Is the Obama Administration Handcuffing Our Homeland Security Apparatus?

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) wants you to learn about and remember three simple letters: C-V-E.

“CVE,” or “countering violent extremism,” on its face sounds like an excellent anti-terrorism agenda that will directly confront radical ideologies that promote violence against others. In truth, however, it is undermining those very efforts by handcuffing the FBI and other agencies responsible for keeping Americans safe.

“They don’t know what to ask when trying to discern if one has been radicalized,” Gohmert, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview with TheBlaze Wednesday. “FBI agents and current Homeland Security agents are not being allowed to understand or be taught how you can recognize someone who’s been radicalized by what they’re reading, what they’re doing, who they’re studying under, what mosques they’re attending.

“There are many factors that help discern if someone has been radicalized before they kill people, and this administration will not allow those things to be taught to our FBI, State Department, Defense Department and intelligence agencies.”

Words like “jihad,” “Muslim,” “Islam,” “caliphate,” “Muslim Brotherhood,” “al-Qaida” and “Sharia” no longer appear anywhere in the FBI counter-terrorism training manual as a result of the Obama administration’s CVE efforts. But it goes beyond law enforcement and homeland security, but has also permeated U.S. foreign policy, as well.

“The Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development are elevating and expanding our ongoing efforts to Counter Violent Extremism,” the State Department’s website explains. “In order to better support the CVE partnerships built over the past decade and to carry forth the White House CVE Summit work, the Department has released the Department of State and USAID Joint Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism. The Strategy will guide U.S. efforts to leverage the full range of diplomatic and development resources to prevent and counter the spread of violent extremism.”

Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, has been railing about the CVE efforts in the Obama administration for more than a year. In his latest book, “See No Sharia,” written with CSP Vice President Clare Lopez, he explains the perils associated with such policies and practices as America faces the growing threat of global jihad and its animating doctrine of Sharia.

“Americans expect government officials to fulfill their oaths of office by protecting the Constitution, the Republic it established and its people from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he said. “The vast majority of our public servants yearn to do their duty. Yet … for at least a decade and a half, they have been obliged to conform to policies that greatly diminish their chances for success.

“We simply cannot afford to disarm those in our first lines of defense against Islamic supremacism and its jihad—both the violent kind and the stealthy sort the Muslim Brotherhood calls ‘civilization jihad.'”

The Republican congressional leadership in Washington, led by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is not only allowing CVE to flourish—they’re voting to advance it further. The legislation would provide direct funding to groups with known terrorism ties, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the Islamic Society of North America.

The legislation, the Countering Terrorist Radicalization Act, was introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives. HR 5471, which it is known by, was immediately referred to the House Homeland Security Committee, and was fast-tracked to the schedule for a floor vote Thursday.

The bill is, in reality, three bills the House already adopted (with explanations for each from House GOP leadership):

• HR 4401 – Amplifying Local Efforts to Root out Terror Act: The ALERT Act “scales-up” U.S. government efforts to counter radicalization and terrorist recruitment nationwide by allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to better use existing fusion centers to reach out to communities. There are nearly 80 fusion centers nationwide that bring together law enforcement agencies, intelligence representatives, first responders and other state and local organizations, and these nodes can be an important point of outreach to help communities with spotting signs of radicalization and disrupting potential attacks.
• H.R. 4820– Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act: The bill requires DHS to do more to counter-message terrorist organization like ISIS that are using social media propaganda to recruit and radicalize potential operatives within our own communities. It requires DHS to use the testimonials of former extremists to fight back against terrorist recruitment. The narratives of former extremists and defectors can help prevent other individuals from being lured down the path to violence and terrorism.
• H.R. 4407 – Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act: The bill firmly establishes the Counterterrorism Advisory Board into law and ensures DHS is effectively integrating intelligence, operations, and policy to fight terrorism. The CTAB is the central counterterrorism decision making body at DHS and sets the procedures for issuing terrorism alerts. The legislation ensures that the CTAB keeps pace with today’s evolving threats, outlines its core duties, requires the Secretary to appoint a DHS-wide Coordinator for Counterterrorism to oversee the board, and puts the CTAB on a strong footing for the future.

“Our city streets have become the front lines in the war against radical Islamist terror,” House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a joint statement about the bill. “To honor the memory of the victims in Orlando, we must rededicate ourselves to preventing terrorists from gaining a foothold in our communities. …

“Make no mistake, after this latest attack in our homeland, our resolve is strengthened and we are more determined than ever to take the fight to the enemy, no matter where they emerge.”

But the CVE efforts launched so far, which the bill is meant to greatly expand, seem to be better aligned with United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, also known as the “Istanbul Process,” which on its face sounds like a measure meant to promote religious liberty and freedom around the world. In reality, however, it’s meant to advance “anti-blasphemy” laws on behalf of Islamic nations.

This is a movement Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Hillary Clinton has fully endorsed since the adoption of HRC 16/18 in 2011.