[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 183 (Wednesday, December 16, 2015)] [House] [Pages H9349-H9352] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] TRACKING FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN TERRORIST SAFE HAVENS ACT Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4239) to require intelligence community reporting on foreign fighter flows to and from terrorist safe havens abroad, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4239 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act''. SEC. 2. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY REPORTING TO CONGRESS ON FOREIGN FIGHTER FLOWS. (a) Reports Required.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Director of National Intelligence, consistent with the protection of intelligence sources and methods, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on foreign fighter flows to and from terrorist safe havens abroad. (b) Contents.--Each report submitted under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to each terrorist safe haven, the following: (1) The total number of foreign fighters who have traveled or are suspected of having traveled to the terrorist safe haven since 2011, including the countries of origin of such foreign fighters. (2) The total number of United States citizens present in the terrorist safe haven. (3) The total number of foreign fighters who have left the terrorist safe haven or whose whereabouts are unknown. (c) Form.--The reports submitted under subsection (a) may be submitted in classified form. If such a report is submitted in classified form, such report shall also include an unclassified summary. (d) Sunset.--The requirement to submit reports under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is two years after the date of the enactment of this Act. (e) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means-- (1) in the Senate-- (A) the Committee on Armed Services; (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence; (C) the Committee on the Judiciary; (D) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; (E) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (F) the Committee on Foreign Relations; and (G) the Committee on Appropriations; and (2) in the House of Representatives-- (A) the Committee on Armed Services; (B) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; (C) the Committee on the Judiciary; (D) the Committee on Homeland Security; (E) the Committee on Financial Services; (F) the Committee on Foreign Affairs; and (G) the Committee on Appropriations. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey. General Leave Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 4239. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New Jersey? There was no objection. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, terrorism remains one of the greatest threats facing our Nation today. As a member of both the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Armed Services, I have seen how the brave men and women of our Nation's Armed Forces and the intelligence services battle this threat on a daily basis. But the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino has highlighted that this is not just a threat to be faced by our servicemen and - women. We face this threat here at home, in our communities, from individuals who have been radicalized abroad and entered our country with the intent to do us harm. We must focus our intelligence efforts and bring them to bear directly on the problem of individuals radicalizing abroad and traveling to commit terrorist acts here at home. We must ensure that this important information gets into the hands of our Nation's representatives here in the United States Congress. The bill we are debating today will do just that. The Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act requires the intelligence community to report to Congress three important categories of information: The total number of foreign fighters who have traveled to terrorist safe havens, including their country of origin; The number of U.S. citizens present in terrorist safe havens; and The total number of foreign fighters who have left terrorist safe havens or whose whereabouts are unknown. This information is crucial to policymakers. It will help Members understand the size and scope of the threats we face, the potential risk of terrorism at home, and how terrorist safe havens can undermine our national security. By ensuring that this information goes to a wide range of congressional committees, the bill ensures that relevant committees of Congress can begin to address this growing threat. This legislation is also bipartisan. I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell) for cosponsoring this legislation. I want to also thank Chairman Nunes and Ranking Member Schiff and my colleagues on Homeland Security, Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson. Before closing, I want to take a moment to thank the men and women of [[Page H9350]] this country who serve our intelligence community and our Armed Forces. I am honored to know so many of them in the course of my oversight work and to see their diligent efforts in helping to keep our Nation safe. