Acknowledging my counterpart, congressman walker. Im going to repeat what i said previously because our friend who is injured because he tried to wrestle me. [laughter] she has made the decision to briefly pause his career in Public Service. I dont believe it is the last chapter or by any sense of the word, but to say so definitively on the record, its been one of the greatest honors of my life serving on the subcommittee with mr. Walker and i look forward to serving with you in many capacities in the years to come, sir. Throughout the united state states, 2049 carried out by extremist. Since december 23rd the attacks on jews across new york city and each and every one of these attacks there is some elected official in america that says our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and their families after each and every one of these attacks there is some elected official in america who says we must take action. Today that is exactly what we have got to focus on. Why. Why is this happening . How is this happening . Most importantly what we do tomorrow and the next week and the next month today in my Community Jews are afraid to go outside or afraid to speak hebrew in public and afraid to congregate amongst friends and family and afraid to observe the high holy days. Over 100 years ago my greatgrandfather came to new york city fleeing antisemitism he came to america because this country is not just a countr country, it stands for something its a beacon for freedom and today we consider how can we ensure our best days are not in our Rearview Mirror . Considering everything from appointing federal officials fbi task force regulate social media, increase funding to make sure no person is afraid to play at a church or synagogue or mosque. Today we consider the rise of antisemitism across the political spectrum because this isnt a problem for a Political Party and certainly not something we should subject to the hyper partisanship and divisiveness taking over this town. Hopefully for a few hours today we can be a body that considers a problem and solutions to that problem. With that ladies and gentlemen thank you for being here. I would like to acknowledge chairman thompson who is i think the most extraordinary chairman in the history of the United StatesCongress Side defer to you if you like to make an opening statement. Im not used to such nice comments from you. [laughter] thank you for convening this important hearing today. It is for all members of congress to condemn asks of domestic terrorism the issue has been a priority for a long time for this committee as you heard in the may full Committee Hearing confronting the rise of domestic terrorism in the homeland we have seen a dramatic rise of rightwing domestic terrorism including anti somatic violence in recent years. Unfortunately recent events have once again confirmed anti somatic violence is an urgent and growing threat to the homeland. Just last month the jewish communities in new york and new jersey areas were subject to violent acts once again reminded us why it is so important for the federal government to work with state and local partners to combat domestic terrorism. Across the country we see houses of worship and other institutions increasingly targeted thats why i was proud to introduce hr 2476 the american nonprofit organizations against terrorism act of 2019 which authorizes the nonprofit Grant Program. To provide grants to nonprofits and faithbased organizations in urban and rural areas to help secure their families against a potential terrorist attack i am glad the bill passed both the house and the senate i hope the president will sign into law shortly while this is an important step Congress Needs to make sure all precautions are taken to protect communities targeted by hate and violence reevaluating the Grant Program funding levels working with Community Groups and leaders to establish meaningful partnerships to attack this issue i am encouraged dhs released the first ever strategic framework to combat terrorism and violence for i still have many questions for implementation and this strategy appears to be a step in the right direction i look forward to continuing oversight on this issue and working together with stakeholders for the improvement in this effort we hope to hear additional suggestions as to how this committee incur domestic terrorism by protecting Civil Liberties of all Americans Congress must continue to advocate for policies to protect the Jewish Community and all impacted by acts of domestic terror i look forward to hearing testimony from the witness stand thank you chairman for convening this hearing. I yield back to the chair recognizes the Ranking Member from north carolina. I appreciate your genuine passion on this topic thank you for scheduling this hearing with nonprofit groups with important Background Information for todays hearing. We can deny what we see take place but theres no rise antisemitic behavior as increased with the freedom of belief the cornerstone is violated when people cannot gather safely and places of worship are their own house also if they are threatened at work on a College Campus. In the past 14 months since the white supremacist are targeting jews in the United States at the tree of life synagogue there have been multiple deadline antisemitic attacks including san diego in jersey city, and in new york know community is immune to the threat of antisemitism and unfortunately includes areas i represent last year before Rosh Hashanah propaganda was found in later the car was damaged by gunfire outside the Student Center at the university of services marking the end of yom kippur were taking place. The attacks have been rising and the trend is similar across europe for guy remember after the shooting in pennsylvania i remember wanting to reach out to my friends. Anti somatic incidents demonstrate a variety of ideological motivations attacking the tree of life was White Nationalist belief jersey city was connected with no clear Ideological Movement for those attacks and slurs against jews in new york city. And an attack on any is on the faithful and hate crimes must explicitly and soundly be condemned there is no one solution for faithbased attacks that more can be done by the government and the private sector and the Faithbased Community. We have a very distinguished panel of Witnesses Today who offer recommendations including nonprofit security Grant Funding for information sharing i look forward to hearing more about these and other recommendations from all witnesses finally the broad range of hatred in our society has led left too many stars im open to a bipartisan discussion hateful ideologies and recommendations to address these threats to our homeland. We must continue to work in a bipartisan fashion for those problems not only associate with anti semitism but the proliferation of hate and intolerance thank you for appearing today i yield back the balance of my time. Thank you serve. To our panel of witnesses, the ceo of the antidefamation league. Next we are joined by the executive director of the union of Orthodox Jewish congregations of america. I just want to say one thing. We have seen certainly the Orthodox Community disproportionately suffering from a high rate of these antisemitic attacks i have the