comment by Jerry Gordon

Last week, Rep. Sue Myrick invited our colleague Brigitte Gabriel and other leaders in the fight against Political Islam in America to a preview conference of this interim report on her “Wake up America” Agenda. Myrick noted progress and status of several of the initiatives that she had highlighted in her original agenda released in April, 2008. Myrick and other present also paid recognition to ACT! for America burgeoning membership and activism. One example of that was the literal swamping’ of the Shariah finance blog after an ACT! for America, email alert was sent out. That means that the ACT! for America presence is being felt out there. Read Rep. Myrick’s interim report below and sign up for her newsletters, here, to keep abreast of what the status is on the agenda issues.

“Wake Up America” Agenda Progress Report July/August 2008

In April 2008, Rep. Myrick released her “Wake Up America” agenda. Her goal in releasing her agenda is to alert, and educate, Americans to terrorist threats here at home posed by radical Islamic extremists. Note: This is Rep. Myrick’s own agenda, this is not the agenda of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus.

To view the “Wake Up America” Agenda, and background information, please click here.

Anti-Terrorism Caucus

“Terrorists don’t target Democrats or Republicans. They target Americans, and this is why we must face this issue as Americans. Members of Congress and the American public must know the threats we face from radical jihadist terrorists. The Anti-Terrorism Caucus will give Congress the tools and resources it needs to communicate those threats to the public, as well as help them make more informed decisions when it comes to terrorist issues.”
- Rep. Myrick’s statement when announcing the new bipartisan Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus in January 2007

In January 2007, Rep. Myrick founded the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Caucus. She along with Representatives Bud Cramer (D-AL), Kay Granger (R-TX), and Jane Harman (D-CA) are the 4 Caucus co-chairs. Members of this Caucus attend meetings where experts give presentations regarding terrorism and jihadist ideology.

Rep. Myrick hopes that the American public will see that Iraq is just one part of the greater war against radical Islamic Jihadists. She hopes that by forming this new caucus, Members can educate themselves on the threats we face so that they can take that knowledge back home and help educate their constituents.

This caucus now has over 120 members and is getting valuable information on things such as terrorist use of the internet, terrorist financing, and jihadist history and ideology.

US Military Chaplain Program

Actions:

* On June 4, 2008, Rep. Myrick sent a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates inquiring if the Department of Defense has reexamined its chaplain approval process for the military since the arrest and conviction of Abdurahman Alamoudi.

* On June 25, 2008, the Department of Defense (DoD) replied to Rep. Myrick with a letter and packet containing the DoD Inspector General’s (IG) evaluation report on the DoD Chaplain Program, which was finished in November of 2004. The packet also included the DoD guidelines for the appointment of chaplains for the military service.

The DoD IG report had five observations and suggestions to strengthen the DoD Chaplain Program. However, the concern is that Observation 3 was not adopted:

· Observation 3 suggested DoD establish nonreligious criteria that would allow DoD to withdraw or remove a religious organization or its agent from participating in the DoD chaplain program. Such examples of non-religious criteria suggested were advocating the violent overthrow of the US Government, listed on a watch list of terrorist organizations, or conviction of a religious organization or its principal leaders in connection with terrorism. Observation 3 also included suggestions to use the FBI or other agencies to help screen religious organizations and their agents. The DoD rejected this observation because they said that it was “legally problematic” and the DoD was focused on individual merit of the prospective Chaplin, while the IRS “should remain the focal point for institutional merit” (IRC- 501 (c) (3) criteria). NOTE: DoD has adopted part of this observation, which includes: removal and rejection of chaplains and religious organizations that are under indictment or have been convicted of a terrorist related offense, or if the religious organization appears on the State Department list of Foreign Terror Organizations.

· On July 16, 2008, Rep. Myrick sent another letter to DoD. (typo date on letter) In this letter she expresses that they didn’t address Alamoudi directly and lists 7 specific questions about the program and their efforts to ensure that chaplains serving in our military do not have the same radical ties as Alamoudi.

Conclusion/Future Actions:

* Rep. Myrick believes that DoD should fully adopt Observation 3 in the DoD IG report, and even go further by creating a very strict vetting process. DoD should do more to screen religious groups than merely rely on the IRS, Department of Justice court cases or prosecutions, or the Department of State. Common sense also point to the fact that those wishing to infiltrate the system will not do so under the guise of a known terrorist organization. DoD should use FBI and CIA resources to help them ensure radical elements do not have a foothold in the DoD Chaplin Program, or anywhere in the DoD. Rep. Myrick is currently considering ways to push DoD to action on this matter.

* Rep. Myrick will await the response to her most recent letter and then may request more information, or may begin to set up face to face meetings with Pentagon officials on this issue.

Action items:

* Citizens wishing to get involved in this issue should contact the Department of Defense and ask them to:

1. Consider setting up a process by which they vet religious organizations, based on their own strict standards, and not go merely based on the IRS’ tax status, Department of Justice indictments or convictions, or Department of State watch lists.
2. Answer Rep. Myrick’s questions and release the information to the public about those who were placed in to the military’s chaplain program by Alamoudi and the organizations of which he was associated.

*You can email the Department of Defense and leave a comment with this webform:

Federal Bureau of Prisons Chaplain Program

Actions:

* On June 4, 2008, Rep. Myrick sent a letter to the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Harley Lappin, asking him to reexamine its chaplain approval process since the arrest and conviction of Abdurahman Alamoudi.