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, let me express my thanks to Mr. LoBiondo, my colleague on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the chairman of its CIA Subcommittee. I serve as the subcommittee's ranking member. I appreciate the bipartisan way that the chairman of the whole committee and our ranking member, Mr. Schiff, as well as the way that Mr. LoBiondo and I have approached this critical issue of foreign fighter flow. ISIS is one of the greatest threats facing the United States today. Defeating ISIS means that the United States and its allies must be more coordinated in our efforts to scrub ISIS from this Earth and to protect Americans at home than ISIS is in attacking us. This will require a multifaceted approach, involving both foreign policy and the way that our intelligence community tracks ISIS here at home. The threat posed by foreign fighters who travel to and from a foreign zone or a terrorist safe haven and then return to wreak havoc in the West is both real and persistent. The challenge is that, when these foreign fighters go to these countries, if they are not killed on the battlefield, oftentimes they learn even better training and are able to return either to Western Europe or other parts of the world or even the United States with improved training and an increased hatred for innocent people. That leaves us very vulnerable. {time} 1200 To help confront this threat, the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act builds on important provisions in the 2016 Intelligence Authorization Act which require a report on foreign fighter flows into and out of Syria and Iraq. This would expand the scope of that report. This bill broadens this requirement by calling on the Director of National Intelligence to report regularly on foreign fighter travel to and from any foreign safe haven or terrorist safe haven. If we do not know who is going to fight in these hot zones, we will have an incomplete picture of our own vulnerabilities. And, these reports have to be specific. They must include, for example, the foreign fighters' countries of origin, the number of foreign fighters who have traveled to or departed each safe haven, and the number of those whose whereabouts remain unknown. Importantly, to the extent a report is submitted in a classified form, it must also include an unclassified summary of the report's contents. I appreciate the chairman agreeing to my request to include this unclassified requirement. Increased transparency and public awareness is very important in the fight against terrorism. These broad, comprehensive reports will allow us to better understand the foreign fighter threat and, in turn, help all of us better protect our national security. Let me again thank Mr. LoBiondo. I urge my colleagues to vote in support of the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. McSally). Ms. McSALLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4239, the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act. This legislation fulfills a recommendation of the Committee on Homeland Security's Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel, of which I was proud to be a member. In fact, our chairman, Mr. Katko, and another member, Mr. Hurd, are with us today to speak on this important legislation. Our bipartisan task force investigated America's security vulnerabilities for 6 months. We produced a final report in September that made 32 key findings and over 50 recommendations to make Americans safer. Today's bill, which I cosponsored, is the direct result of one of these recommendations. We know that ISIS is adept at propaganda and has used social media extensively to attract fighters to their cause. At least 30,000 people from 100 different countries have traveled to Iraq and Syria, including 250 Americans. But their calls to action now extend past Syria and Iraq. In fact, our Task Force found ISIS now has a direct presence, affiliates, or groups pledging support in at least 19 countries. In my 26 years in uniform, including six deployments to the Middle East and Afghanistan and a final assignment at U.S. Africa Command, we watched foreign fighters flow to safe havens in Africa and the Middle East to get training and join the Islamic extremist fight. ISIS has accelerated this dangerous dynamic and is expanding, despite the President declaring otherwise. So our efforts to track these fighters should not be limited to Iraq and Syria. That is why our Task Force recommended that the intelligence community regularly track and update Congress on foreign fighter flows to all terrorist sanctuaries, which is what this bill requires. The administration's response to ISIS can only be described as anemic. We must take decisive action to defeat the ISIS threat and protect Americans. I am pleased that, in the last month, the House has taken action on several of our Task Force's recommendations. It is obvious that more work remains. And if the President won't act, the House will. I urge all Members to join me in supporting H.R. 4239. Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), the ranking member. Mr. SCHIFF. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act, and I want to thank Chairman LoBiondo, Representative Swalwell, and the full committee chairman, Mr. Nunes, for their leadership on this issue. This bill will help inform Congress and the public on one of the most pressing counterterrorism challenges we face today: the flow of foreign fighters from the West to and from Syria, Iraq, and other terrorist safe havens. The Paris attacks brought home the dangers posed by citizens of Western nations who can move easily between countries, traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIS, and who may then return home to commit horrific acts of terror and violence in their own countries. Tracking foreign fighters is a constant concern of the intelligence community and an issue on which we receive continual briefings. I believe these new reporting requirements will help keep Congress and the Nation more fully informed about this very serious threat to our national security. Of course, tracking foreign fighters is not enough. We have to redouble our efforts to staunch the flow of foreign fighters to and from Syria and Iraq. In addition to intelligence coordination, this requires a serious, substantial, and new commitment from Turkey, whose border with Syria has proven to be a conduit for a large number of fighters, as well as oil, money, and arms entering and leaving Syria. From the Mara line to the Euphrates, there is a 60-mile stretch along the Turkish-Syrian border through which much of the illegal trafficking in fighters and goods flow to ISIS. Turkey must close that border to ISIS. It has the power to do so, but does it have the will? Thus far, the answer has been, tragically, no, and this must change. Turkey must stop the flow of foreign fighters from crossing into Syria to join the fight. Where the Turks have been unable or unwilling to stop that flow, Kurdish forces have stepped up and demonstrated much greater success. I believe that if the Turks are unwilling to do more to shut down the flow of foreign fighters and resources that cross that border, we should increase our assistance to the Kurds, who have proven themselves far and away the most effective anti-ISIS fighting force in the region. Once again, I thank the chairman and Representative Swalwell for their leadership on this issue. I hope that, in addition to these reports, we will also hear from the intelligence community [[Page H9351]] about actions that Turkey takes to close down this critical 60-mile stretch of border between the Mara line and the Euphrates. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd). Mr. HURD of Texas. Mr. Speaker, threat equals capabilities plus intent. ISIS has demonstrated that it has both the capabilities and the intent to attack the homeland. ISIS has expanded far beyond Iraq and Syria. It has affiliates that have carried out deadly attacks in Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and France. Groups and individuals have pledged their support to ISIS in numerous other places, including the Philippines, the Palestinian territories, Nigeria, and Sudan. Tracking foreign fighters who travel to Iraq and Syria alone is not enough to mitigate the threat they pose to our national security. Terrorist safe havens around the globe are potential petri dishes for bad guys aiming to do bad things to the U.S. ISIS has explicitly encouraged fighters who cannot make it to Iraq and Syria to join their struggle in other locations. It is imperative that our intelligence and defense efforts aim at tracking and stemming the flow of fighters to and from all terrorist safe havens, even those outside of Iraq and Syria. I was an undercover officer in the CIA, and I understand how important it is to track threat indicators early. We cannot wait until one of these foreign fighters in a terrorist safe haven attempts an attack. We must preempt rather than react. This legislation supports our intelligence community's efforts to do just that. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas for his service in the intelligence community, and I appreciate the bipartisan nature of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell). Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of our Nation's security and in our ongoing fight against terrorists and extremism around the world. As a Member who serves on the Intelligence Committee, the safety and security of the American people is my top priority. H.R. 4239, the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act, requires the intelligence community to report on foreign fighter flows to and from terrorist safe havens abroad. The recent horrific terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris, Beirut, and here at home in San Bernardino, California, not only shake our very conscience, but also cause us to evaluate our own security measures and intelligence protocols. This bill expands on the approach to tracking foreign fighters outlined in the Intelligence Authorization Act, and requires the DNI to produce an additional written report on foreign fighter flows to and from terrorist safe havens abroad every 180 days. Each report would include invaluable details, such as countries of origin, the numbers of U.S. citizen foreign fighters, and the numbers of foreign fighters whose whereabouts are unknown to us. The threat of extremists returning to the United States from the battlefields in Iraq and Syria are serious, and we must do what we can to prevent it. I am convinced that a more vigilant and robust foreign fighter tracking and reporting process is critically important to fighting terrorism and combating ISIS abroad, as well as extremism here at home. We must evaluate our national counterterrorism strategy and policies continuously to ensure that we are doing everything within our power to protect the American people and to defeat and destroy ISIS and all terrorists that seek to do us harm. I want to congratulate the chairman and my colleague, Mr. Swalwell, for their leadership on this effort, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko). Mr. KATKO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for introducing this bill, and I rise today in support of it. The tragic events in San Bernardino have brought ISIS violence to our shores. Attacks like this