In-Depth: The Chairman of the House Homeland Security
Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), issued the following statement
upon the committee’s approval of this bill the day after the terrorist attacks on Brussels:
“Our
thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Belgian people and all
affected by yesterday’s attacks. Today we spoke with a bipartisan voice:
we will not be intimidated, and we will take immediate steps to ramp up
security at home and abroad. Today’s measures are important in helping
keep the American people safe from the indiscriminate violence of
jihadists. I would like to specifically commend Rep. Katko (R-NY), Rep.
McSally (R-AZ), and Rep. Perry (R-PA) for their hard work on these
bills—and Rep. Fleischmann (R-TN) for his leadership on countering the
terrorist threat.”
While this legislation was ultimately passed by voice vote in the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic members of the committee raised concerns
that the legislation targeted Islamic terrorists while ignoring
homegrown extremists. They introduced nine amendments aimed at
explicitly including domestic terror groups, all of which were rejected —
although the final text of the legislation makes no mention of specific groups, only "violent extremists."
DHS has also expressed misgivings
with the proposal on the grounds that they lack the personnel to
effectively use testimonials. And that their use may complicate
subsequent federal investigations:
“DHS cautions
that public perception of how these testimonials are obtained could
affect... community engagement and countering violent extremism efforts —
especially with the Muslim community. Gaining and maintaining the trust
of the community is central to the success of our outreach efforts.”
Media:
Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user FreedomHouse)