The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved by voice vote a bill aimed at increasing the importance within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of countering violent extremism (CVE) in the United States.
The Countering Violent Extremism Act of 2015 (H.R. 2899), which is sponsored by committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), authorizes $10 million in annual funding between FY ’16 and FY ‘20 to help DHS ramp up its efforts prevent Americans from becoming radicalized and recruited by terrorists and also creates a new office for that purpose. The Office for Countering Violent Extremism would be headed by an assistant secretary with a deputy assistant secretary created as a career position.
The bill would also require DHS to appoint within its various components and other key offices an individual to serve as liaison to the CVE office.
“In the face of mounting threats, our government is doing far too little to counter violent extremis here in the United States,” McCaul said in a statement. “Whether it is the long reach of international terrorists into our communities or the homegrown hate spread by domestic extremist groups, we are ill-equipped to prevent Americans from being recruited by dangerous fanatics.”
Photo: U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member on the committee, said in his opening remarks the markup of the bill was premature because the panel should first review the DHS CVE strategy, which he added is “long-overdue.” He said DHS last week did provide the committee an off-the record briefing on the matter.
However, late in the markup and after several recess periods to break for votes, McCaul said he and Thompson agreed to work together to make that the bill that comes to the floor has bipartisan support. McCaul said the bill isn’t just aimed at radical Islamists but any form of violent extremism such as where African Americans are “executed” in a church, referring to the recent murders of nine African Americans by a white supremacist in South Carolina.
The bill also calls for the establishment of a counter-messaging program using the Internet, social media and other technologies to thwart the methods used by violent extremists to spread their propaganda “to communities at risk for radicalization and recruitment.”