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Worldwide Threats to the Homeland

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Worldwide Threats to the Homeland WORLDWIDE THREATS TO THE HOMELAND HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 Serial No. 113–85 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 93–367 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas, Chairman LAMAR SMITH, Texas BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi PETER T. KING, New York LORETTA SANCHEZ, California MIKE ROGERS, Alabama SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan, Vice Chair BRIAN HIGGINS, New York PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania RON BARBER, Arizona JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah DONDALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi BETO O’ROURKE, Texas LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania FILEMON VELA, Texas RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina ERIC SWALWELL, California STEVE DAINES, Montana VACANCY SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana VACANCY SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania MARK SANFORD, South Carolina CURTIS CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN P. SHIELDS, Staff Director JOAN O’HARA, Acting Chief Counsel MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk I. LANIER AVANT, Minority Staff Director (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Michael T. McCaul, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 1 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 3 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 4 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 6 WITNESSES Hon. Jeh C. Johnson, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 8 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 9 Mr. James B. Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Depart- ment of Justice: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 11 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 12 Mr. Matthew G. Olsen, Director, National Counterterrorism Center: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 15 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 17 FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas: ‘‘State of Confusion: ISIS’ Strategy and How to Counter It’’, Brookings, Foreign Affairs, Opinion/September 11, 2014, By: William McCants .......... 33 H.R. 548 ................................................................................................................ 35 APPENDIX Questions From Honorable Paul C. Broun for Jeh C. Johnson ........................... 63 Questions From Honorable Ron Barber for Jeh C. Johnson ................................ 65 Question From Honorable Donald M. Payne for Jeh C. Johnson ........................ 66 Questions From Honorable Paul C. Broun for James B. Comey ......................... 67 Questions From Honorable Paul C. Broun for Matthew G. Olsen ...................... 67 Question From Honorable Susan W. Brooks for Matthew G. Olsen ................... 68 (III) WORLDWIDE THREATS TO THE HOMELAND Wednesday, September 17, 2014 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:08 a.m., in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Michael T. McCaul [Chairman of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives McCaul, King, Rogers, Broun, Meehan, Duncan, Chaffetz, Palazzo, Barletta, Daines, Perry, Sanford, Claw- son, Thompson, Jackson Lee, Clarke, Higgins, Richmond, Keating, Barber, Payne, O’Rourke, Vela, and Swalwell. Chairman MCCAUL. The Committee on Homeland Security will come to order. The committee is meeting today to examine world-wide threats to the security of the homeland of the United States. Before we begin today, I would like to remind our guests that demonstrations from the audience, including the use of signs, placards, T-shirts, as well as verbal outbursts, are a violation of the rules of the House. I would like to thank our guests for their cooperation in maintain- ing order and decorum during today’s hearing. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Secretary Johnson, Director Comey, Director Olsen, we have asked you to come before the committee today to discuss the array of threats facing the U.S. homeland and the Government’s re- sponse. The chief concern of ours is the proliferation of terrorist safe havens around the world. The 9/11 commission’s No. 1 rec- ommendation was to use all elements of National power to deny sanctuary to terrorist groups. Yet we have seen safe havens spread with alarming speed in recent years. Such territory makes it far easier for terrorist groups to train re- cruits and hatch plots against the West. During this administra- tion, no less than three extremist sanctuaries have emerged or ex- panded in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. In Afghanistan, if the adminis- tration goes forward with the plan to withdraw our troops like they did in Iraq, we might see terrorists reclaiming the territory from which they planned 9/11. Our obvious and most immediate concern is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. I agree with the President that this group does not represent a legitimate state, but it is, rather, a cabal of butchers peddling a violent and perverted brand of Islam. However, it should never have been taken—taken the beheading of two Americans for our Government—it should never have taken that to wake up the American people to this menace. (1) 2 We have known for many months that ISIS was surging and rep- resented the top threat to the United States. But the White House dithered without taking action and the President played down the danger. Despite recent U.S. strikes against the group, ISIS still holds onto thousands of square miles of territory where they are able to operate their terrorist army. Recent estimates indicate that they may have up to 30,000 fighters, of which 2,000 or so are Americans and Europeans. These radicalized Westerners represent an exceptionally grave threat to the U.S. homeland because of their militant training, ex- tremist connections, ease of travel, and intimate knowledge of the West. Today, we expect to hear about the administration’s strategy to detect, deter, and disrupt the return of these foreign fighters to the U.S. territory and that of our allies. Let us be clear, our Nation is at war with this group and the twisted ideology it is seeking to spread. We must consider all instruments of National power to roll back and defeat these fanatics now and destroy them wherever they emerge. For if we do not take the fight to the enemy overseas, we risk having to fight them here at home. Our military efforts must include airstrikes in Syria to cut off the head of the snake. Top military advisers to the President, including the chairman of the joint chiefs, General Martin Dempsey, have said that to defeat ISIS, its safe haven in Syria must be destroyed. I agree with him. I hope the President is taking the advice of his top commanders and generals in the Pentagon. But ISIS is not the only threat we face. I hope we hear today how your agencies are working together to address the wider dan- ger from violent Islamist extremism here at home and abroad. The White House has presented a false narrative in recent years about this threat, claiming, for instance, that al-Qaeda was on its heels, on the path to defeat, has been decimated, while in reality, al- Qaeda network has grown and materialized into a deadly global franchise with a spider web of affiliates and ideologically-similar groups attempting to fill the power vacuums across the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The ideological struggle against violent Islamist extremists is taking place not just overseas, but also here at home. There have been more than 70 home-grown violent Jihadist plots or attacks in the United States since 9/11, according to the Congressional Re- search Service. More than two-thirds of them have been uncovered or have taken place in only the past 5 years. Many of the suspects were radicalized, at least in part, by on-line Islamist propaganda, including the Boston Marathon bombers and the Fort Hood attacker, a tool ISIS excels at and utilizes. Additionally, Federal authorities indicted—just yesterday, in- dicted a U.S. citizen from Rochester for raising money, recruiting, and facilitating training
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