[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7051-7054]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING FALLEN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Knight). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and pleasure to follow my 
friend and fellow former judge from Texas when he talks about praying. 
I know him to be a praying man. I also know his heart to be a big 
heart.
  We can disagree on issues, but he is a brother, as a Christian, and 
he is a very good friend, and I appreciate his perspective very much.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GOHMERT. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I thank the friend from the great State of 
Texas. He and I happen to share more than being Members of Congress. We 
are Members of Congress from the same State.
  I am honored that you have not only worked hard in Congress, but you 
have also been a part of activities outside of Congress, and I am 
honored to work with you on at least one project, and we hope to do 
some good for the great State of Texas on this project together.
  I am grateful to you, and I am grateful for your kind words. Thank 
you so much.
  Mr. GOHMERT. I would never question the heart or motivation of my 
friend Al Green. I know his heart to be bigger than most in Washington. 
It is just an honor to serve with you.
  There is so much that has gone on this week. One of the things that 
has happened here in Washington and continues to happen today is a 
tribute, memorial to law enforcement officers who have lost their lives 
in the line of duty--doing what?--serving and protecting.
  After the horrors and evil of 9/11/2001, it was encouraging to me to 
see so many people, once again, come to appreciate that the vast 
majority of law enforcement, the vast majority of first responders, 
they are serving and trying to protect for the good of others and 
willing to lay down their lives.
  As Jesus said:

       No greater love is this than a man lay down his life for 
     his friends.

  We have seen that in the hundreds of people--I think 273 lost their 
lives over this past year. Over 40 have lost their lives this year in 
the line of duty.
  Just like in any walk of life, there are bad apples, people who don't 
have the best motivation; but I would humbly submit, I believe with all 
my heart that, when it comes to law enforcement, the percentage of 
those who are not properly motivated is far, far less than in the 
general population.
  We do owe them so much.
  Some people say: Oh, well, we ought to just live and let live.
  They say: I am a Christian. I believe in living and letting live.
  If you note, if you believe the Bible, Jesus was commenting, of 
course, his ultimate point was that we will be judged for what is in 
our heart by our Father in heaven.
  He said, if you say ``raca,'' which was an offense back in that day, 
then you will answer to the courts. He understood, in an orderly 
society, you need a government; you need governing officials to which 
people will be responsible if they violate the law.
  That was also true in Romans 13, anticipating, in an orderly society, 
you

[[Page 7052]]

need a government with a sword to punish those who do evil. That is why 
13:4 says: If you do you evil, be afraid, because God doesn't give the 
sword in vain.
  I know some people in the country start freaking out when I quote the 
most quoted book in the history of the country, as quoted here in the 
House of Representatives and in the Senate floor. It is part of our 
history. The Bible is the most quoted book in congressional history--
was, is, and I hope will be in the future.
  We owe so much to the police who risk their lives.
  Right out of law school, I was an assistant DA for three counties in 
east Texas. Very early on, I went with law enforcement to execute a 
warrant, and the individual, the subject of the warrant for arrest, had 
made clear that, when he saw any law enforcement officers, he was going 
to start shooting; he would kill any law enforcement officer that came 
out there.
  I don't forget the feelings that all of us had, even though some were 
very seasoned law officers, when you are approaching a dangerous 
building--in this case, a home--where somebody in there is threatening 
to kill anybody like you, you do have a little hair stand up on the 
back of your neck.
  You do realize you are putting your life at risk in trying to 
maintain order and civility by approaching somebody that is a threat to 
society. That was quite a lesson, that these law officers--whether they 
are new, whether they have been working for a long time--they are 
constantly in a situation where they don't know if, 10 minutes later, 
they may be dead in the service of their community, but they are 
serving anyway.
  We do owe them so much for what they do and what they risk on our 
behalf, so we are just grateful to all law enforcement officers willing 
to serve and protect all of us.
  We have a report here back in February, and this is an article from 
The Hill entitled: ``FBI investigating ISIS suspects in all 50 
States.'' The article is quoting FBI Director James Comey, that he 
revealed Wednesday his agency is investigating suspected supporters of 
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in every State across the United 
States.
  Down further in the article, it said, ``Earlier this month, Comey 
said the FBI was investigating ISIS supporters in every State except 
Alaska.''
  At the time of this article, at the end of February, he was saying: 
We are investigating ISIS suspects in all 50 States.
  Director Comey said: ``We have investigations of people in various 
stages of radicalization in all 50 States.''
  He said: ``This isn't a New York phenomenon or a Washington 
phenomenon. This is in all 50 States and in ways that are very hard to 
see.''
  He said: ``ISIL in particular is putting out a siren song with their 
slick propaganda through social media.''
  He said: ``The message `resonates with troubled souls, people seeking 
meaning in some horribly misguided way,''' and that ``those people 
exist in every State.''
  His pronouncement in February should have been a siren song for 
Americans to understand there are people who live among us who want to 
destroy us and our way of life.
  Then it was rather interesting--that was February 25. Less than 2 
months later, there was an article put out, Judicial Watch indicated 
that an ISIS camp was just a few miles from Texas, that Mexican 
authorities confirmed that.
  The article said: ``ISIS is operating a camp just a few miles from El 
Paso, Texas, according to Judicial Watch sources that include a Mexican 
Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police Inspector.

