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“TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6809-H6812 on July 24, 2014.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Minnesota
(Mrs. Bachmann) for 30 minutes.
Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, as always, it is a supreme privilege to be able to stand here in the greatest deliberative body in the world, the well of the United States House of Representatives.
It is a thrill to be able to be here also to be able to stand in defense of our ally, the Jewish State of Israel, which is under attack, even now, as we are here in this Chamber this evening.
As all Americans have seen across the country, the fighting that is going on in the Middle East has been horrific, but we must remember that all of this began with an unprovoked attack by the terrorist organization named Hamas. Hamas is the governing organization over Gaza.
If a person looks at a map of the Middle East, there is the Mediterranean Sea. Just on the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea lies the very tiny Nation of Israel, approximately the size of New Jersey. On the southwest corner of Israel is a little area known as Gaza.
In 2005, Israel willingly gave up the area called Gaza. Why? Because the Palestinians that were in the area known as Gaza were continually attacking and causing havoc against the Jews that lived in the Gaza area.
Jews who had businesses, Jews who had homes, as well as synagogues, relinquished those homes and businesses voluntarily in an effort known as ``land for peace.'' So Israel gave up its land to Palestinians, and the Palestinians promised there would be peace.
At that time, Abu Mazen, also known as Abbas, the head of the now Palestinian Authority, had promised that the Gaza region would remain demilitarized. In other words, that there would be no weaponry and no rockets that would be contained in the Gaza region.
This has been a joke and an absolute lie and a fraud from the Palestinians and from the leader Abbas from the beginning in 2005. How do we know? Almost nearly overnight, the Palestinians in Gaza began firing rockets at Israel. That was 9 years ago, in 2005. Today is 2014. Nothing has changed. As a matter of fact, now we are seeing the rise once again from Gaza of rockets being fired into Israel--again, in an unprovoked attack.
We should also recognize Hamas isn't a stand-alone terrorist organization. Hamas is a part of a wider constellation of terrorist organizations--franchises, you might say--under an umbrella. That umbrella is to my left.
That umbrella is known as the international Muslim Brotherhood. It was began in 1928 to reconstitute the Islamic caliphate across the world. Again, the umbrella organization is known as the Ikhwan, the international Muslim Brotherhood.
There are various entities, Hamas being one of those terrorist children, you may say, under the umbrella of this international terrorist organization. It contains individuals who were part of forming and putting together the attack on the United States during 9/
11, when our Nation was attacked and the Twin Towers came down, led by Mohammed Atta, and also by the tragic hijacking of an airplane that went into the Pentagon.
Also, one of the earliest terrorist attacks against the Twin Towers in 1993 was masterminded by an individual known as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, now contained at Guantanamo Bay as a detainee for his work in that effort. He also was found guilty for the work he did there.
I am here tonight, Mr. Speaker, because I believe that the United States does have an option of aiding and assisting our ally Israel in this horrific tragedy that the world is seeing unfolding right now. And it is this.
As we have seen with this terrorist organization under the auspices of the international Muslim Brotherhood, known as Hamas, Hamas had a very friendly entree when the Muslim Brotherhood was running Egypt, the largest Arab nation in the Middle East region.
The Muslim Brotherhood, under then-President Morsi, had a deal with Hamas; again, the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization in Gaza. This was the deal. Hamas was allowed to run smuggling operations through tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza territory. So lucrative was the smuggling business that Hamas was making, it is reported, $2 billion a month.
When the people of Egypt decided to throw off the violent terrorist regime known as the Muslim Brotherhood, literally tens of millions of Egyptians took to the streets and said to the Muslim Brotherhood, You must go, and to Morsi, You must go, because the Egyptian people wanted to stop the slaughter and murder of innocent people, including the Coptic Christians.
Coptic churches were burned in Egypt. Coptic businesses owned by Coptic Christians were also burned and ransacked. Innocent people like Christians--there are virtually no Jews left in Egypt because they have been run out--and even Muslims considered apostate Muslims were all attacked by the violent terrorists in the Muslim Brotherhood.
As I said, tens of millions of peace-loving Egyptians and Muslims took to the streets and said, We want the violent terrorist organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood to leave Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood had to leave. They no longer had any consent from the Egyptian people to rule. There was no process of impeachment in Egypt. This was the only avenue left to the Egyptian people.