are aimed at undermining our democratic way of life and sowing fear among the citizens of our Nation. This threat must be defeated, plain and simple. To defeat it, we need to respond in an intelligent manner that deals with the vulnerabilities and protects the constitutional liberties that we hold dear. The measure before us today strengthens our hand against terrorism, and I hope the House will join today in a strong, bipartisan manner to support this bill. I had the privilege of chairing the bipartisan Task Force on Combating Terrorism and Foreign Fighter Travel. Over 6 months, we investigated security gaps at home and abroad to determine the best ways to make America safe. We heard from stakeholders here in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, about the unique challenges they face every day in combating terrorism. Out of this Task Force, we came up with 32 findings and over 50 recommendations that will make our country and our allies safer, if adopted. This bill, Mr. Speaker, contains one of those recommendations, that our intelligence community should report regularly on the flow of foreign fighters to terrorist safe havens. The bill takes action to stop ISIS' practice of encouraging fighters to go to what it calls provinces in places like Libya to carry out acts of terrorism by improving the sharing of information on the flow of these foreign fighters between nations. Understanding where the enemy's safe havens are and tracking and analyzing foreign fighter flows will better allow our intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense to strike effectively and deadly and give us a better picture of the ISIS threat. As we leave to celebrate the holidays with our families, let's leave having taken action on this commonsense bill that will make every American safer. Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson). Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, which I believe is critical to our national security and that of our allies. Public estimates indicate that over 30,000 foreign fighters, including some from the United States, have traveled to Iraq and Syria. Over the last few years, Mr. Speaker, Americans watched as three teenage girls from Denver were arrested on their way to Syria. Ten young men from Minnesota were arrested--including the ringleader just last week--for a similar attempt. These young men and women, Mr. Speaker, and many others who make it to Syria, intend to carry out terrible atrocities against innocent people. Even more concerning, we know that some people hope to return and bring their fight to American soil. {time} 1215 As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I have confidence that the men and women in our intelligence community have the resources and expertise to keep us safe. Every day, they are tracking foreign fighters around the world, coordinating with our allies, and shutting down threats before they become a reality. We need to better understand this threat to create a whole-of-government response. Mr. Speaker, this information will help us conduct outreach into affected communities here at home so we can show parents what their kids are doing online and how to protect them from radicalization. Mr. Speaker, it will help us expand our support and coordination with our allies, including Turkey and Iraq, to show them what they can do, what we can do, and combine our efforts to stop these fighters. These reports, mandated in this legislation, will show where terrorists are coming from and where they train. It will help us assess when they may be returning home and what precautions we need to put in place. In light of the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, this is absolutely critical. I encourage support from my colleagues. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the [[Page H9352]] gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank Chairman LoBiondo for his hard work on this legislation. And I want to thank the House Intelligence Committee for working closely with my committee to get this important legislation done. I can think of no more timely piece of legislation. I want to thank Ranking Member Swalwell from California for his hard work on this as well. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. Hundreds of our people have been radicalized, lured to the jihadist safe haven in Syria. They have been joined by thousands of Westerners, forming a terrorist army unlike anything we have ever seen. These foreign fighters represent a triple threat: They strengthen groups like ISIS on the ground; they radicalize others back home; and, worst of all, they may be sent back to conduct terrorist attacks against us in the homeland. We saw this in the streets of Paris, where battle-hardened extremists returned from Syria prepared to kill. And here at home, we have arrested so-called returnees from Syria, including one individual plotting a terrorist attack in Ohio. Earlier this year, I launched a bipartisan congressional Task Force on Combating Terrorists and Foreign Fighter Travel. One of their findings was that we must do more to track ``the great jihadi migration'' around the world. Our intelligence about foreign fighters in Syria is improving, but as we have seen, the threat can change almost overnight. ISIS is already urging its followers to go to its other sanctuaries in places like Afghanistan and Libya. We need to stay a step ahead of this threat, which is why this legislation requires the intelligence community to track extremist travel patterns and to report on a