                              {time}  1300

  ``The exact location where the terrorist group has established its 
base is around 8 miles from the U.S. border in an area known an 
`Anapra,' situated just west of Cuidad Juarez in the Mexican State of 
Chihuahua. Another ISIS cell to the west of Cuidad Juarez, in Puerto 
Palomas, targets the New Mexico towns of Columbus and Deming for easy 
access to the United States.''
  So, anyway, after this article came out in April, I quoted from that, 
brought it up on the floor and--
  Let's see. This article was 2 days later from FOX News: ``Islamic 
State fighters are operating training bases near the U.S. southern 
border and are being aided by violent drug cartels to smuggle 
terrorists into States like Texas, a report published Tuesday by a 
watchdog group claims.''
  So, anyway, I brought that up. And this report seems to get even more 
legs after the Federal Government, though, denying that any such thing 
like that was occurring, apparently sent FBI officials to Mexico to 
meet with their counterterrorism experts, seemed to give some credence 
that there is something to be concerned about in the way of training of 
violent radical Islamists across our United States border. So the irony 
here is pretty profound.
  People all across the United States of America just accepted when the 
FBI Director says, you know, there are ISIS suspects in every State in 
the Union. People said: Wow, that is amazing. Man, they are here?
  I saw a headline of a survey just moments ago on FOX News saying, 6 
out of 10 Americans believe that there are terrorists in their 
community. So how ironic that even the far left that turns a blind eye 
to radical Islam could be so accepting that, yes, there are radical 
Islamist terrorists in every State in the Union. And when Judicial 
Watch and Louie Gohmert quote from their material, quote other things 
going on to point out that there is a report that there is an ISIS camp 
across our border, the left went nuts, saying how crazy Judicial Watch 
was, how crazy I am for even mentioning this. There couldn't possibly 
be an ISIS camp in Mexico.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope you see the irony here. They are saying, yes, we 
believe there are radical Islamist terrorists in every State in the 
United States, but there couldn't possibly be ISIS across the border 
where the drug cartels are.
  And I haven't gotten a good explanation. Do they have so much faith 
and trust in the drug cartels' integrity that they would never 
associate with radical Islamists? Is that what they are saying by their 
cynicism about ISIS being in Mexico? Because it is a bit intriguing.
  But then again, some on the far left are educated way beyond their 
means--their mental capacity, at least--and so they have information; 
they just can't process it effectively. Because anyone who can readily 
accept when the FBI Director says there is ISIS in every State in the 
Union and we are investigating in every State in the Union radical 
Islamists--he doesn't use those terms because this administration 
doesn't want to offend any radical Islamists that want to kill us. So 
we don't use that term if you are in this administration, but I use the 
term because it is accurate. They are radical Islamists.
  So, anyway, it is just a great irony here.
  Then this is an AP story from this week: ``Minnesota men accused of 
trying to join Islamic State ordered held, but may have other 
options.''
  And that is because U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, who wears a 
dark robe to match his intellect--he is the same guy that previously--
this is also a May 12 article by Patrick Poole. This is the same judge, 
Michael J. Davis, chief judge of the district of Minnesota--
  This article from Patrick Poole says: ``A terror `deradicalization' 
program--established in the `Ground Zero' of terror recruitment, 
Minnesota's Twin Cities--has already failed after just a few months.
  ``The program was established after a Federal court released 19-year-
old terror suspect Abdullahi Yusuf to a halfway house earlier this 
year. Federal prosecutors opposed Yusuf's release, but were overruled 
by'' this big-hearted, caring ``Federal judge''--at least big-hearted 
and caring about radical Islam, not so much about victims of radical 
Islam. But Michael J. Davis cares deeply about those who want to kill 
us.
  So as the article says: ``Remarkably, Judge Davis said today in a 
separate

