Using this hypothetical as a starting point, we will go through the USA PATRIOT Act and explore the new governmental powers that could be brought to bear on Vieques Island protesters whose conduct falls within the overbroad definition of domestic terrorism. Seizure of assets - Sec. It is by far the most significant change of which political organizations need to be aware.
Section amended the civil asset forfeiture statute to authorize the government to seize and forfeit: all assets, foreign or domestic i of any individual, entity, or organization engaged in planning or perpetrating any act of domestic or international terrorism against the United States, or their property, and all assets, foreign or domestic, affording any person a source of influence over any such entity or organization or ii acquired or maintained by any person with the intent and for the purpose of supporting, planning, conducting, or concealing an act of domestic or international terrorism against the United States, citizens or residents of the United States or their property or iii derived from, involved in, or used or intended to be used to commit any act of domestic or international terrorism against the United States, citizens or residents of the United States, or their property.
This language is broad enough to authorize the government to seize any assets of any individuals involved in the Vieques Island protests or of any organization supporting the protests of which the person is a member, or from any individuals who were supporting the protesters in any way.
Sharpton's National Action Network, and religious or community organizations that provided housing or food to the protesters. The civil asset forfeiture power of the United States government is awesome. The assets are seized before a person is given a hearing, and often without notice.
In order to permanently forfeit the assets, the government must go before a court, but at a civil hearing, and the government is only required to prove that the assets were involved in terrorism by a preponderance of the evidence. Because it is a civil proceeding, a person is not entitled to be represented by an attorney at public expense if they cannot afford to pay an attorney.
The time between seizure and forfeiture can sometimes be months; meanwhile, organizations or individuals whose assets are seized are forced to make do without the assets. Only the most financially flush non-profit organizations would be able to successfully defend themselves against government forfeiture. The Department of Justice has no higher priority. It is clear that American citizens are the target of choice of international terrorists. Americans comprise only about 5 percent of the world's population.
However, according to State Department statistics, during the decade of the 's, 36 percent of all worldwide terrorist acts were directed against U. Although most of these attacks occurred overseas, international terrorists have shown themselves willing to reach within our borders to carry out their cowardly acts. Further, the risk of terrorism within our borders does not result solely from persons of foreign origin. The bombing of the Murrah Building is a tragic example of the fact that we must also be alert to acts of terrorism perpetrated by disaffected citizens.
The Department of Justice is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of terrorist acts that violate U. It has been involved in responding to overseas terrorist acts against U.
While we continue to make adjustments designed to improve our law enforcement response and to prepare for the challenges presented by the evolving nature of terrorist activity, the fact is that the Department's enforcement program related to terrorism is one which has had an opportunity to be fine tuned through experience. In contrast, the Department's involvement in consequence management preparations is fairly new.
In that area, as well, we have made significant progress. Let me state at the outset that a fully effective program to combat terrorism requires integration of the capabilities of a wide array of government agencies.
As relates to terrorist acts directed against U. Within our borders, the Department's counterterrorism efforts require close coordination not only with other federal agencies but also with state and local agencies. Simply put, no one agency can effectively address terrorism on its own. Pulling together, however, we can make great strides at protecting our nation and its citizens from terrorists.
Coordination of U. It is a highly effective instrument in facilitating coordination among the pertinent federal agencies with counterterrorism responsibilities.
Interagency efforts to combat terrorism both within the U. The Five-Year Plan represents our coordinated and comprehensive national strategy for our continuing fight against terrorism. Further, in discharging its responsibilities relating to terrorist activity within the United States, the FBI operates 29 Joint Terrorism Task Forces strategically located throughout the United States, which bring together representatives of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to address terrorism issues.
The Department's counterterrorism efforts also include coordination with other agencies to protect our critical information infrastructure. We coordinate with these groups and their subgroups on both prevention and incident response, as appropriate.
These efforts - including the creation and updating of the National Plan for Information Systems Protection which is coordinated by CIAO - aim to prevent cyberterrorism before it occurs and to ensure an appropriate response. At the international level, the Department is also involved, under the leadership of the State Department, in counterterrorism coordination with other governments on a number of levels.
For example, the Department represents U. The Department has also played a key role in developing and negotiating United Nations conventions relating to terrorist bombings and terrorist fund raising, both of which have been signed by the United States. It goes without saying that the paramount objective of U. This requires both intelligence and investigative capabilities working together to detect and react effectively to incipient terrorist threats.