luxury to step outside my home people not necessarily knowing that i am jewish. Our brothers and sisters do not have that luxury and we do acknowledge this problem and thank you for your leadership. Next professor of law at george mason and finally founder and president of the foundation for the defense of democracy. Without objection statements will be inserted into the record please summarize for five minutes. Chairman, Ranking Member and all distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify today. For more than a century battling antisemitism through justice and fair treatment to all we stand on the front lines of hate in any form and its fair to say the past few years have been the most challenging we have seen in recent memory. From pittsburgh to muncie in jersey city, el paso and orlando. Charleston to christchurch and the list goes on its not just the high profile Violent Attacks i want to talk about today that the kid who snaps the higher hitler salute or the swastika on a garage door a College Campus where jewish students are ostracized for supporting israel. This moment is about women wearing wigs harassed as they ride the subway men in black hats assaulted as they cross the street. The idea a person is not safe in their supermarket or synagogue or in their home just because they are jewish. In fact in the most recent audit of antisemitic incidents we recorded more than 1800 acts of 2018 the third highest total we have seen in 40 years. The result came on the heels of our 2017 audit with a 57 percent surge over the prior year the largest on record and in 2019 in new york city alone there were more anti jewish hate crimes than all put together. Let me surprise you this increase happens against the backdrop of steady relatively low levels of attitudes of the general population that fellow americans are not hating more but a growing group of people acting out on hate. Why is that quick stair leading voices in our nation from both sides of the political spectrum and academic institutions in the media and other stations of public life to normalize antisemitism of globalist controlling government jewish money destroying our borders and loyalty to jewish status and one citizens are attacking the state with the myth that was used throughout history to demonize the jewish people and all of these render it routine. Thats why its so important we call out antisemitism whenever it happens but especially when it is uttered by our own allies and friends. We need leaders to stop politicizing antisemitism no matter what the political affiliation. We need citizens to step up and demand more of people than public life to insist on a zero tolerance policy. Provide logistic knowledge i applaud you for speaking out mister chairman. Second, we have Online Platforms that tolerate antisemitism and hate. Not just adults but children to find horrific hate 365 days a week and someone that has built off the products in Silicon Valley it is impossible it is an amplifier and connector and catalyst it is long overdue to step up and shut down the neonazis Companies Like twitter and facebook to protecting vulnerable losers to protect their corporate profits. I want to follow up this it is not the time we need resources and actions so let me give you some idea what you can do across party lines number one passed the domestic terrorism prevention act that Law Enforcement agencies deal on the homefront and the no hate act which is local Law Enforcement of how to deal with this and pass legislation and pass the never again holick cost education xo children are educated the nonprofit security grants commercial for at risk institutions to meet the need of all faith groups and Community Centers and to encourage the state department violent whites a promised organizations overseas equally violent hate groups at home to be designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations if americans are supporting them and to serve as your partner im grateful for the opportunity i look forward to your questions. Please summarize your statement for five minutes. I am the executive director for Public Policy the largest orthodox Umbrella Organization representing jewish parochial schools around the country in the year 1798 in his letter to Newport Rhode island he ended his letter with a prayer may the children of the stock of abraham dwell in this land continue to marry and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants. While everyone should be in safety and there shall be none to make them afraid. I have been asked to testify here before the subcommittee to describe the problem of the Orthodox Jewish segment of the orthodox Jewish Community and the problem is simply this. Now in the year 2020 the children of abraham are afraid in a way we have never been before. We are in the threat of violence and to shop in the supermarket for groceries. In the United States there has been discrimination for many years as in other places around the world it wasnt of a predominantly violent kind. Jews were gunned down in prayer and shopping for groceries in jersey city. Visibly identifiable have been assaulted on the streets from new york to miami and elsewhere if we wear a hat or a long beard are subject most of the verbal and physical assaults. Anxiety of this new reality in the Orthodox Jewish communities across the entire country there is widespread belief that this wave of physical attacks are an outgrowth of many years of expressions not only anti semitic bias in general that anti orthodox bias in particular that have long gone unreported and and repeated. And then to make anti orthodox and anti orthodox actions. Jackson and local leaders and in the course of doing so those Orthodox Jews invading the community as dirty or religious zealots. Attacked the intervention of the department of justice to resolve those disputes and in the Hudson Valley as a town supervisor to speak of blocking Housing Developments from hasidic view on choose to say if theres any way to choose to live there we will. Days after the shooting which killed two Orthodox Jews , member of the local board of education are brutes to waive bags of money and ask of people in the community at large are brave enough to explore the message the shooters were trying to send. If the celebration attack happened last month they released a video advertisement last summer criticizing an official of an orthodox view and support Housing Development to allow them to move into that area. The video accuse the legislator to plot a takeover of the community to threaten our way of life. The video was taken down. And not part of american society. To amplify an accelerated that jonathan and the adl have well documented. With those semitic accusations that they are attacked assaulted for and abuse. Mister chairman i will conclude these opening remarks i am not without hope to Governor Cuomo and murphy but to undertake concrete action and then make our communities safer go the fact that you and your colleagues have convened this hearing to confront the problem looking at ways to stop it gives me hope and the fact that i is orthodox jew representing my community could join the people of many different faiths to serve on the Advisory Committee from general allen and to make recommendations how the federal government