[[Page 7053]]

case of six men charged with trying to join the Islamic State that he 
would be willing to consider `less restrictive options' than detaining 
the men--just a day after Yusuf's re-arrest.''
  That is because he decided that he was smarter and more capable than 
anybody else in America. He could deradicalize people who want to kill 
Americans by just sending them through this program that he had helped 
with or proved: Gee, we are going to get you reading good material that 
really helps you see the wonder and glory of this country.
  And then, of course, I, Judge Michael J. Davis, will be a hero to all 
of my leftist friends because I cared more for the criminal radical 
Islamists than I did for the victims. And the left loves that kind of 
thing.
  ``Last May, Yusuf was arrested in Minneapolis airport while on his 
way of Syria by way of Turkey to join the Islamic State. One of his 
accomplices, Abdi Nur, did make it to Syria, and he now serves as an 
effective recruiter for the terror group.
  ``Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported on the program 
with an article titled, `A Test Case for ``Deradicalization.'''
  ``The path of reform for Abdullahi Yusuf, a U.S. teenager who tried 
to become a radical Islamic soldier, passes through writings of Martin 
Luther King, Jr. readings of the U.S. Constitution, and discussions 
about life and literature with a fellow Somali-American named Ahmed 
Amin.
  ``Mr. Yusuf's attempt to travel to the Middle East last year helped 
lead authorities to six Minnesota men who were charged last month in 
connection with a plan to join Islamic State abroad. The 19-year-old 
has become a test case for whether Americans lured by Islamic extremism 
can be deradicalized.''
  Oh, I think they can, but I sure wouldn't trust them to Judge Michael 
J. Davis, if that is what we want.
  But see here again, this is once again pointing out the ingenuity of 
the Founders in creating three branches. We have the executive branch 
that is supposed to carry out the laws that the Congress, elected by 
the people, pass. We have two Houses of Congress to make it more 
difficult to pass laws. They wanted some obstacles and problems to 
passing legislation too quickly. And then we have the judicial branch 
that will handle criminal cases, handle civil cases, handle review of 
actions to ensure their constitutionality.
  And then we also have this part of the judicial branch, like five of 
the Justices on the Supreme Court that decided that they wanted to 
micromanage enemy combatants at Guantanamo. I thought it would have 
been a good idea to let them live over at the Supreme Court if they 
want to micromanage them.
  But then, also, this judge like Michael J. Davis in Minnesota who 
decides, actually, he is not just judiciary; he is clairvoyant. He is a 
rehabilitative agent. He is everything to everybody, just the kind of 
judge you want. God in a robe.
  So, anyway, he put Mr. Yusuf through these reading materials. And I 
wonder, though, if he was a bit surprised when Yusuf was arrested 
because he is not following the program, and he is not reformed. But 
even that does not prevent God in a robe from saying: You know what? 
But these new terrorists that you have arrested, they are just a little 
misguided. I hate to have them in jail because if they are in jail, 
then the American people will be protected, but they won't be able to 
come to see how wonderful people like I am. So I want them to develop 
warm and loving, fuzzy feelings for people on the left, like me. So I 
want to find some way we don't have to keep them in jail.
  Anyway, there is another article about that.
  But it is just amazing to me when people exceed the bounds of their 
job in government because they think they are wiser than the Founders. 
They think they are wiser than anyone that has gone on before. We hear 
people in recent days on the issue of marriage talking in terms of how 
much smarter and how much more we know today than the ignoramuses of 
the past. And the ignorance that displays is pretty astounding.
  Solomon, for those who believe the Bible, Solomon, considered to be--
until he got sidetracked by having too many wives and concubines--was 
considered to be the wisest man in the world. And Solomon, credited for 
writing some of the things in the Old Testament--the Old Testament, as 
we call it--but in what we call Ecclesiastes, he points out, there is 
nothing new under the Sun.
  You think socialism, communism is a new idea? It is not new. It has 
been around forever. And every time it has been tried, it leads to 
totalitarianism. It leads to the loss of freedom, and then it fails 
because, as Margaret Thatcher once said, eventually you find out--well, 
you run out of other people's money to spend. It doesn't work. It won't 
work.
  Now, that is different from socialized medicine, like ObamaCare is 
taking us toward, government control. I have friends on the Republican 
side of the aisle who say, Louie, we won't have to worry. ObamaCare is 
going to fall of its own weight. The problem is government health care, 
socialized medicine, it never falls of its own weight. Socialism does. 
It can't survive because when you are paying people to not work the 
same amount you are paying people to work, eventually you destroy the 
society. And we are in the process of doing that here in America, 
paying people to do things that are destructive to their well-being. We 
ought to be incentivizing good conduct, not rewarding conduct 
destructive to the individual and to the Nation.
  But we continue down this path that has not been working for 50 
years, so hopefully people are going to eventually get the message.
  But amidst this, this same week, I have a Wall Street Journal 
article, ``Deadly Mexican Cartel Rises as New Threat.''
  It should be noted--Carlos the Jackal, probably the most notorious, 
famous assassin--had commented that he believed the only way to really 
bring down the United States would be for socialists and Islamists to 
join forces, and that could be the successful force to bring down the 
United States. Interesting observation from an anarchist like Carlos 
the Jackal. Interesting.