By making effective use of intelligence information, we seek to involve the FBI in the investigation of terrorist plots as early in the chain of conspiratorial events as possible.
In this way, the terrorist plot can not only be disrupted but the conspirators can also be apprehended, preventing them from recycling their terrorist plans for use at some unknown future time and place. This objective - preventing terrorist acts before they occur - requires the collection and effective use of foreign intelligence and foreign counterintelligence to detect and to react to terrorist threats before they occur. The Department of Justice supports the collection efforts of U.
To enable effective use of the intelligence collected on terrorists under FISA and the Executive Order, the Attorney General also approves the passage of such intelligence to authorities in a position to prevent the planning, movement, or other actions of terrorists. Let me describe for you some of our successes in preventing terrorism. Withdrawn Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress within days following enactment on DOD's capacity to provide disaster victims and survivors with emergency short-term housing.
Withdrawn Directs Secretary to submit to Congress within days a report on the recognition of African Americans who have served in the Armed Forces in DOD naming practices and conventions for military installations, infrastructure, vessels, and weapon systems.
Withdrawn Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress within days the actions taken to protect U. Withdrawn Authorizes continued support of the National Guard in assisting with COVID testing conducted in locations around the nation until no longer deemed necessary by local, state and federal public health authorities. Withdrawn Directs Secretary of Defense to report to Congress within days the results of its evaluation as to the nature and extent of the threat to national security posed by domestic terror and domestic terrorist groups.
Garamendi CA. Imposes temporary limits on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and requires various reports and actions related to the death of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Chabot OH. Replaces the congressional publication entitled United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, commonly known as the Plum Book, with an online public directory and requires the Office of Personnel Management OPM to publish the information contained in the Plum Book on a public website in a format that is easily searchable and that otherwise meets certain data standards.
Establishes a federal grant program to help states create and implement a Seal of Biliteracy program that encourages and recognizes high school students who achieve proficiency in both English and at least one other language.
Revises the reporting requirement for the VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to make the report annual instead of every other year. Sherman CA. Prevents the use of funds by the Department of Defense in contravention of the War Powers Resolution.
Revised Expresses the sense of Congress that the US should work with the government of Iraq to achieve the voluntary and safe return of ethno-religious minorities to the Nineveh Plains region of Iraq. Corrects a longstanding drafting error and clarify that D. Corrects service commitment disparities in higher education programs for service members by implementing a five-year cap on such commitments. Griffith VA.
Revised Directs the National Academies to study the feasibility of providing enhanced research security services to further protect the United States research enterprise against foreign interference, theft, and espionage. Revised Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to conduct a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of software, emerging technologies, and methodologies to track real-time emissions from installations and installation assets.
Expresses the Sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should be nonpartisan. Standardizes the construction of sectional barges for Department of Defense use on rivers and waterways to specifications set by the American Bureau of Shipping.
Requires the Commission on Afghanistan to include in its report all advice or counsel provided to the President by DoD personnel or other relevant Administration advisors on the withdrawal of Armed Forces from Afghanistan.
Withdrawn Requires Secretary of Defense to report to Congress programs and procedures employed to ensure students studying abroad through Department of Defense National Security Education Programs are trained to recognize, resist, and report against recruitment efforts by agents of foreign governments.
Withdrawn Requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on Maternity Mortality Rates for military members and their dependents. Withdrawn Requires a report to be submitted to Congress within days on the risks posed by debris in low earth orbit and to make recommendations on remediation of risks and outline plans to reduce the incident of space debris. Revised Strikes sections b , d , and g of Section , language redefining the purpose of the selective service and expanding the draft to women.
Withdrawn Directs the Secretary of Defense to promulgate regulations to ensure that candidates granted admission to attend a military academy undergo screening for speech disorders and be provided the results of the screening test and a list of warfare unrestricted line URL Officer positions and occupation specialists that require successful performance on the speech test.
Revised Requests a Department of Defense report on the obligation and expenditure of funds that were authorized to be appropriated for Overseas Contingency Operations for Fiscal Year and Fiscal Year Schrader OR. Withdrawn Limits U. Expands a limited exemption for service members who are involuntarily recalled to active duty and suffer total disability from repaying funds to both VSI and VSP.
Payne, Jr. NJ , Brown MD. Prevents any veteran convicted of a felony related to the January 6 insurrection from receiving veteran funerary honors. Revised Requires Americans to register with the State Department when visiting a war zone.