can protect not only churches and mosques and temples. And that we can all Work Together to keep washingtons prayer ally for my community and all faith communities. And we need to join with it a prayer presented in albany new york last week by the rabbi whose home was the side of the attack. He delivered the prayer last week at the governor state of the state address and included in the prayer merciful god give us the courage to overcome tragedy, heal the wounds of hatred and bless us with solidarity for tolerance of brotherhood among all communities. That is a recipe for action and success. We must all join in this effort because as america slides further into the swamp of antisemitism to lose the essential elements to be a beacon of religious freedom in the world. I thank you again for holding this hearing and in advance for the actions for a member of the Advisory Committee i join in the list of recommendations which we will discuss has the hurt one hearing goes on thank you for working with us to combat this situation. Thank you. You may summarize your statement for five minutes. Chairman rose Ranking Member and distinguish members of the committee, thank you. For the opportunity to testify i commend you for holding this hearing talking about it antisemitic terrorism and strongly suggests that makes a significant contribution to the rise of antisemitic domestic terrorism. Predating the jewish nascent nation in the imperialist to conquer their lands over the centuries jews have been persecuted based on their religion and what used to be called their race. Despised for being rich and poor as a capitalist and a communist and as a nationalist. They may be white supremacist or self proclaimed social justice warriors you cannot reason people out of antisemitism because nobody was ever reasoned into it which should be apparent in the 20th century antisemitism culminated in the extermination of the european jew in now its for the extermination of the state has the law and is some one islamic public of iran is candid about their genocidal intentions the Supreme Leader has called a malignant cancerous tumor that must be removed and eradicated. And to say if jews all gather in israel it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide more than half that dissent for centuries and diverse city such as cairo and aleppo and in 1945 as much as one third jewish. Jews were driven out not because they supported israel but because they were jews. You hear people say im not anti semitic im anti zionist. The mission was to reestablish a Jewish National state for the ancient jewish homeland. Since 1948 zionism has come to mean support for the right to exist if you are the anti zionist today for the only viable Jewish Community in the middle east jewish lives do not matter. But we have today is a global epidemic even edgy and fashionable and then where there are no jews one example malaysia Prime Minister is outspokenly anti somatic. Last fall at Columbia University and now invited to speak when you say you cannot be anti somatic there is no free speech. And with Columbia University as a Global Leader those that speak away muslims or those of the Lgbt Community and a retired physician stabbed and thrown to her death from her balcony by a neighbor. A court has dismissed all charges against her killer that he was not responsible because he was smoking marijuana. In argentina five years ago a prosecutor investigating the bombing of a Jewish Community center was shot in the head hours before to present evidence against officials of the Islamic Republic of iran he says he has no idea who was responsible another alleged coverup . In Great Britain there was a chance an antisemite would be elected Prime Minister. Want to go one i want to remind you the United Nations is a veritable volcano of anti israeli rhetoric and resolutions. Un Human Rights Council is the most prolific of any of the jewish state american tax dollars support it. Mainstreaming and condoning hitch hatred may not cause terrorism but it is a major contributing factor. My time is up in my written testimony i elaborate and offer Additional Information based on the research of the scholars and given 14 specific recommendations chairman thompson for shedding light on this issue thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you for inviting me today to discuss anti semitism. My comments will focus on practices and campaigns to legitimize anti semitism and in particular on the anti semitic nature against entities just because of their connection to the state of israel. Bdf promote violence and as a pariah status. And to make antisemitism acceptable. When seeking to legitimize discriminatory refusals to do business because of their connection to the jewish state. This is bigotry doing business boycotting people because of their race or Sexual Orientation is discriminatory. So that movement is antisemitic and then most significantly by more than two dozen states in america that have passed laws refusing to do business with people because of the Sexual Orientation or other factors it makes no difference that the calls to boycott it is our largest Jewish Community in the world and then to target israel it is clear proxy antidiscrimination law makes clear a proxy can be discriminatory. To be sure supporters say they are good boycotts in the past like in south africa. So they are a tool how do we know if they are good or bad . Three factors help identify of the refusals to deal so the first factor is history boycotts in jewish businesses have a bad history and the boycott began in 1948 by the arab league to suffocate the new country. And with judeo and the west bank and the second factor to help differentiate the boycott is focus. The invitation of those norms to demonize and isolate just one country of 21 percent of the worlds population thats why the working definition of many Countries List as a contemporary example antisemitism to apply a double standard to israel. And inevitably applies a double standard for the jewish state it goes far beyond double standard and those of the boycotts themselves call for boycotting israel and to enjoy substantial connections of the occupied territories. But actively to justify the boycott i explained one of the most energetic campaign of the middle east division of the human rights launch to support armenian settlements. Calling for a boycott it is not about International Law but creating a unique everything around the jewish state. And with that discriminatory boycott and those pro boycott groups and written testimony they have openly called for an end to the jewish state. Singularity and after all these factors lined up to have that documented nature to become clear and it is a way to wrap in the mantle of human rights rhetoric some of the most toxic ideas in history. Congress has a role to play to combat this act to the action of 28 states and then adding to existing federal regulation but then the Arab League Boycotts by international organizations. Mister chairman and Ranking Member and chairman thank you for your time i welcome your questions. Thank you for your testimony will each of five minutes for questions i will now recognize chairman thompson from mississippi. Thank you for that testimony. No one on the panel understands the severity of anti