                              {time}  1315

  Anyway, Mr. Speaker, this article talks about the rise of the Mexican 
cartel and it says this in the second page of the article: ``The New 
Generation cartel is perhaps Mexico's most audacious and vicious 
criminal enterprise, after the government captured or killed most 
leaders of the Zetas gang based in northeastern Mexico, say officials 
and security analysts. Like the Zetas, originally formed by Army 
deserters, the New Generation gang favors paramilitary methods and has 
received tactical training from Mexican and foreign mercenaries, these 
people say, including the use of rocket-propelled grenades against the 
helicopter.''
  So, let's see, Mr. Speaker, this columnist said the helicopter 
incident was a declaration of war. The coming months are going to be 
very hard in Jalisco.
  You have got violence building on our southern border, but don't 
worry. Our Justice Department has been very helpful. We can't get 
documents because the Justice Department becomes an Injustice 
Department quite often in obfuscating--hiding documents, hiding the 
truth, preventing people from getting at the truth--and won't provide 
the documents to me that they provided to convicted terrorism 
supporters in the Holy Land Foundation trial.
  Oh, they sent me a couple Web sites I could visit. That was very nice 
and gracious of them. But basically they were covering up their tracks, 
being the most muddy--not transparent--Justice Department in my 
lifetime. That includes going back to the lack of transparency under J. 
Edgar Hoover when he became too enthralled with his power and began 
using FBI agents to investigate people not for information to introduce 
in court but just to use, apparently, to persuade them to do what the 
FBI director wanted. Information like that is dangerous, and the 
Founders knew that.

[[Page 7054]]

  Then there is another Wall Street article from May 14: ``FBI Says 
Texas Man Lied About Links to Syria.'' Imagine that, Mr. Speaker. They 
catch somebody who they have evidence to show he has got links to 
terrorism in Syria, and, lo and behold, they found out not only does he 
have links to terrorism but he may have actually lied to the FBI. 
Imagine that. The article points out that ``Bilal Abood, 37 years old, 
of Mesquite, Texas, was arrested Thursday after a 2-year game of cat 
and mouse with Federal agents, who questioned him repeatedly before and 
after he allegedly traveled to Syria in 2013.''
  But anyway let's see. It says: ``A week later, agents interviewed him 
again and he admitted he planned to go to Syria to fight with the Free 
Syrian Army, according to the complaint. Unlike terror groups, such as 
Islamic State and the Nusra Front, the moderate FSA''--Free Syrian 
Army--``has received backing from the United States.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, they received backing from this administration is 
what the bottom line is, not from all of us here because some of us 
have been saying that this administration is providing weapons to the 
Islamic State. They were providing weapons to the so-called vetted 
moderate Free Syrian Army. Remarkably weapons that the Obama 
administration was providing to the vetted moderate Syrian Army kept 
ending up in Islamic State hands. And they were, Oh, gee, they raided, 
they took this stuff, they took the weapons, send us more. Well, the 
Obama administration wised up about 4 months. They suspended weapons 
shipment to the vetted moderate Free Syrian Army. But then, not to 
worry, they eventually started back sending weapons to the vetted 
moderate Free Syrian Army even after their leaders were saying, Yeah, 
we may disagree with the Islamic State on the leader, Assad, the leader 
in Syria, but we are brothers, and we do line up on most issues.
  So, Mr. Speaker, it is important to note terrorism is alive and well 
in the world, and this administration has done very little to stop it, 
has turned a blind eye to it, and we have got to do all we can to help 
them wake up and smell the gunpowder coming from radical Islamists.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________