“Terrorists don’t target Democrats or Republicans. They target Americans, and this is why we must face this issue as Americans. Members of Congress and the American public must know the threats we face from radical jihadist terrorists.”
—Rep. Myrick’s statement when announcing the
new bipartisan Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus in January 2007
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) is a leader on Capitol Hill in educating legislators and the public about dangers of radical Islam. In 2007, she founded the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Caucus, which studies vital issues like terrorists’ use of the Internet, terrorist financing, and jihadist history and ideology.
The caucus, which now has over 120 members, held a public hearing in September 2010, in which moderate Muslims warned that the U.S. government is making a profound error by engaging with radical Islamists.
“We ran away from Political Islam in Iran, but it has followed us…CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) has created this image that all 3 million Muslims in America are the same and CAIR represents them…which is not true,” said Manda Ervin, who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution.
Other American Muslims who testified included Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Hedieh Mirahmadi, president of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE); Shadi Osier, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of America; and Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a critic of the Ground Zero mosque.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism notes what was so unusual about these participants: “This diverse group of speakers shared one main thing: All were non-Islamist Muslims who are usually ignored by Congress, the executive branch and the mainstream media.
“None was involved with Islamist groups linked to Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood; none was an unindicted co-conspirator in terror-finance cases; and none is an apologist for radical Islam.
“Nor do any of them receive federal contracts, get special briefings from Cabinet agencies about federal efforts to ‘fight’ radicalization, or get invited to official dinners at the White House and government agencies. None have an entrenched coterie of congressional supporters like MPAC or CAIR.” (Source)
Rep. Myrick has developed a Congressional
agenda she’s named Wake Up America, which you can read below. (Source).
Wake Up America 2.0 — Background
The “Wake Up America” 2.0 Agenda is an updated and expanded version of Rep. Sue Myrick’s original Wake Up America Agenda introduced in 2008.This agenda seeks to build upon her national security and counter-terrorism work over the past several years in Congress, as well as her new work on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.Through this agenda, Rep. Myrick seeks to create Congression-al counter-terrorism priorities to better address and combat radical Islamists and self-proclaimed jihadists who threaten our country with violence and through more subtle infiltration techniques. The hope is that this agenda will educate and “wake up” Americans to the threats posed to their national security and liberties so that they can act to counter the threats.
Potential action on this agenda include, but are not limited to, Congressional letters, inquiries, hearings, legislation, investigations, public speeches, newspaper opinion editorials, conferences, and the like. We encourage you to come back to this site often as agenda items below will be updated to show progress and action items will be given so you can help move this agenda forward. We also encourage you to subscribe to Rep. Myrick’s Anti-Terrorism eNewsletter, an e-mail newsletter to alert subscribers when this webpage is updated, as well as inform them about other national security issues before Congress.
“ Wake Up America” 2.0 — Agenda Areas
1. Domestic Counter Terrorism
2. Countering Radical Islamist Financing
3. Countering Radical Islamist “Lawfare”
4. Education to Help Counter Radical Islamists
5. Strategic Assets Abroad
“ Wake Up America” 2.0 Agenda
Area 1. Domestic Counter Terrorism
1. Preventing Terrorists’ Access to American Shores
Visa Waiver Program Security : We will review the visa waiver program in order to determine how we can enact stricter background checks to ensure visitors using the program to gain entrance into the U.S. are not radicalized and are not a terror threat. We will make policy recommendations and will draft legislation if needed.
Political Asylum and Refugee Security : We will review reports and decisions by the U.S. government regarding political asylum and allowing refugees to relocate to the U.S. and see how they match up with terrorism experts’ opinions to determine if more stringent parameters are needed to be used by immigration services, courts, and the Department of State when allowing refugees, or those seeking political asylum, to come to the U.S. from areas with high levels of terrorist activity or that are hostile to the U.S.
Border and Port Security: We will continue to review US government reports and ask the Department of Homeland Security questions on the status ofU.S. borders to note who is trying to cross into the U.S., where they are from, and how effective our border security is at keeping them out. We will continue to support more border agents, fencing, and technology to provide more border security. We will also support additional port security measures, including new technology that will allow security personnel to better note what is coming into our ports. We will push for the enactment of appropriate policies or draft legislationto fix any issues that arise.
2. Preventing Domestic Radicalization, Infiltration, and Acts of Terror
Prison Radicalization: We will work on ways to educate state and local prison officials on how to identify and counter violent Islamic radicalization occurring in state and local prisons.This could possibly include a training program, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as encourage grassroots efforts to push state and local governments to adopt stricter regulations and policies to address prison radicalization issues.
Local Terrorism Detection and Response Training: We will support efforts to train local officials to detect and report activities or materials related to terrorist activities. We will also suggest and support ways to help local officials improve information sharing among themselves and federal agencies.
Institutions/Agency Infiltration: We will review reports from the U.S. government and experts in the field on attempts to infiltrate various institutions and agencies within the U.S. government by radical Islamists and self-proclaimed Jihadi networks. Previous cases of infiltration uncovered include penetration of military and national security institutions. We will continue to speak out and investigate government agencies we feel are being infiltrated. We will seek to tighten hiring policies where needed.