semitism and its impact in this country. But the notion that there is a quick fix. So what we are task work is to be thoughtful and pragmatic so part of your testimony here today moves us in that direction. So how can we, the government effectively protect against violence in a way that does not involve over policing and other strategies of Civil Liberties and privacy i would say my community and our communities around the country its not over policing that under policing because these are happening with violence on the streets we need the police to be in the Community Protecting people from these assaults. The number one thing i have heard among the Coalition Groups more than a decade ago to help create the Grant Program and we thank you for your leadership and moving the authorizing bill for the coming years. We did not anticipate back in 2005 when the program started the nightmare situation we are in today the number one thing i have heard certainly from my synagogues working with representatives is the number one request synagogues are asking we need Security Guards and the police to be more frequently patrolling outside our houses of worship on a saturday morning or sunday morning Many Police Departments dont have the resources to deploy officers to that many locations. So that thing is the department of justice to provide on an annual basis to local Police Departments and i would suggest congress should take a look at those doj grants specifically allocated for efforts to do more policing around houses of worship and communities park i would also say increasing the resources help houses of worship it is great we got it up to 90 million this year but i can tell you based on dhs shared with the Advisory Committee last year the last fiscal year there were 60 million in the pot there is 169 million worth of applications. In the five years prio prior, 131 million of grant money available 357 million worth of application. So it far exceeds the resources Congress Puts into place. That so. First of all mister chairman i would just keep in mind what you said is absolutely true talking about more policing on policing is a long history. Keep in mind if there any jews of color latino Asian American who have similar concerns is not something thats unique keep in mind the houses of worship we are talking about and those that we see are not located in dense urban environments against communities of color but those in other parts of the area we just dont have those issues. As we engage Law Enforcement in a way that is sensitive to the outlying communities. So i would suggest there is the ability to engage in security measures to keep the mosque in black churches that is respectful of the equities of all people in the area. The question is to have the training so it goes hand in hand. The other issue, bear with me. So those that are pushing out the hate we grapple from the committees perspective for what do we do . Taking the policy position if you pay for it whether it is right or wrong you can put it on the platform. Some of us disagree with that other said no. Its wrong and we knew it was wrong. So we have some Public Policy issues on that platform and how do you think congress should address those quex. I can give you some specifics but to open in the center in Silicon Valley which is headed up by a former Software Engineer because we need to work with the companies that pay for innovation it is so dramatic its hard to keep up with it and yet we cannot wait for the companies to write themselves. There are steps that can be taken so number one the Online Safety modernization act is quite relevant to protect individuals thats something to look at and thats right now going through committee and number two we should push the companies to take concrete measures to have their own terms of service. Companies have them but think of accountability the same way other businesses do if you yell at all the people hey mexicans go back to mexico if you stand at starbucks down the street and yell at the jews you destroy our borders the manager will throw you out we should ask facebook and twitter exercise the same discretion to throw out the neonazis. The second thing to do things that when you promote the white supremacist and hateful rhetoric targeting any community from any side of the aisle when your child opens up youtube. Number three Machine Learning they should invest the same energy from corporate copyrights. Lastly, transparency. People ask do they shadow ban certain groups . Independent thirdparty regular audits. By the way like all other businesses can comply with, i will stop. For some reason not to obey the same laws or gravity radio is because of the communication decency act section 230 per quite we can take that on but there steps you can do right now to hold them accountable. Is certainly agree that two other points. And its my understanding that the software and algorithms by those who want to thwart sex trafficking ai programs were developed to be overlaid on the internet or facebook and is able to flag and take down with keywords to suppress the ability of sex traffickers for that purpose there is no way it cannot be utilized to combat racism and the other pernicious things we try to oppose. And i would just add that antisemitism dont think we will cure us but treat us in many ways talk about training and education having members of Congress Talking about this issue with Community Leaders and officials with members of the Jewish Community and it is very important to send the message that anti israel is a man zion is him that people do not tolerate and Columbia University invites an outspoken anti semite i would love to see a member of Congress Speak about that kind of situation. To proliferate long before the incident it didnt take facebook or the protocols and with the internet now and then to say for example its not actual protocols. I testified last year or earlier this year on the senate and we have to remember on facebook just like those protocols are protected by the First Amendment and the Communications Decency act for the carveout which are not required and can be reevaluated. And using those benefits wisely. We now go to my colleague. Mister chairman there was no cry on surprise antisemitism is on the rise around the world. Quite a bit of violence and anti somatic rhetoric for going much of western europe. And another thing thats going on to be aware is that crimes against jews are treated differently than other groups or minorities. Where a woman in france was murdered and not the suspect has been let off because he was smoking marijuana and that made him not responsible for quite dont think that would happen very often there was a lower court in germany in the same synagogue used in 1938 and that the perpetrators should be released with that punishment because they were incensed about israels actions so i didnt constitute anti semitism. And in belgium last year one was found guilty of murdering the israeli couple at a Jewish Museum in brussels but that was a targeted execution by agents of the mossad and did not present any evidence. And to see what is happening in europe is very dangerous and feels very threatened. Thank you for your answer we appreciate you being here in your opinion at the anti semitic terrorism contributing