WASHINGTON - Today, the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing to examine the Biden Administration’s counterterrorism strategy. In her opening statement, Subcommittee Ranking Member Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) emphasized the need for Americans of all races, religions, and backgrounds to be afforded the opportunity to live in safety. With terrorist attacks sprouting up both at home and abroad, the lawmaker voiced support for renewed efforts in combating ongoing threats. More Americans are falling victim to violent crime and oversight is desperately needed to adequately assess the Biden Administration’s plan to deal with these mounting threats. Ranking Member Mace concluded by expressing gratitude towards the men and women of U.S. law enforcement agencies working tirelessly to keep Americans safe in the face of reckless criticism from Democrats and the anti-police movement.
The remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Thank you, Chairman Raskin. Americans of all color, races, nationalities and religions, deserve to live in a country where they can sleep safely at night, knowing our law enforcement personnel at all levels of government are working around the clock to thwart attacks in our communities. Not just white communities but communities of every color across the country. Every citizen regardless of the color of their skin or zip code, deserves to live in the same safe communities.
Whether motivated by racism or white supremacy or radical Islam or fascism or anarchy or Antifa, terrorists from across the spectrum and across the world should be warned that the United States will not bend to their will or succumb to fear.
My own district has witnessed the horrors of domestic terrorism. Six years ago, a nazi worshipping, white supremacist killed nine black church members at Mother Emanuel during Bible study. This horrific tragedy has inspired me and an untold number of others in our community, in countless ways, to work to root out the worst evils in our country today.
Mother Emanuel not only illustrates the tragedy of domestic terrorism in the United States, but also illustrates the difficulty law enforcement face when confronting such threats. A recent threat assessment by the Intelligence Community notes the difficulty of disrupting lone offenders who radicalize independently and mobilize without direction from any movement or organization.
Yet the domestic terror threat is not the only threat we face today. More Americans are falling victim to violent crime every year, with over 20,000 murders occurring in 2020 alone. And in 2021 we are up 10% over last year. Murders jumped 30% from 2019 to 2020 according FBI statistics.
Additionally, the threat of international terrorism grows by the day. The Biden Administration’s own officials have noted Al Qaeda may reconstitute in the Taliban-controlled country of Afghanistan within as little as one to two years. By what we’ve all witnessed the last few weeks, that reality may come sooner than any of us could have ever anticipated because of the botched exit from Afghanistan.
The threats we face today - whether domestic or foreign - are real, and we must ensure adequate oversight of our government’s plans to detect and disrupt all of these threats. The Biden Administration published its plan to combat domestic terrorism in June of 2021.
This new focus builds on the prior Administration’s efforts to combat Domestic Terrorism, which led to a record number of Domestic Terrorism charges filed by DOJ prosecutors in Fiscal Year 2020.
I wholeheartedly support this effort to combat domestic terror threats. At the same time, we must ensure we are not singularly focused on threats from within at the detriment of efforts to deter threats from without.
It is also essential that any effort to combat domestic terrorism be focused on targeting and disrupting violent behaviors, and that our government not target individuals solely because of their ideologies or beliefs.
We must ensure any plan to combat domestic terrorism includes protections of fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed by our Constitution.
I look forward to hearing about these issues and more from the three career civil law enforcement witnesses here today. I especially look forward to hearing about their efforts, in collaboration with partners across the Federal Government and down to the State and Local level, to detect, disrupt, and prosecute terrorist threats whether foreign or domestic.
Their service, and that of the men and women in law enforcement working under them, is a testament against the irresponsible, reckless and dangerous defund-the-police-rhetoric we continue to hear from some on the left today.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
