Popular Culture Review Vol. 13, No. 2, Summer 2002 | Page 98

94 Popular Culture Review “so they can infiltrate” domestic terrorist groups (NBC 1995e). Likewise, towards the end of the week ABC anchor Peter Jennings said, “there is every indication today that Congress is going to try to move very quickly to pass antiterrorism legislation” (ABC 1995e). Existing terrorism pohcy initiatives were seemingly placed on a legislative fast track due to this incident. With the demands for, and proclamations about, the need for counter terrorism pohcy, what specific initiatives were in play? Early in the week of coverage an unidentified citizen called for “tighter controls on people coming” into the United States (NBC 1995b). What is interesting is how this pubhc sentiment was ahgned to the policy debates on immigration reform that had been active since the World Trade Center bombing incident and embodied in pre-bombing pohcy initiatives already before Congress. Noting the opportunity to advance their cause, state managers stepped forward and offered specific pohcy suggestions during the week after the attack. NBC reporter Brian Wilhams reported that President Chnton “wants to set up a Federal government counter-terrorism center headed by the FBI” (NBC 1995f). On the same day, CBS reporter Rita Braver noted that President Chnton would “ask Congress to give the FBI increased authority to monitor credit, hotel and travel records, as well as telephone communications of suspected terrorists” (CBS 1995f). Likewise, Dan Rather reported that Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich “said today he supports more Federal monitoring of possible domestic terrorists groups” (CBS 1995f). James Fox, an ex-FBI agent, and at that time a CBS staff terrorism expert, commented on Gingrich’s observations and said he “would agree with the speaker on this issue. Presently, Federal law enforcement agencies operate under the restrictions of the Attorney General guidelines for investigating terrorist operations and they can be ... too restrictive” (CBS 1995f). The debate on which pohcies were going to be added to the terrorism proposal before Congress had already begun prior to the bombing. It took on new urgency as a result of the post-bombing pohcy advocacy by state managers, and was seemingly legitimated by the media coverage. For example, the newly elected Repubhcan majority added death penalty reform to the pre-bombing package, and during coverage of the Oklahoma City incident, they put this firmly into the pohcy debates. House Speaker Gingrich said he had “recommended that...if people are indicted and convicted after a fair trial, they should be executed within a reasonable time” (CBS 1995f). There was some dissension to these calls for new and restrictive pohcies. Laura Murphy Lee, spokesperson for the ACLU, said “we don’t need any more powers, we just need to do good law enforcement” (NBC 1995f). These faint cries of dissent was overwhelmed by the shrill voices calling for immigration reform, altered legal authority for the FBI, more monitoring of electronic communications, and faster apphcation of punishments hke the death penalty.