to the rise in the united state states . The phenomenon and from the left in from the right with that demonization beyond the pale to make them particularly legitimate objects of hate and that idea comes mainstream , then antisemites that you might find in america can attach themselves to that. How would you recommend or should you to push back against that around the globe . So my comments to single out israel from boycotts and companies doing business and to the extent its part of broader efforts and measures like the anti israel boycott act push back on the extraordinary effort to make a list of companies and businesses on blacklist. These are crucial for congress to take the lead. Do you believe antisemitism comes from many different ideological drivers . Yes. Yes. Yes. Based on your testimony if you believe the movement is anti somatic . I believe that. Yes some of the people that are responsible that are anti somatic the outcome that they generate are anti somatic as well. And then to you agree with your colleagues they are attacking the bottle the Broader Movement and with those advocates who say they want to change policies toward palestinians . Yes i do reject that. We have some history here. Israel pulling out of gaza one of the occupied territories and the palestinians is real said okay gaza has since become a platform for terrorism and then to leave the west bank to simply to pull out but you have missiles and mortars fired in close proximity israel would have to go back in there smart advocates know this they simply do not care. It makes me think of my africanamerican brothers and sisters who can relate to what you are going through. Also i would like to say a special thank you and his last term theres been no stronger voice with these issues and with that i yelled back. I ask unanimous consent to ask questions of the witnesses into miss jacksonlee from texa texas. Thank you mister chairman for all of the witnesses that are here today. But this has been at the forefront of dealing with the acts we have had to endure. But enduring is not the same thing as losing your life as having your religious services violated and then to wear your religious attire and walk the streets of any city in this nation. I reminded knowing her for a good number of years to remind us what it was like as they were gunned down in the front yard of their home in front of their children. On forgetting and on forgetful to see and be reminded in mississippi to symbolize the violence of that time. There were people during that era afraid to come ou out, walk, gather, and of course america rallied to be able to use the department of justice in the effective manner. To utilize what presents federal marshals and entities that could be used to come to the deep south to break the chains of absolute fear. For those girls in the Birmingham Church . But i will say it. How tragic we return to that fear in 21st Century America to celebrate the diversity of a nation with a variety of jewish faith and those who happen to be jewish with education and athletics and politics its unique i believe and to be the first jewish speaker of the house in the state of virginia along with the uniqueness and spite of the policies undermining them. With the africanamerican community. So i believe now its time to look to the Civil Rights Movement as a model to pass legislation with chairman thompson and other members its time to act like we need to enhance and write legislation. Death was t is in the center of this it was roger stone and then we see it in the hearing where people are utilizing this. We are told that this is a symbol of White Nationalism. Let me ask you if you could go straight across to starting with the first witness what is the value of taking the sensitivity to this dangerous behavior and calling it what it is, reporting, special enforcement. Thank you for the question this is a big area for advocacy education and Law Enforcement. In the extremism and hate the train 15,000 officers every year and the fbi recruits in quanti quantico. The notate act calls for ensuring that Law Enforcement is trained across the country that hate crimes are still massively unreported and theres work to be done to make sure that they are compliant and reporting to the fbi. Can you also add the importance of a domestic Terrorism Law you can have so many coming in from overseas engaging in certain activities and because there are antiTerrorism Laws. They have an impediment in the absence of the domestic terrorism statute to be able to respond in the same way. I know there are a lot of complexities around the statute, but that is what they pay you the big money for and again i can tell you from not just the Jewish Community perspective or from the interaction in the muslim communities and others that really feel under a lot of pressure right now we need to Work Together and figure out a way as respect for Civil Liberties but also address the challenge at hand but coming sadly within the borders as well. Your concerns are well placed into my written testimony you will find recommendations regarding Law Enforcement and education but i think it is strengthened and we have strengthened both those areas. Thank you very much and i will yield back. Mr. King of new york. Thank you. Let me thank you all for your testimony and the concern i have is i still dont think with all the testimony weve heard an understanding of why this increase now. We could blame White Nationalism and i think your point is well taken. We should look to see if theres a connection between White Nationalism in this country and europe. But also we had a whole series of antisemitic attacks and not one of them was carried out by a white person. Look at the movement that we talk about educating people it seems it is coming from all different directions. None of these excuses with the terrible economy or the incident that would somehow allow, none of those elements are present as they were in the past so why now do we see it coming from so many different quarters . We are in an environment where it has been normalized or de stigmatized. Again, we see it when people say that its all about the benjamins on one side or people say that the globalists are trying to take over congress and destroy our borders, people dont call it out and they say its okay. So number one, i think it is infecting the public conversation in a way that wasnt happening a few years ago. Number two indeed, there are Fringe Groups as there always as has been that will take this as an act of violent impulses and social media is allowing crazy ideas to spread in the way that just wasnt possible a few years ago. Keep in mind we tracked these antisemitic channels over the course of this year we found five that were viewed. E1 million times. Offthewall content but honestly you couldnt find anywhere. Now i can go to amazon and with one click it is in my room at the next day. So socialism has something to do with it and number three, because of the holocaust and its memory is fading and allowing i think again bad ideas to come into the center. So, those are just some ideas. The last thing that i will say is in a pulverized world there is indeed a lot of anxiety and systems are not providing the solutions. In those moments people latch on to the stereotypes to