[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 18, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E741-E742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      OVERSIGHT OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S COUNTERTERRORISM BUREAU

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 18, 2016

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, nearly two years after the President 
vowed to ``degrade and ultimately destroy'' ISIS, the terrorists are 
still holding their sanctuary in Iraq and Syria. Foreign fighters are 
still flocking to ISIS' so-called caliphate to fight alongside the 
terrorist group and tyrannize local populations.
  But ISIS has not stopped there. In 2015, ISIS significantly stepped 
up its attacks outside Iraq and Syria. From the Charlie Hebdo attack 
last January to the attack last May at the Muhammad cartoon contest in 
Texas, ISIS has illustrated its dangerous capability to strike outside 
of its territory. The bloody year was finally capped off with the 
tragic massacre in Paris that left 130 people dead. Then came the 
attacks in Brussels only two months ago. ISIS suicide bombers killed 32 
people and wounded over 300 in the heart of the European Union. The 
attacks showed the world that despite a year of pulling off these 
coordinated attacks, ISIS' appetite for carnage and its ability to 
strike have not abated.
  Besides the looming threat of ISIS, terrorism has continued to plague 
countries the world over. Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan, 
Egypt, Israel, Bangladesh. These are just a few countries facing 
serious and destabilizing terrorist threats. In fact, more people were 
killed by terrorists in 2014 than ever before. There was an 80 percent 
increase in terrorist-related deaths in 2014 compared to 2013. Yet in 
the midst of this struggle against terrorism, the Administration wants 
to cut the main anti-terrorism account by 25 percent while increasing a 
general foreign aid account by 41 percent.
  The State Department's Counter-Terrorism Bureau is not saved from 
this cut. In fact, State Department wants 31 percent less dollars for 
2017 than 2016 for the CT Bureau. That budget request does not match 
the Administration's rhetoric that countering terrorism is a top 
priority.
  Originally set up as an office back in 1972 in response to the 
terrorist attack at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, the primary 
mission of the Bureau for Counterterrorism is to forge partnerships 
with non-state actors, multilateral organizations, and foreign 
governments to advance the counterterrorism objectives and national 
security of the United States. Under that broad mission it has five 
principal responsibilities: 1) countering violent extremism; 2) 
capacity building; 3) counterterrorism diplomacy; 4) U.S. 
counterterrorism strategy and operations; and 5) homeland security 
coordination.
  As the Bureau has grown in size, it has struggled to keep up with 
evaluating its programs to see if they really work. Even though the 
Bureau accepts the idea that it should be spending 3 to 5 percent of 
program resources on monitoring and evaluation, it has no way of 
tracking how much was actually spent so it can know if it is meeting 
that goal. Over the last 5 years, the Bureau has completed 5 
evaluations. It needs to be doing more. It also needs to be doing 
better evaluations. The Bureau should do an impact evaluation to see if 
its project really made any difference. The Bureau should go back a 
year or longer after a project is completed to see if that project made 
a lasting difference.
  This year, the Bureau is putting strong emphasis on Countering 
Violent Extremism (CVE). Even as it faces a 31 percent cut, the Bureau 
wants to set up a new office, hire more staff, and expand its CVE 
programs. But CVE, which the Administration hails as a ``pillar'' of 
its counterterrorism strategy, has never even been evaluated by the 
Bureau. A GAO study stated that while the Bureau has promised to 
evaluate CVE since 2012 it still has not evaluated it. I'm glad to hear 
the Bureau finally has plans in the works to evaluate CVE, but if this 
evaluation was done years ago, we could be a lot more confident the new 
dollars going to CVE would be well spent.

[[Page E742]]

  In January, the State Department announced the establishment of 
another office, the Global Engagement Center (GEC). Outside of the CT 
Bureau, it is tasked with coordinating messaging that delegitimizes 
violent extremists. It is not yet clear how the Bureau will engage and 
coordinate with the GEC or how it will not duplicate efforts.
  A big part of countering violent extremism is winning the battle 
online, especially over social media. ISIS has been able to recruit 
over 20,000 foreign fighters, from more than 90 different countries, 
partly because of the organization's use of social media. In 2011, the 
White House acknowledged terrorists' use of social media to spread hate 
and promised a strategy to prevent online radicalization. Five years 
later, we are still waiting. In a time of limited resources and 
dangerous terrorist threats; we cannot afford to waste any dollars. Our 
national security depends on it.
  It is clear that terror attacks are on the rise. Despite the 
Administration's so-called progress at winning back territory in Iraq 
and Syria, terrorists successfully conduct deadly attacks worldwide. 
ISIS and Al Qaeda affiliates continue to grow deeper roots in local 
communities thanks in large part to their use of social media. Now more 
than ever is a time to be vigilant about our counterterrorism efforts. 
The Department of State's role in this fight is not to be taken 
lightly. We need to make sure these programs are effective at 
combatting radicalization and the threat of terrorist attacks. The 
State Department must prioritize the monitoring and evaluation of their 
programs and ensure that lessons from such evaluations are implemented 
in a timely manner. We must develop a better understanding of what is 
working and what is not. The safety of Americans and our allies depends 
on it.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________