Area 2. Countering Radical Islamist Financing
On November 24, 2008, leaders of the Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim charity front group, were convicted of providing more than $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. During this federal trial, U.S. Attorneys also named the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as an unindicted co-conspirator for their connections to the Holy Land Foundation and Hamas. In addition, at trial, FBI agents testified that CAIR was tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and was in fact set up by the Muslim Brotherhood to help spread their Islamist message. Due to these facts, as well as the FBI recently cutting off ties with CAIR, we will work to expose CAIR’s ties to terrorist groups and ask all U.S. agencies to cut ties with them. We will also work to investigate any claims that CAIR is breaking the law or is supporting terrorism, and push for action should the claims be true.
SWF Transparency: We will continue to monitor Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) investment in the U.S. We will encourage SWFs to abide by the new IMF Santiago Principles of Transparency to which they agreed; however, if they should not, we will enact policy to increase transparency regulations on investments in the U.S. Should the Department of Treasury or CIFUS require mechanisms to better monitor SWFs, we will work with them to provide the necessary mechanisms.
Shariah Finance Transparency: We will work to help draft transparency and disclosure legislation regarding “Shariah Financing” to ensure Islamists are not using Zakat to finance terrorist groups, as well as spread their radical ideology.
Foreign Influence Funds in our Education System: We will request a Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit of all foreign funds over $10,000 given to colleges and universities. This will allow us to analyze if there is undue Wahabi-ideology influence in American higher education, especially in our Middle East programs. Based on GAO findings, we will enact policy to prevent the spread of Wahabi ideology in our higher education system.
Area 3: Countering Radical Islamist “Lawfare”*
*(Term refers to radical Islamists and their apologists abuse of the judicial system to shut down criticism of their radical ideology.)
Protecting First Responders: We willintroduce legislation intended to prevent frivolous lawsuits against first responders who engage in lawful efforts to prevent acts of terrorism. Many radical Islamistgroups try to sue our first responders in an effort to intimidate them from carrying out their duties.
Libel Tourism: We will work to enact the Free Speech Protection Act, which would put an end to “libel tourism,” the practice of filing libel suits against U.S. citizens in foreign countries with weaker free-speech protections. The Free Speech Protection Act would prohibit U.S. courts from enforcing libel judgments issued in foreign courts against U.S. residents. It would also allow American authors and publishers to countersue if their speech or written material is protected by the First Amendment.
OIC Defamation of Religion: We will continue to fight against the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) push to pass resolutions and laws criminalizing the debate or questioning of Islam. Every religion in the world is subject to debate and scrutiny under the ideal of freedom of speech; Islam should have no special protections as it is the only specific religion they list in their resolutions and laws. No one who questions or scrutinizes a religion should be thrown in jail or killed.
Area 4: Education to Help Counter Radical Islamists
Public Education: We will support programs and seminars across the country from reputable organizations to help educate citizenswilling to learn about the ideology, goals, and objectives of radical Islamists and self-proclaimed jihadist groups.
Public Media: We will send national media a contact list of moderate American Muslims they should use for interviews and background information, so they can obtain a moderate Muslim prospective rather than the radical Islamists like CAIR, who support terrorists (noted as such by the FBI) that they now use.
Government :
• We willwork to educate Members of Congress, federal agencies, and the Obama Administration about Islamist lobby groups such as CAIR and their goals and objectives, and point out theirconnections to terrorist organizations like Hamas;
• We will educate Members of Congress aboutthe attempts by theselobby groupsto get a foothold into Congress and the U.S. government in order to spread their ideology and enact policy that benefits radical Islamists;
• We will introduce Members of Congress, and U.S. government agencies, to moderate activists and human rights workers within the Muslim community with whom they can work, and listen to their opinions about what the Muslim community really believes, rather than Islamists;
• We will work toeducate President Obama and his Administration about Islamist networks such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and ask President Obama and members of his Administration to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization;
• We will work to educate federal, state, and local government officials about the dangers of Shariah Finance and its ties to terror financing;
• We will work to help Members of Congress obtain a deeper understanding of how terrorists use the Internet and technology to recruit, train, plan, and possibly conduct terrorist acts so they can see how future engagements may be impacted by cyber warfare and technology.
Area 5: Strategic Assets Abroad
Strategic Communication Restructuring:
• We will review U.S. taxpayer-funded foreign broadcasters, specifically in the Middle East and Africa, to see what message they are broadcasting, as well as judge if they are allowing local human rights advocates, reformers, and leaders of democracy movements the ability to address audiences. There are fears that some public broadcasters are promoting Wahabi or hate-filled ideologies. If so, we will work to stop funding for those broadcasters and shut them down, or enact a change in leadership to restore the broadcast of the proper messages and to ensure reformists have a voice.
• We will also work to improve U.S. government strategic communications to ensure there is a consistent message that works to support human rights advocates and reformists in the Middle East.
Empowering and Supporting Reformists: We will work with global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to locate Muslim reformists, human right activists, and leaders of democratic movements in the Middle East. We will support their efforts by using our voices to empower them and illuminate their stories and magnify their message to help them combat radical Islamists and self-proclaimed jihadists.
Trans Atlantic Legislative Group (TAG): We will continue to work with our European legislative counterparts by a having series of meetings, sharing information, and exchanging best practices to deal with Islamists. Our group is the start of a new organization that seeks to bring North America and Europe together in the fight against radical Islamists, much like NATO was formed in response to the Cold War.