explain away their problems and that is when they move from the marginss right into the mainstream. To add briefly as i tried to stay in my opening comments particularly in the Orthodox Community, i would have to say we have been a subset of the community and the leaders that have engaged in these statements and actions have not been repudiated and called out in a way that more generally they have been. The fact we are realizing that and responding to that is unfortunate that welcome and to add to the point of social media, again one of the things my cochair can talk about in more detail, one of the things we heard the head of the office in secret service that engages in analysis and profiling of potential criminal actors is what theyve called the moment of inspiration to action. And its the timeline for the radicalization of ideas to action has been so convince so d index are graded by social media and the internet as well. Theyve been convenient scapegoats and they still are for very many groups. To reemphasize, the United Nations which continually day after day pours out antisemitic resolution said roderick. It is very useful when we had mickey haley as the ambassador because she stood up for this on a regular basis. Senator moynihan, ambassador to the United Nations and when he was a senator, he also stood up against antisemitism and antiisrael at some and was a model. It would be good for this model to encourage and anyway ambassador to make this a priority and stand up to the constant flow of rhetoric coming out of the body in new york city. I think your question is fantastic. One important thing in social science deep and complicated human phenomenon dont always have an explanation. Everyone wants to say this is happening. It could be a bit of tha they dt they also probably had breakfast to make it happen. Why these strange movements at different times it is hard to know that we know that there are countries where there are no jews and yet it suggests that theyve never seen a jew. Why is. Com and that is why it is treated with particular sensitivity because of his deep and something that is always with us. That is why it may be a mistake to lump it in with all others because antisemitism is something that is just always with us and comes in strange ways and motions and we need to be able to deal with it even if we cannot fully understand. Next from the great state of michigan i would like to commend her for taking part in the fight abroad and here at home. I think you can see the strong support to get bipartisan members of congress to stay through an entire hearing and ask interesting questions. You know youre on a topic that has strong bipartisan support so thank you. Weve been reading the material in talking about the fourfold increase in victims of violent semitism in the past two years according to the testimony. On top of the vandalism, harassment, in michigan we have seen the same precipitous rise including a synagogue that was defaced and the Michigan State university that i represent was defaced so this is an issue that is very much on my mind, and in our heart. But i am a cia analyst by training and so while i respect the view and have lived the experience that it is as old as the world, we cant answer down to the idea that theres been a precipitous increase so im interested in order to fix the problem, we have to understand what is at the root of the problem. We talked about this idea of mainstreaming. Explain how it has become mainstream. The social media 15 years ago, ten years ago, five years ago but we had a precipitous rise in the past couple of years in these incidentandthese incidente of those primitive shootings in california and pittsburgh were centered around a Conspiracy Theory that probably never should have seen the light of day that was the basis of their desire to enact violence on people, so explain to me particularly the role of leadership in mainstreaming antisemitism. Antisemitism isnt new. Over the last decade if we try to pull back a little bit, we track some 220 extremist murders in the United States, 200 of which were committed by extreme right wing elements thats 200 in the last decade. The violence didnt just start with what we saw was a dramatic increase after antisemitic incidents as had been on the decline over 15 years and went up 34 , 57 coming int 57 , ande pointing out in 2018 the result was more than double yearoveryear and the victims tripled the something is going on, and i think to your point of the idea that has become a part of the political kind of car loans is deeply problematic. We see terms like globalists and open borders are left to paying migrants to come just as you understand these ideas are not new. They are lifted from the pages of whit White Supremacists and y are laundered that has a lot to do with it because this is the stuff that feeds a deranged and i would also point out the crazy ideas that somehow again behind all the machinations it is a narrative that comes from a different ideological direction and when it goes unchallenged and un responded to come it settles into the conversation. Helpless understand the role of leadership in this. Really quickly i think youre absolutely right to put your finger on the role of leadership it hasnt somebody should do. Why did the president of the Columbia University say somebody that is an open antisemite why was that not an. This is going on all over the world. There is a legislation passed that doesnt get wall to see it is illegal for people in ireland to do business in the jewish quarter of the old city of jerusalem. They think is a way of protesting israel that they are saying in the jewish quarter we will not do business. I can give you other examples as well but the leadership is very important. Is the leadership of the president of the United States important . Its very important. I think my time is expired. It is disgraceful. Thank you very much. Thank you mr. Chairman for holding this hearing it is an honor to be here and very timely topic. Thank you to the chair and all of the witnesses that are here for both panels. First off, there are a few pieces of legislation im supportive of Diabetes Congress can assist one is hr 943 of the antisemitism awareness act and hr 4009 and 5595 which contains the combating act for the millions of americans who are watching us live on cspan right now, the Public Service announcement at january 24 is International HolocaustRemembrance Day in january 27 is the anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. Earlier this week in my office i met with the un special rep a tour on freedom of. The special rep came out with a report that touched on this topic and encourages the secretarygeneral to appoint a leader in the office with responsibility for engaging with jewish communities worldwide as well as monitoring the response to the United Nations, so we have heard others talking about in the United Nations specifically, i think that would be great for the secretarygeneral to act on that recommendation made by the special representative. I think it would be helpful for congress and the country to a Historical Perspective on the executive order signed a few weeks back. Some people were just becoming familiar with the issue as it was first being signed with a lot of people dont realize