The Muslim Brotherhood left, and in stepped the military led by General al-Sisi. The Egyptian people then conducted democratic elections and General al-Sisi was elected as the first President of the modern state of Egypt. He is the President now.
He has been engaged in a very serious struggle with the Muslim Brotherhood. He has worked with them. Their violent protests continued. Remarkably, now President al-Sisi has been able to bring down dramatically the level of violence from the Muslim Brotherhood. The streets are far safer today in Egypt than they were before. And it came at a price.
It came at a price of many deaths in Egypt, but now we are seeing more peace. It is because of the work of President al-Sisi on the border with Gaza that we have seen a dramatic decrease in weapons, munitions, and most particularly, $2 billion going into Gaza.
How does this frame into what a new alternative solution would be to tamp down this terrorist organization known as Hamas?
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The United States Government designated Hamas a terror organization.
Again, let's remember. This is a U.S.-designated terror organization called Hamas, which unilaterally and unprovoked launched thousands of rockets against our ally Israel. Israel did not provoke Hamas. Israel did not send munitions into the Gaza territory. Israel did not fire the first shot against Gaza. It was Hamas that fired the first shot.
Let us not forget that it was Hamas that fired rockets specifically at the greatest number of civilian targets. We even read this last week that Hamas dressed up in Israeli uniforms, IDF uniforms, and went through a tunnel, into Israel, to specifically go to an Israeli kibbutz so that they could slaughter a mass number of innocent Israeli citizens as well as IDF soldiers.
That is what we are dealing with--greater terrorist acts than we have ever seen before.
They are reporting now from Turkey and from other parts in the Middle East region that they are again calling on wiping out the Jewish state--in other words, killing the Jews in the Jewish state and eliminating and annihilating the Jewish State of Israel. This is nothing more than a genocide.
How can we stop this continual slaughter by the terrorist organization known as Hamas?
They were greatly weakened when President al-Sisi did the United States--the world--a favor when they closed those tunnels between Egypt and Hamas. That greatly reduced the income that was coming into this terrorist, corrupt, violent organization under the Muslim Brotherhood umbrella, but it is not enough because, you see, the umbrella is essentially the lifeline economically for the terrorist organization known as Hamas. If you will, the umbrella is the umbilical cord that feeds economically, politically, and with munitions into this violent terrorist organization.
The question then, Mr. Speaker, is: How can we get the Muslim Brotherhood to stop feeding economically to prop up this terrorist organization known as Hamas?
This is how we can do it:
When the United States Government effectively labeled Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization, then any organization or person who tried to offer material support to Hamas was effectively continuing a terrorist enterprise, and, thereby, there would be sanctions, and in fact, there would be convictions that could be brought against those people.
That happened in a charity called the Holy Land Foundation. This charity was directed by the international Muslim Brotherhood, the umbrella organization. The international Muslim Brotherhood directed the United States' chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood to raise men, raise money, and raise media support for Hamas, the terrorist organization that is now firing rockets unprovoked against Israel.
That charity in the United States was found guilty by a United States Federal court. That happened in 2008. Our Federal Government has already found, through our Department of Justice, that the Muslim Brotherhood has engaged in terrorist activities. We have Federal courts that have also found that the international Muslim Brotherhood, the umbrella organization, has, in fact, engaged in terrorist activities. Also, our FBI Director in 2011, Robert Mueller, said before the committee of which I am privileged to be a part--the House Intelligence Committee--that the international Muslim Brotherhood has engaged in terrorist activities both abroad and in the United States.
Whether it is through entities, like designating Hamas a foreign terrorist organization, or through our Federal courts, where we have found Muslim Brotherhood charities--in this case, the Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization--our government has found members of the international Muslim Brotherhood to be terrorists who are engaging in the material support for terrorist activities. That would include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who this night is sitting in Guantanamo Bay, behind bars--where he should be--because his goal was to bring down the Twin Towers in New York City. This was in 1993. We know that the Muslim Brotherhood was successful and brought down the Twin Towers in a horrific display of terrorism on American soil on September 11, 2001.
So, you see, Mr. Speaker, it isn't enough for the United States to cripple Hamas, the foreign terrorist organization, by designating them a foreign terrorist organization. That was a good beginning. What this body can do is to pass a resolution to urge President Obama--who has the power to direct the United States Department of State--to now designate the international Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization.