States that no Federal funds may be obligated or expended to provide any United States military or security assistance or cooperation to the defense or security forces of the Government of Azerbaijan. Prohibits federal funds from being used to establish the position of Chief Diversity Officers or Senior Advisors for Diversity and Inclusion. Requires a report and clarification on U.
Revised Requires the suspension of U. Withdrawn Requires that all contractors and subcontractors for military construction MilCon projects be licensed in the state where the work is to be performed. Expands SCRA protections to a servicemember who receives military orders for a PCS, enters into a telecommunications contract, then receives a stop movement order from DoD in response to a local, national, or global emergency for a period of not less than 30 days which prevents them from using the contract.
Levin, Mike CA. Omar MN. Revised Requires reporting on recent security assistance programs to Mali, Guinea, and Chad. Revised Adds requirement that the final report of the Commission on Afghanistan created by Section includes an assessment of the impact of civilian harm and human rights violations, including civilian casualties from airstrikes, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and the use of torture.
Revised Supports the deployment of stormwater management infrastructure on and around military installations to enhance installation resilience and conserve stormwater-stressed ecosystems. Encourages the Navy to explore and solicit more artificial reefing opportunities for retired Navy ships. Revised Makes members of the National Guard and Reserves eligible for independent student status for the purpose of federal financial assistance for higher education.
Tlaib MI. Adds a requirement that individuals in charge of oversight of privatized military housing be evaluated on their performance addressing instances and concerns about housing discrimination. Clarifies that religious diversity should be taken into account when selecting members to serve on courts-martial.
Clarifies that surveys on diversity, equity and inclusion and annual reports on sexual assaults and racial and ethnic demographics in the military justice system must address islamophobia. Adds a prohibition on the use of funds to provide section security assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in light of the dire human rights situations in the three countries.
Bergman MI. Requires the Secretary of State to make a determination regarding whether WeChat, or any component thereof, or any entity owned or controlled by WeChat, or TikTok, or any component thereof, or any entity owned or controlled by TikTok, satisfies the criteria for the application of sanctions pursuant to Executive Order Zeldin NY.
Revised Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit a strategy to Congress on strengthening cooperation with U. Revised Directs the Secretary of Defense to execute an investigation to determine if the procurement of optical transmission equipment or services manufactures, produced, or distributed by an entity owned, controlled, or supported by the People's Republic of China.
Lynch MA. Reauthorizes the independent and bipartisan Wartime Contracting Commission to conduct oversight of U. Lucas OK. Newman IL. Directs the Department of Defense to conduct a study on herbicide agent exposure, such as Agent Orange and Agent Purple in the Panama Canal Zone between January 1, — December 31, , or the day in which a member of armed services departed from official duty in the Panama Canal Zone. Crawford AR. Requires the involvement of accredited service officers from military and veteran service organizations in the Transition Assistance Program.
Establishes a nondiscrimination policy that eligibility for service in the Armed Forces may not include criteria relating to the race, color, national origin, religion, or sex including gender identity or sexual orientation of an individual.
Clarifies that, under the new standalone offense of sexual harassment Article d for the Uniform Code of Military Justice, conduct that constitutes an intimidating, hostile, or offensive duty or working environment shall be determined based on the record as a whole, according to the totality of the circumstances, and that a single incident may be sufficient to meet such standard.
Prohibits the transfer of United States security assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan. Davidson OH. Stanton AZ. Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to investigate and submit a report to Congress on the assessment, planning, and presentation of Afghanistan withdrawal options by defense and intelligence personnel to the President.
Van Drew NJ. Amend titles 36 and 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out actions for certain surviving family members of veterans deceased as the result of suicide and creating counseling programs through the VA for said families.
Foster IL. Requires an independent study on the impacts of long-range missile defense development and deployment on the security of the United States. Revised Directs the Secretary of State to submit a plan to Congress for vetting foreign security assistance participants for participation in groups that have a violent ideology.
Palazzo MS. Prohibits the naming of any naval ship after a member of Congress House or Senate unless such member of Congress served in the military or as President. Inserts the text of H. Prohibits the Secretary of Defense from providing or paying for surgical treatment related to gender transition.
Clark, Katherine MA. Adds the President, Vice President, and any Cabinet member to the current statutory prohibition on Members of Congress contracting with the federal government. Prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from providing or paying for surgical treatment related to gender transition.