is the bipartisan Historical Context and why i do believe that more americans regardless of their political affiliations not just aware of the Historical Context that should be supportive of the underlying substance. Thank you for the question and for your leadership on the never again education act we agree that it should be passed. We think that its incredibly important in large part because indeed it has a bipartisan history. So to step back we do have a legitimate issue because of the quote unquote support of israel and that is often a pretext. I have heard stories about kids afraid to go because they would be excluded from certain parts and marginalized in certain groups. If youll forgive me, it is off the wall. Now the challenge is the department of education has an office of civil rights is never in ithas neverin its history pra few weeks ago taken up the case of a student civil rights being violated. So come and the administration there was interactive, a decision record that they should look at the valuations of the students because let me just step back, because title ix, title vi, excuse me, it lays out the basis of race, religion and national origin. The Bush Administration foun fot should not because often they are targeted the same way people are of a particular race or origin and soda decision was challenged and then reinforced by the Obama AdministrationJustice Department have said yes indeed they are often considered distinct ethnic groups and should be protected by title vi. So what they do is simply codify coming from the white house that it is time to enforce that. Honestly, it is more symbolic than anything because it simply reiterates what the obama and Bush Administration found that it also does something very important inasmuch as it recognizes the definition of antisemitism. Service 1030 holocaust remembrance association. This is a group of academics, this is a group of professors and scholars. There is no politics in this group from many countries around the world who over several years developed this definition and so they codify the definition and reinforce where the administrations war. At the end of debates about how universities enforce their own policies and hopefully this will help them understand if you dont protect the rights of students like yo you would musls or africanamericans or latinos, then you might be at risk of losing federal funding. That is a good thing in this environment. Thank you, and hopefully it is a topic that we can make progress in breaking down the barriers because it really started as a work product of republicans and democrats in congress. It builds on the awareness act that passed unanimously in the senate and was moving with bipartisan support for the house was held up along the bipartisan basis for this. Thank you mr. Chairman for holding this hearing and the witnesses for your testimony here today. I find the rise and spread of antisemitism extremely troubling and i think it is important that its cold out as often as possible and not sile silent. In your testimony, you mentioned that the fbi data is based on voluntary Law Enforcement reporting and i agree with you that we do not fully understand what we cannot measure. It seems to be falling rather than increasing so how can we go about improving this if it is a matter of better identifying hate crimes at the state and local level or do they have the data that isnt reported to the fbi . I think number one in the debate on matters so much. We cant demand you to manage what we dont measure and some 80 plus of Law Enforcement agencies around the country do not report hate crimes at all. Why dont they do that . Maybe it isnt adequately trained to recognize the difference between a hate crime in ordinary offense and number two, it is too much paperwork. Number three they are afraid it will reflect badly on their community. This is the purpose of the no hate act moving right now. Its against any marginalized group to better understand the issue and if we are counting if we will be able to better protect it. Did you say 80 . Its like 87 . Now just to be clear most of the major metropolitan areas to report, but there are many like honolulu that report is you hate crimes a year and others that simply dont report at all. I can assure you there was a hate crime over the last 12 this but again, Law Enforcement us so much that weve worked closely with them with better training and resources they can get this done. Thank you for that conversation in perspective. We have seen in many of these attacks that have also been linked to the Message Boards we talked about can you expand on your view with your estimation how would you judge the work of the social media platform . We talked about this but what should the role p. In helping to expand the extremist content . The challenge of the social media platform say that they are a platform others would argue that they are publishers and should be held to a higher standard and so what should google be and should the focus be on moderating content directly and are removing them from the platforms . I think it is worth noting that companies have taken some steps. Theyve taken down extremist channels, facebook has taken down the extremist accounts, theyve quarantined problematic users. There are certain steps that they have done, but they havent done nearly enough. The 81 million views that i described could be found on the channel for out of the five are still up today. The kind of oped that you could never publish in any newspaper in america. You could post almost instantaneously. The kind of videos that you could never show on any broadcast network you can post instantly on youtube. So the reach is unnatural. There is no wall that says when i post a video you should show up automatically. The dissent ordained by god and keep in mind the light streamed these shootings. So again i think that the Companies Need to exercise a kind of moral authority and live by some of the same standards they should impose themselves and again, broadcast and print radio and other media live by the standards. If the companies can protect copyrights and go after sex trafficking and do a better job of addressing hate speech and if they will not do it, they need to step up and does the professor said, section 230 of the Communications Decency act, hold them to a different standard than all traditional media. Its time to look at that and assess if they want the answer to the problem, you probably need to. I appreciate your attention to this. Next up is ms. Clark clark fe greatest city new york city. I think the Ranking Member and all of our expert witnesses who testified before us today. Its not enough to live in america where we are assured of ththerights we can practice our religion freely. We must live our lives free from fear. Just a few weeks ago the attack celebration in my state of new york was a vivid reminder that the ancient evil of antisemitism still exists in sadly it doesnt just exist, it is on the rise. In jersey city, san diego and pittsburgh copy have seen the death toll of the hateful ideologies grow larger and larger. In fact, pittsburgh was the deadliest act of domestic domesc terrorism in the Jewish Community in americas history killing 11 people simply observing. In my district, the brooklyn and Crown