* On June 25, 2008, the Federal Bureau of Prisons responded with a letter that stated they had been investigated by the Office of the Inspector General and had updated their practices after the IG 2004 report. They also stated that they had not had any connection with Alamoudi or his organizations.

* Based on the answers in the letter, Rep. Myrick followed up with a phone call to the Director of the Chaplain program in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). Rep. Myrick’s discussion found:

o The FBOP uses their own staff to review applicants. They do not use outside religious agents.
o They do a good job of background checks to ensure the applicant has no radical ties.
o Sermons are English only. The only time an inmate can speak in a foreign language during a religious service is for religious prayer recitations. The inmates are very well monitored and supervised during these times.
o They have inventoried and screened books, videos, recordings, etc. to ensure religious material has no radical messages.
o They work closely with the FBI to recruit chaplains. They also work closely with the National Joint Terrorism taskforce if they feel a prisoner is being radicalized.
o They have a strong comprehensive plan in place to control radicalization and work to help states develop strong plans as well.

Conclusion/Future Actions:

· Rep. Myrick believes the Federal Bureau of Prisons understands the infiltration of radicals into our system and is doing all they can to ensure they do not get a foothold in the prison system. They are also doing a very good job to prevent radicalization in the federal prison system. There are concerns that they still use ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) to suggest chaplains, however, the use of the FBI coupled with their vetting processes helps damper any major concerns.

· After Rep. Myrick’s phone conversation, she feels that attention now needs to be turned to the state prison systems. The Federal Bureau of Prisons works with several groups and organizations to help share best practices with state prisons in order to help them increase their standards for vetting religious providers as well as preventing radicalization. Rep. Myrick plans to contact these organizations and ensure they have strong standards and can push the state prison systems to adopt these standards. Rep. Myrick will also consider creating a grant program for state prison employees to get training from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or other groups, to learn how to better vet religious providers and counter religious radicalization of their inmates.

Action items:

* Citizens wishing to get involved in this issue should contact their Governor and director of their state prison system and ask them to:

1. Make public their policy for vetting religious providers to ensure they have no radical elements, as well as make public their policies regarding how they review religious materials being distributed to inmates to ensure there are no radical teachings.
2. Make public any religious groups or organizations that are allowed to give sermons or religious guidance to prisoners.
3. Ask them if they follow the same standards used by the FBOP, and suggested by the American Correctional Association (http://www.aca.org/), regarding proper vetting of religious providers, and countering religious radicalization in their prisons.
4. Ask them if they monitor communications (phone calls/letters) of prisoners that are suspected to have radical ties, or are suspected of being radicalized by religious groups.
5. Ask them if they send their employees to any training conferences or programs to help them better update and develop policy regarding religious radicalization in their prison system.
6. Ask them if they notify the National Joint Terrorism Taskforce if they feel that an inmate being released has been radicalized and may have ties to terrorist organizations.

*State prison system contact information can be found here.

Religious Visa Reciprocity

Actions

* Rep. Myrick has introduced legislation that would deny religious visas to those whose country denies our citizens reciprocal religious visits to their country. The bill number is H.R.6590.

* Rep. Myrick has signed onto Rep. Anthony Weiner’s bill, H.R.2981, which would halt the issuance of visas to citizens of Saudi Arabia until the President certifies that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not discriminate in the issuance of visas on the basis of religious affiliation or heritage.

* Rep. Myrick has instructed the Congressional Research Service to compile a list of countries who deny our religious workers access to their country. This will give us a better picture of what countries discriminate against us based on religion.

Conclusion/Future Actions:

· Rep. Myrick is unsure if this legislation will have a chance of getting passed in an election year. However, we believe that this legislation will help generate a discussion and point out the countries that speak of religious freedoms, yet blatantly reject people from coming to their country based on a religious belief.

Action items:

* Citizens wishing to get involved in this issue should contact their Member of Congress and urge them to sign up as a cosponsor to Rep. Myrick’s legislation (H.R.6590), as well as Rep. Weiner’s legislation (H.R.2981).

*Your Member can be found here.

Other “Wake Up America” Items to Note

Arab Linguist Program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation

On June 12, 2008, Rep. Myrick sent a letter to the Assistant Director of Congressional Affairs, Richard Powers, asking him specific questions about the Arab Linguist Program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI told us on July 21, 2008, that they had received the letter and are currently working to respond to the questions. We are unsure when we will get an official response.

Sovereign Wealth Fund investments

Over the past several months, Rep. Myrick’s office has been doing extensive research into Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF). Based on the nature and scope of how SWFs have developed and are used, we feel that a GAO study should not be requested as of yet. It is extremely hard to calculate where the funds have been placed due to transparency issues. Currently, Rep. Myrick is trying to schedule meetings at the Treasury and with experts on this issue. To get to the root of the issue with SWFs, Rep. Myrick is considering drafting legislation that would create basic rules of transparency for SWF investments in the US. These basic requirements would be as simple as releasing their size, origin and history, returns achieved, target investments, and investment strategies. They should also make this information available on a public website. This would provide a foundation to protect individual investors, address some national security concerns, and help us track what and where countries are investing in our businesses and economic sectors. This legislation would be based largely on the best practices of SWFs that are very transparent, such as Norway’s Government Pension Fund, and suggestions by experts.