Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a member of the Homeland Security Committee who also represents the nation's capital, said today that the attacks in Mumbai India on multiple soft targets aimed at Americans and people of British and Jewish origin call for a re-evaluation of security precautions at home and abroad. Norton stayed at the Taj Mahal Hotel as part of the Congressional delegation, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that traveled to India last January. The group met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and was particularly interested in coordinating climate change strategy with a friendly nation and in the pending treaty with India for peaceful use of nuclear power.

"We have focused on Al Queda, which has a pronounced and well-known modus operandi that is known for on big bang targets, such as airlines in flight and sites with official or symbolic standing, such as the World Trade Center. But a new and apparently unknown group strikes simultaneously at multiple high and low-profile targets, speaks Hindi. The group traveled to its destination over water by boat, and used guns and explosives to go after people shooting point blank in restaurants, railway stations, and even hospitals. Next week when Congress reconvenes for the last of a lame-duck session, Norton said she will seek information on American intelligence concerning the emergence of new groups in new areas focused on American and similar on targets.

Norton said, "The attacks in India are more genuinely terrorist and more frightening than what we have seen because they appear to be focused even more indiscriminately on simply spreading fear and confusion wherever people tend to gather without regard to the targets." She added, "Beyond seeking Americans and people of particular nationalities, and Jews, it is difficult to know the messages these terrorists meant to so send. We need to know what we know or don't know about this new group of terrorists and whether our intelligence had any clues."