Identifying the Enemy: Radical Islamist Terror Hearing

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Identifying the Enemy: Radical Islamist Terror Hearing IDENTIFYING THE ENEMY: RADICAL ISLAMIST TERROR HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 Serial No. 114–88 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 25–270 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 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 VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:11 Jul 10, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\114THCONGRESS\16OM0922\16OM0922.TXT HEATH Congress.#13 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 CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan, Vice Chair JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina BRIAN HIGGINS, New York TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania DONALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey CURT CLAWSON, Florida FILEMON VELA, Texas JOHN KATKO, New York BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey WILL HURD, Texas KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia NORMA J. TORRES, California MARK WALKER, North Carolina BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York BRENDAN P. SHIELDS, Staff Director JOAN V. O’HARA, General Counsel MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk I. LANIER AVANT, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania, Chairman JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey CURT CLAWSON, Florida CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana EARL L. ‘‘BUDDY’’ CARTER, Georgia NORMA J. TORRES, California BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi (ex officio) MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas (ex officio) RYAN CONSAUL, Subcommittee Staff Director KRIS CARLSON, Subcommittee Clerk CEDRIC C. HAYNES, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:11 Jul 10, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\114THCONGRESS\16OM0922\16OM0922.TXT HEATH C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Scott Perry, a Representative in Congress From the State of Pennsylvania, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Manage- ment Efficiency ..................................................................................................... 1 The Honorable Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Representative in Congress From the State of New Jersey, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 8 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 9 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 10 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 12 WITNESSES PANEL I Mr. George Selim, Director, Office of Community Partnerships, U.S. Depart- ment of Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 13 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 15 PANEL II Hon. Peter Hoekstra, Former Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 39 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 41 Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, President, American Islamic Forum for Democracy: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 45 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 47 Ms. Sahar F. Aziz, Professor of Law, Texas A&M University School of Law: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 62 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 64 Ms. Shireen Qudosi, Senior Contributor, Counterjihad.com: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 78 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 80 FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Scott Perry, a Representative in Congress From the State of Pennsylvania, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Manage- ment Efficiency: Article, Washington Post ..................................................................................... 3 Article, Middle East Briefing .............................................................................. 4 Article, Middle East Briefing .............................................................................. 6 Article, Gulf News Report .................................................................................... 7 APPENDIX Questions From Honorable Barry Loudermilk for George Selim ........................ 101 (III) VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:11 Jul 10, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\114THCONGRESS\16OM0922\16OM0922.TXT HEATH VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:11 Jul 10, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\114THCONGRESS\16OM0922\16OM0922.TXT HEATH IDENTIFYING THE ENEMY: RADICAL ISLAMIST TERROR Thursday, September 22, 2016 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:08 a.m., in room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Scott Perry (Chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Perry, Duncan, Clawson, Loudermilk, Watson Coleman, Thompson, Torres, and Jackson Lee. Also present: Representatives Meadows, Pascrell, and Ellison. Mr. PERRY. Good morning. The Committee on Homeland Secu- rity’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency will come to order. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the threat of radical Islamist terrorism and ways to defeat it. The Chair now recognizes himself for an opening statement. From Muhammed Abdulazeez in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nidal Hasan in Fort Hood, Texas to Syed Farook in San Bernardino, California, radical Islamist terrorism is becoming more and more frequent and devastating. According to the Committee on Home- land Security’s September 2016 terror threat snapshot, since 2014 there have been 105 ISIS-linked plots to attack the West, 30 of those in the United States. In 2016 alone, 214 people have been murdered in terrorist at- tacks against the West and just a few months ago, the deadliest post-9/11 terror attack on American soil occurred when Islamist terrorist Omar Mateen massacred 49 innocent people in an Or- lando nightclub. Unfortunately, the Obama administration is more focused on being politically correct in its terminology than actually confronting this growing cancer, evidenced by, among other things, the unnec- essary censorship of Omar Mateen’s 9/11 call transcript. In a joint statement with the FBI, the Department of Justice said, the purpose of releasing the redacted transcript was not want- ing to provide the killer or terrorist organizations with a publicity platform for hateful propaganda, while still providing transparency. Omitting Omar Mateen’s pledge of allegiance to ISIS is one of many examples of the willful ignorance of this administration in confronting the threat of radical Islamist terror. If anyone sincerely questions the assertion, you have to look no further than 4 days ago when in response to the Islamist extremist (1) VerDate Mar 15 2010 07:11 Jul 10, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\114THCONGRESS\16OM0922\16OM0922.TXT HEATH 2 attacks in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest, said when it comes to ISIL, and this is in quotes—‘‘We are in a fight, a narrative fight with them, a nar- rative battle,’’ That is great. We fight with feckless terms and they slaughter our citizens. While the administration says it refrains from using certain terms so as not to condemn an entire religion, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has said, ‘‘It is extraordinary that the po- litical correctness of Western elites has discouraged the study of what inspires those who dream of slaughtering us. We must under- stand the deep roots of Islamist beliefs if we are going to combat them. It is long past time to stop hiding behind the facade of polit- ical correctness.’’ ‘‘Radical Islamist terrorists are the ones who threaten our free- doms and threaten our way of life, not the millions of Muslims who value peace with their American brothers and sisters. It is well- documented that these terrorists
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