If we want Hamas to collapse--to collapse economically, to collapse politically, to collapse because they are bereft of munitions and weapons--what we must do is designate the international Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization because then, you see, it would cripple the international Muslim Brotherhood with various economic sanctions. Also, those who are members of the international Muslim Brotherhood would no longer have the ability to be granted visas by the United States Government to come into the United States.
This is the best action that the United States could take today to benefit our ally Israel as they are being mercilessly attacked by the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization known as Hamas. Cut off the head. Cut off the feeder unit to Hamas. Cut it off, and then we will see Hamas collapse. That is what we could do.
Now, President Obama doesn't need the United States Congress to pass this resolution. He doesn't need that. President Obama, on his own this evening, could designate the international Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, and I call upon our President to do exactly that in order to help our ally Israel.
That would send a resounding signal across the world if the United States took that action because, you see, this has already been done by other countries--by Egypt, led by President al-Sisi. They have already designated the international Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Jordan, our ally and friend, has designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Saudi Arabia sees the international Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. The United Arab Emirates sees the international Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization as does the Jewish State of Israel see the international Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
If the nations that are most impacted by the terrorist activities of the international Muslim Brotherhood could designate this nefarious organization as such after the Muslim Brotherhood's participation in the greatest horrific act on U.S. soil--September 11, 2001--and if we have designated charities and entities of the Muslim Brotherhood and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists, participating in terrorist activities, why in the world wouldn't the United States join Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia in doing the right thing in designating the international Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization?
You see, once we do that to the umbrella organization, then all of the other organizations that are represented therein are also duly impacted by that designation. That is how we bring peace. That is how we bring peace to Israel. That is how we bring peace to this region.
Just a few years ago, the conventional wisdom here in Washington, D.C., was that the Muslim Brotherhood would be a moderating force in the Middle East and bring democracy to the region. We had great hopes that that is who the Muslim Brotherhood would be. That was the face that they tried to present here in Washington. Tunisia removed their Muslim Brotherhood-led governments because they saw that the Muslim Brotherhood wasn't a moderating force. Hardly. It was a violent terrorist force. As I said, other Middle East nations have taken measures to designate the organization as a terrorist group, and these nations banned the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood completely.
Even our British allies have opened an official investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood's activities and connection to violent terrorism. For the past 20 years and in three different administrations, the United States Government has identified and designated branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, and its leaders are branded as terrorists. United States Government officials have testified under oath before Congress, here in this building, that the international Muslim Brotherhood has supported terrorism not only here at home but also across the world.
From its earliest days, the Muslim Brotherhood used violence as its strategy. They formed what was called a ``secret apparatus''--that is their term--to attack government officials and foreigners in Egypt, even killing two Egyptian Prime Ministers. Richard Clarke was the counterterrorism czar to both Democrat President Bill Clinton and to Republican President George W. Bush. Richard Clarke testified before the Senate Banking Committee in October of 2003 that the common links that are shared by al Qaeda, by the Islamic jihad and by Hamas were
``the membership and the ideology of the Muslim Brothers.'' As was recognized by our own 9/11 Commission Report, virtually every Islamic terrorist group has built its organization on the ideological bedrock the Muslim Brotherhood established--that is astounding--al Qaeda as well as Hamas.
Some have tried to paint al Qaeda as a great enemy of the Muslim Brotherhood, but whatever differences they have are merely tactical, and there are many reports of the groups cooperating together and endorsing their terrorist activities.
In February 1993, the United States House of Representatives Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare reported that various branches of the international Muslim Brotherhood regularly took part in terror conferences with al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, called the Quds Force. The senior clerical leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood is led by the group's Qatar-based top jurist, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He issued a fatwa in November of 2004 that authorized the killing of American soldiers and contractors in Iraq while we were conducting that liberation force at that time.
Many of al Qaeda's leaders also came through the Muslim Brotherhood's ranks. Mohamed Atta, as I previously stated, was the ring leader of the 9/11 terrorist attack here in America on our Twin Towers. According to The Washington Post, he was radicalized while he was a part of the Muslim Brotherhood's engineering syndicate in Egypt. It is fair to say that, rather than being opposed to al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood has been an open gateway to al Qaeda.
One of the enduring myths about the Muslim Brotherhood is that the group has renounced violence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Then how can one explain the Muslim Brotherhood's long-time support for the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas? In fact, Hamas identifies itself in its 1988 Covenant as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood--in other words, a franchise of the Muslim Brotherhood--in Palestine's own words.
