George W. Bush's pledge to utilize the full resources of the United States government to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.