Prohibits the VA from using the fact that a veteran's income derives from a State legalized marijuana industry as a factor in determining whether to issue a VA home loan. Revised Ensures that whistleblower protections apply to all federal coronavirus relief programs. Expresses a sense of Congress about the importance of the U. Instructs U.
Biggs AZ. Requires the Department of Defense to perform an audit. Exempts members of the U. Tasks the Small Business Administration with maintaining a resource guide for small businesses operating as child care providers that includes guidance on topics such as operations, finances, and compliance with relevant laws.
Requires The President, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, to submit to Congress a report on any agreements or other formal or informal arrangements made by the United States with the Taliban. Withholds U. Revised Requires a report from the Secretary of Defense, in collaboration with the Secretary of State, addressing allegations that some units of foreign countries that have participated in security cooperation programs under section of title 10, U.
Carbajal CA. Revised Requires the Chief of Space Operations to consider commercial launch when completing the requested range infrastructure report. Instructs the Department of Defense to provide an analysis of the cost of implementing next generation cryptography across the DOD through a report on the resources necessary to fully fund the Information Systems Security Program ISSP in order to address cybersecurity requirements.
Revised Establishes the foreign policy of the United States to work with state and non-state partners to shut down certain commercial wildlife markets, end the trade in terrestrial wildlife for human consumption, and build international coalitions to reduce the demand for wildlife as food, to prevent the emergence of future zoonotic pathogens. Requires GAO to conduct an assessment of the quality and nutrition of food available at military installations for members of the Armed Forces.
Requires the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to submit an annual report to Congress on the number of sexual assault cases involving members of the Army and Air National Guard. Restores equality within the Military Draft by by repealing the Military Selective Service Act including penalties associated with it. Revised Amends Sec. Places 2-year sunsets on all future military authorizations and reauthorizations.
Trahan MA. Revised Requires the National Space Council to submit a report that includes an assessment of the risks space debris orbiting the Earth imposes on night sky luminance, collision risk, radio interference, astronomical data loss by satellite streaks, and other potential factors relevant to space exploration, research, and national security.
Revised Increases the governmentwide goals for small business participation in federal contracts and for certain small business concerns. Authorizes the administration to train and deploy members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps to the border to assist with efforts to prevent illegal immigration, drug smuggling, human trafficking and the entry of terrorists, drugs, illegal weapons, and other contraband articles.
Ross NC. Requires a report on the availability of menstrual hygiene products on military bases and accommodations related to menstrual hygiene available to members of the Armed Forces.
Prohibits the Department of Defense from using any funds to enter into a contract with a company that mandates their employees receive a COVID vaccine. Pence IN. Prohibits the consolidation or closure of U. Revised States that no funds authorized under this Act may be made available for any purpose to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc.
Establishes a presumption of service connection for veterans with diseases associated with toxic exposure, during deployments for support missions into Afghanistan between to , to substances found at Karshi-Khanabad K2 Air Base in Uzbekistan. Revised Directs the President to reestablish the interagency Afghan Threat Finance Cell to identify and disrupt financial networks related to terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and corruption.
Moore WI. Revised Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to provide assistance to states that have created dedicated green alerts or are considering creating such alerts to help locate missing active duty servicemembers or veterans, including to connect located individuals to any VA or DOD benefits they have earned through their military service.
Establishes an Office of City and State Diplomacy at the State Department and requires the appointment of a senior official to head the office, outlines the duties of the office, authorizes members of the civil service and Foreign Service to be detailed to city halls and state capitols to support their international engagement efforts, and requires a report to Congress followed by annual briefings on the work of the office. Moulton MA.
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to pay claims against the United States for personal injury or death resulting from negligent failure to prevent or investigate a sex-related offense. Strikes the "Diversity and Inclusion" subtitle from the "Military Personnel Policy" title of the bill. Soto FL. Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress within a year of implementing the plan developed in response to GAO recommendations on tracking, response, and training for civilian employees of the Department of Defense regarding sexual harassment and assault.
Revised Adds countries that are major producers of fentanyl and fentanyl-like substances to the Majors List and adds a new section on fentanyl to the annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. Miller WV. Withdrawn Requires the Secretary of Defense provide Congress with a briefing on status of women and girls in Afghanistan. Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide Congress with a briefing on status of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Prohibits Federal funds from being obligated or expended to provide training or education based on critical race theory at a Federal service academy. Establishes a grant at HHS for the formation of Tick Identification Pilot Programs, which will require the ability to submit photo images of ticks and the images to be reviewed by qualified professionals for the likelihood of carrying a tick-borne disease.
