[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 63 (Thursday, April 19, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E803]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HOMEGROWN TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 19, 2007

  Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, as Chair of the Homeland Security 
Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing & Terrorism Risk 
Assessment, today I am introducing the bipartisan Homegrown Terrorism 
Prevention Act of 2007. Ranking Member Dave Reichert joins me as co-
author of this bill.
  April 19th marks the 12th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, 
which claimed 168 lives and injured over 800. Only September 11, 2001, 
eclipses that dark day as the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.
  My own district in California has not been spared from the threat of 
homegrown terrorism. An episode there offers a chilling illustration of 
the type of domestic threat we face. In the spring of 2005, four men--
three U.S. citizens and one Pakistani national residing legally in this 
country--finalized plans for a series of gas station robberies intended 
to finance terrorist attacks around Los Angeles. Their kill targets 
were U.S. military bases and recruiting stations, the Israeli 
Consulate, synagogues filled with worshipers on Jewish holy days, and 
the El Al ticket counter at LAX.
  The indictment alleges the men were pawns of an inmate at Folsom 
Prison who had embraced radical Islam after being incarcerated and 
founded the militant prison gang ``Assembly of Authentic Islam.'' One 
of them was radicalized by the inmate while doing time at Folsom; his 
accomplices were recruited from a local mosque and had no criminal 
records.
  The men engaged in a spree of 11 armed gas station robberies until 
their arrest by local police in July 2005. A subsequent search of their 
apartment uncovered jihadist literature, bulletproof vests and a list 
of potential targets. Local police promptly contacted the FBI, which 
led to a major investigation involving more than 200 agents, Los 
Angeles police detectives, and counterterrorism officials.
  The suspects now await trail, and are charged with conspiring to wage 
war against the U.S. government through terrorism; kill members of the 
Armed Forces; and murder foreign officials.
  Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said that 
``radicalization is a global problem that must be addressed through 
focused efforts targeting its root causes.'' This legislation does just 
that. It would establish a grant program to provide funds to the States 
to foster badly needed vertical information sharing down to the local 
level. It would create a Center of Excellence for the Prevention of 
Radicalization and Home Grown Terrorism to examine the social, 
criminal, political, psychological, and economic roots of homegrown 
terrorism and to propose solutions. It would require Homeland Security 
officials to learn from other nations that have experienced their own 
Oklahoma City tragedies. And, perhaps most importantly, it would ensure 
that our cherished civil liberties, the protections and safeguards 
guaranteed by our Constitution, are protected.
  We urge its enactment.

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