Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4820) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the testimonials of former or estranged violent extremists or their associates in order to counter terrorist recruitment, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4820

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act of 2016''. SEC. 2. DIRECTIVE.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall incorporate, to the extent practicable, into Department of Homeland Security efforts to combat terrorist recruitment and communications the public testimonials of former violent extremists or their associates, including friends and family. Such efforts may include the following:

(1) Counter-messaging of foreign terrorist organization communications and narratives.

(2) Related community engagement and public education efforts.

(b) Coordination.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall, where appropriate, coordinate the efforts described in subsection (a) with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies, as appropriate, and, to the extent practicable, engage nongovernmental and international partners in the identification and use of testimonials described in such subsection.

(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to collect testimonials directly from former violent extremists or their associates, including friends and family.

I rise in strong support of the Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act of 2016. I commend Mr. Fleischmann for offering this bipartisan counterterrorism bill at a time when we are in the highest terror threat environment since 9/11.

We have more than 1,000 homegrown terror investigations in all 50 States, and we have arrested over 80 ISIS supporters in our country, many for plotting attacks.

Terrorists are radicalizing our citizens online and across borders, which is why we need this legislation. It requires that the Secretary of Homeland Security use the testimonials of former extremists and defectors to help stop terrorist recruitment.

President Obama himself--and I agree with him on this issue--argued last year: We need to lift up the voice of those who know the hypocrisy of groups like ISIS firsthand, including former extremists.

He also noted: ``Former extremists . . . can be powerful messengers in debunking these terrorist ideologies.''

Our foreign partners are already using these types of testimonials overseas. So is our State Department. But we need to be doing this counter-messaging here at home.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in front of my committee last month: My priority has been focusing on communities that I believe are most vulnerable to the appeals from ISIS, al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups overseas who are actively targeting individuals in these communities . . . This is as important as any of our other homeland security missions.

I commend Secretary Johnson for his words and his work, but we are not acting quickly enough. That is why this bill was one of the top recommendations of the bipartisan task force we created last year to look at this threat.

In their final report, the Democratic and Republican Members who led the task force said America needed to launch a concerted effort to use the testimonials of former extremists to combat terrorist propaganda.

This is from a Virginia defector. Just last month an ISIS defector from Virginia was picked up in Iraq. He said he wanted to send a message to the American people that life with ISIS was miserable and that the group did not represent Islam. These are the types of voices we need to amplify so as to keep others from making the same mistakes.

Some have argued that this bill limits the DHS in allowing it only to counter-message groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, but that is simply false. In fact, at our markup, legislative counsel told the members: ``The current language in the bill is extremely broad-based. It does not place a limitation on anything.''

Although our bipartisan task force focused on foreign terrorist threats, the bill gives the Secretary the flexibility to address the full array of dangerous groups that threaten our people both here at home and abroad. I am proud to say that the majority of Republicans and Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee support this legislation.

Terrorists are recruiting our citizens at the speed of broadband. So we can't move at the speed of bureaucracy. Today Congress has an opportunity to fight back. I urge all Members to join me in supporting this bill.

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Mr. McCAUL. I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Paris, Brussels, Chattanooga, San Bernardino. How many more?

Mr. Speaker, it is time to act, and act today on this important legislation that is bipartisan. It is important to point out--I know the ranking member has good intentions, but our bill allows DHS to combat terrorist recruitment by all dangerous organizations, as was brought out at the markup.

The President's Homeland Security adviser, Lisa Monaco, said: ``Our efforts will be the most effective when they focus on amplifying authentic voices,'' such as former violent extremists. These voices can convince others from going down the path to violence.

The President's national security adviser, Susan Rice, added that they are already amplifying the voices of ISIL defectors overseas. And she explains that ``these voices are eroding ISIL's appeal.''

This countermessaging works, and it has worked for the State Department, but we are not doing it at home. We need to do it here at home and not just overseas. That is why I urge strong support for this.

I don't understand after it being the product of a bipartisan task force with bipartisan support out of the committee, the very week that the Brussels attack occurred, we marked up this bill. Mr. Speaker, it is time to act. I urge passage of this bill.

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