States that no funds can be used to pay the salary of the Secretary of Defense until every American and SIV applicant, or their families, are evacuated from Afghanistan.
Requires the Department of Defense to submit a report to Congress that provides a clear definition of the term "extremism". Boebert, Lauren CO. Revised Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a memorial dedicated to the 13 service members who lost their lives in the attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, Castro TX. Strengthens contract authority of the Department of Defense to improve minority representation in certain media projects and submit a report on the summary of the communities represented in such projects.
The dismissal of the threat extends to the intelligence community, exemplified by an unredacted FBI assessment from that Chairman Raskin recently released after the FBI failed to appear at the hearing. The report confirms that infiltration is not simply a politicized narrative but rather a severe threat that has been hidden from public view. To ensure that those responsible for the safety of the country are not engaging in or supporting activity that puts U.
Brad Schneider D-IL also proposed a comprehensive amendment requiring intelligence reports on white supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement agencies; however, this amendment was removed.
White supremacist terrorist activity is an underexplored area of study. The former report was due to Congress on March 19, and the latter was due on June 17; however, there is no indication that the intelligence community has completed either report.
According to the NDAA, the unclassified sections of these reports must be released to the public within 30 days of submission. Both deadlines for the reports to be released have now passed. Given the lengthy history and current rise of white supremacist violence in the United States, it is also concerning that the NDAA only mandates reports for five years. The DATA Act is similar to the NDAA provisions but includes a DHS report on international terrorism with a nexus to domestic terrorism trends to ensure that emerging patterns such as the globalization of white supremacist violence are properly examined.
The th Congress has heard expert opinions on aspects of domestic terrorism and white supremacist violence, but certain gaps remain. The House also examined the rise in anti-Semitic domestic terrorism and the financing of domestic terrorism. Building on the information gathered so far, Congress should further explore the role of technology in white supremacist violence, the roots of this violence, the connections between hate crimes and domestic terrorism, and the aforementioned transnational linkages between violent far-right groups.
Domestic terrorists—especially white supremacist groups—use online platforms to communicate, recruit, and build ideological momentum. These tactics mirror those employed by the IS to expand across the world, 56 but the House has held only one hearing marginally related to technology and domestic terrorism.
Bennie Thompson D-MS also initiated efforts to examine the links between online platforms and acts of violence by proposing a National Commission on Online Platforms and Homeland Security. Only one previous House hearing has discussed white supremacy as an ideology. Understanding the roots of the white supremacist movement will help inform prevention and deradicalization strategies that do not leave room for abuse. Over the past several years, there has been a marked increase in reported hate crimes across the country.
Important legislation has progressed through Congress, including the Disarm Hate Act, which passed out of the House Committee on the Judiciary in September. This act prevents those who have committed hate crimes from obtaining firearms, which is increasingly important in light of recent situations involving armed extremists. The House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties should conduct a hearing to illuminate the overlap between hate crimes and domestic terrorism and its implications for domestic terrorism data collection.
America is not the only country struggling with the scourge of violent white supremacy and neo-Nazi organizations. While it is known that certain connections exist between both nongovernmental groups and state actors in different countries, the extent of these ties is not fully understood. International white supremacist networks could heighten the domestic terror threat from white supremacist violence in the future, increasing the need for a hearing in the House Foreign Affairs or Senate Foreign Relations Committees to explore the use of tools such as foreign terrorist organization FTO designations against global violent white supremacist groups.
To meet the statutory requirements for designation, an FTO must be a foreign organization engaging in terrorist activity that threatens U. The th Congress has taken steps to learn about the violent white supremacist threat facing the United States, but being informed is not nearly enough. Lawmakers have the responsibility to act on this information to ensure that does not become another year of increased hate crimes, domestic terror incidents, and white supremacist activity.
By taking advantage of the outlined opportunities to combat lynching, counter transnational extremism, root out extremism in U.
The ongoing movement against police brutality illustrates just how much work is yet to be done to end structural racism and discrimination across policy areas. Countering acts of domestic terror that seek to intimidate racial, ethnic, and religious communities is central to eradicating violence driven by white supremacy, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and other ideologies that contradict fundamental American values.
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