regular basis to Congress. It also requires agencies to monitor the number of U.S. citizens in terror hotspots and to report on how many individuals have departed those locations. This is the kind of early-warning intelligence we need in order to create a ``firebreak'' to slow the spread of Islamist terror, and to keep Americans from being lured to new jihadist safe havens. I would like to commend the task force for their hard work on this, including Mr. Katko. And let me just say this. I get regular threat briefings, and I have never seen a higher threat environment than we have seen since 9/11, and it is from the flow of foreign fighters. We have 5,000 of them that have Western passports, 30,000 foreign fighters from 100 different countries; 250 Americans have left to join the fight, and, Mr. Speaker, that is just who we know about. Now we know they are communicating in dark space. As the Director of the FBI says, they have one simple message: Come to fight in Syria or kill where you are. Unfortunately, we have seen them too often come to fight in Syria and, unfortunately, just recently, too many that have come to kill here in the United States. Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley). Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, in these trying times, Congress needs to provide leadership and answer the question: What really keeps Americans safe? ISIS has directed U.S. and Western passport holders to launch attacks at home and abroad, and this threat requires our vigilance. But it is foolish to think we can effectively combat this terrorism blindly. Congress needs an accurate estimation of the number of foreign fighters who have traveled to terrorist havens like Syria. We need to know how many U.S. citizens are currently there, and we need to know the whereabouts of those who have left. Given that many of the terrorist attackers were European nationals, the need for this intelligence is crucial in the fight against ISIS and those who wish to harm the U.S. The Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act provides for a more clear understanding of the real threats to U.S. security and allows Congress to work in partnership with our national security agencies to defend against these threats. I am happy to support this commonsense step to keep Americans safe. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers on this side, so I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Again, I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for working in a bipartisan way to address one of the greatest threats that the United States, our allies, and people in the Middle East face today, and that is ISIS. ISIS is a brutal, growing force, growing in its influence and ability to carry out successful terrorist attacks, but also growing in its ability to inspire others to take up attacks on their own. ISIS has been so successful these days that they don't even have to order attacks here in America. Their success has inspired others to take up their own attacks. Until we are as coordinated as they are, they will continue to be successful. We saw, in Paris, that a number of the attackers were people who had traveled from Western Europe to Syria and then returned to carry out the horrific attacks we saw back in November. But we can defeat ISIS. We have defeated evil as a country before, and this country works best when its leaders work to protect the American people in a bipartisan way, as we are seeing today. There is no silver bullet we can fire to stop ISIS. Instead, ISIS' defeat will come at the hands of American leadership--American leadership in stitching together a coalition of countries willing and able to defeat ISIS--but also American leadership and its own intelligence community to protect us here at home. Mr. Speaker, let me close by reiterating my strong support for the Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act. The information that this will provide is an important step regarding foreign fighter training, and it will be of great importance as we continue to fight terrorism at home and abroad and secure our homeland. Again, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Once again, I join in thanking my colleague from California (Mr. Swalwell). I think the approach we have had to this is exactly what we need in combating terrorism. It is hard to imagine, even just a few years ago, that we would be facing this threat that we face today and this threat of terrorism that we have seen, this barbaric face in Paris and in San Bernardino, the fact that the enemy is evolving in so many different ways, and the fact that we have to be right 100 percent of the time and that they have so many different avenues that they can pursue. This piece of legislation is another piece to the puzzle which will help our country and our agencies be able to figure things out. Our intelligence community works tirelessly with law enforcement to be able to figure out what the next challenge is. I hope the people of America understand the expertise and professionalism that the intelligence community and law enforcement bring to the table to keep our country safe. I hope my colleagues understand how important this legislation is and everyone votes ``yes'' to support it. I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Tipton). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4239, as amended. The question was taken. The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it. Mr. LoBIONDO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. ____________________