{time} 2045
That is a fact that is recognized in the State Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism. It was President Bill Clinton who designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1995, and I praised President Bill Clinton for doing that. It was the right thing to do.
Now, President Obama must do the same and also designate the international Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization because, you see, Mr. Speaker, it is myopic to look at Hamas, as it rains down thousands of missiles and rockets on our ally, Israel, without considering the Muslim Brotherhood's greater role in the larger context of global jihad.
In fact, our Justice Department, in 2007 and 2008, successfully argued in Federal court that the international Muslim Brotherhood has directed its affiliates here in this country, in the United States, to organize to provide ``media, money, and men'' to Hamas, a U.S.-
designated foreign terrorist organization.
As Federal prosecutors showed during the Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terrorist financing trial in American history, the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee raised millions of dollars for Hamas here in the United States.
The judge in the case wrote an opinion that there was ``ample evidence'' that establishes the association between Muslim Brotherhood groups here in the United States with Hamas. The convictions of the Holy Land Foundation executives have also been held up by our United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.
This was one of the reasons, Mr. Speaker, why the FBI Director, Robert Mueller, testified before Congress in February of 2011 that
``elements of the Muslim Brotherhood both here and overseas have supported terrorism.''
The U.S. Government has designated branches, charities, and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, as I have pictured on this graphic under the umbrella--branches, charities, and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.
U.S. Government officials have said, Mr. Speaker, that the Muslim Brotherhood around the world has supported terrorist groups, and the Justice Department has prosecuted elements of the Muslim Brotherhood here in the U.S. for materially supporting terrorism.
It is long overdue to act on what the U.S. Government has already acknowledged. It is time, Mr. Speaker, to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror organization.
I wanted to speak just a little bit, Mr. Speaker, about who some of these people are under the umbrella, if I could have that slide right here.
The umbrella organization, again, is the international Muslim Brotherhood organization. Under that umbrella is an individual known as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the operations chief under al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission report said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also known as KSM, who is currently detained behind bars in Guantanamo Bay, he was radicalized in the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood--Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, under the Muslim Brotherhood.
Abdullah Azzam is part of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood. He is a leader who was the cofounder, both of Hamas and of al Qaeda, also under the international Muslim Brotherhood.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi is the chief jurist of the international Muslim Brotherhood. Some call him the spiritual leader and guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has been banned from entering the United States since 1991. He is the first Sunni cleric to endorse suicide bombing.
Then Mohamed Atta, he was the ringleader of the horrific 9/11 attack against the United States of America, the ringleader of bringing down the Twin Towers and also the attack on our Pentagon. He was radicalized in the Muslim Brotherhood-controlled engineering syndicate in Egypt.
Then Hamas, the foreign terrorist organization raining down rockets, even tonight, against our ally, Israel. Hamas is self-identified as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Then the Union of Good, this is a Muslim Brotherhood charity that was led by Yusuf al-Qaradawi. It was designated by our Treasury Department in November of 2008 for Hamas financing.
Osama Bin Laden--no introduction necessary--he is the al Qaeda cofounder who was radicalized by Muslim Brotherhood leaders at the university in Jeddah.
You see, Mr. Speaker, the Muslim Brotherhood has its fingers all over jihad because its mission statement is jihad. It is radical, violent terrorism to achieve its goal of a global caliphate, to have control of all Muslim and all infidels across the globe.
Then Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, he is the head of Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood, al-Islah Party, and he is the mentor of Osama Bin Laden, designated by our Treasury Department in February of 2004.
Ramzi Yousef, he is the convicted leader of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also radicalized by Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, if anyone watching this evening would go to the official Muslim Brotherhood Web site today, they would see that the international Muslim Brotherhood is praising Hamas for the killing going on in Jerusalem and in Israel, even today.
This is why the best thing that the United States of America could do--and I call on President Obama to do it, hopefully, with support from both Democrats and Republicans, this is not a partisan issue--we need to stand with our ally, Israel. We need to stand against radical terrorism.
In order to do that, we need to designate the international Muslim Brotherhood, the umbrella organization, for what it is, a foreign terrorist organization.
Mr. Speaker, I call, again, on President Obama to bring about this designation to bring peace to our world.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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