Heights community, we have also seen violent hate crimes occur in rapid succession with alarming frequency. We must educate and take action to confront it. Antisemitism has no place in our society. My first question is tragically the community has often been disproportionate as to target the antisemitic violence. We have seen this in my own district, and i am deeply concerned about the recent statistics of the Violent Attacks and communities in Crown Heights. As you stated in your opening testimony by the very fact that many were visible markers may put them at risk which is totally unacceptable. In your view, how can and should government officials provide support for the specifics and needs and issues facing orthodox communities in order to protect them against violence. Thank you for your strong statement and i think as i said earlier in the short term people need to be free from fear and while we are in this crisis, and it is a crisis, we need better policing. They do a wonderful job. And the communities themselves need more resources in terms of making synagogues and schools and other places that we gather more secure. To how youre a Contract Security guard from 40 a week a week to 360 a week from a single Security Guard go that is sent something in the budget private security Grant Programs have been a wonderful resource for that but sadly more synagogues and churches and mosques need those resources to make them more secure. I think that is different than having these conversations with our municipal and state partners in new york city and i think that the message has been received. The distinction between the real world is blurry. Antisemitic rhetoric on the internet can and does inspire deadly attacks. In your estimation, how did the mainstream social Media Companies do so for . I know you mentioned i mentionet and what can congress do to help rein in the hate speech . I would give the company is pretty poor marks. Theyve done some things but not enough. So you have those like facebook and google and youtube and twitter and then the private platforms. They dont obey any rules. Theyve almost weaponize to the amendment to target marginalized people and they allow the kind of predators per elements of society affair and yes i do think that it is long overdue to take action. And i think the companies dont exist in a vacuum, they exist in a value chain. So, we should say to the Financial Institutions that allow them do you want to work with companies that peddle this kind of garbage, cybersecurity companies, hosting companies, domain name providers there are ways we can encourage them to behave in immoral leadership if those particular firms wont do any at all so i think it is long overdue for this to happen. We have a time constraint here but recently i met with a group of High School Students and survivors who take part in the witness project and it was so incredibly moving these High School Kids meet with a survivor and here the story directly because there will come a time in the not so distant future when there will be no more survivors and who will tell their story. If you look at the statistics of the percentage of people who either dont know about the holocaust, literally dont know about it or dont believe it, the aspect of this to me other than politicians like us and those in the Public Discourse watching what we say and not feeding this rise in antisemitism is ensuring that this is taught as a fact of history and not just a tall tale so if you can talk more about that. I think what you are pointing out is really important so we know that our own High School Students do incredibly poor on terms of basic civics, so it shouldnt surprise us that the majority dont even know what auschwitz was. As was mentioned by my colleague stands out as the most horrid chick act not just in the 20th century, but the history of humanity. The idea is as we lose the survivors it is unconscionable, so i think it is mentioned a few times never again the act is really important. Every american student should be educated about holocaust and genocide. What can happen when he goes unchecked. What it means when Law Enforcement and government in the state are used as tools to target and persecute and murder people because of how they pray for the love where they are fr from. If we are ever going to get our arms around antisemitism we cannot arrest our way out of the problem if we cant like the lobby or legislator. We need to change hearts and minds. Thats why every year we reach over a million schoolchildren. There are other excellent organizations like facing history and th the fpl sees the duke of programs about this, but i would challenge you to a u. Should get that act passed so that every american student to operate in an increasingly diverse country in the global world they are educated about bias and hate. Its a minimum we can give to the kids if we ever really want to inoculate them from their powers. Challenge accepted. Thank you very much. Thank you and i apologize that we are speeding things up a bit. From the great state of maryland, lets see i want to start with you. We are now in an Election Year and i know that they make the point as you observed a few moments ago calling of antisemitism when you see it and not allowing it to become a part of the fabric of everyday existence and i remember clearly in 2016, when they blew the whistle on Donald Trumps closing at which have focused on george soros and janet yellin and said essentially these people are globalists who are exploiting the American People, and im wondering do you take special precautions to try to contact campaigns or Political Parties to talk about the use of antisemitic tropes and things were what do you do to make sure we will not see the further degradation . I think it is a good question. We are a 501 c3 organization and we dont get involved in politics. I dont really care how any of them vote. I care what they value. We call the candidates out when they say things beyond the pale and when you make claims that there is a global conspiracy and to point the finger, forgive me but that gets our attention. No matter who says it. That being said, indeed i worry as we move into this political cycle we have candidates on both sides of the aisle and both parties that have engaged or certain members have the kind of rhetoric that i think doesnt belong in our political conversation. So, we do take great pains to be evenhanded. We will call it when we see it and i think for me that is a great way to conclude. What gives me great hope today is after charlottesville, you had members of congress and members of the senate on both sides who called this out clearly and consistently and over the last year and a half from the mayor of pittsburg pito the governor of new york to many of the members of the the delegn and relative to the attacks in the last few months, youve called this out clearly and consistently as the grandson of a holocaust survivor who lost his entire family in nazi germany when the government was attempting to murder. As the husband of a typical refugee in the middle east, the government from iran, the government that is the worst in the world but is instrumentalist is the chief plight of the foreignpolicy i can telforeignt makes a difference to speak out and i applaud all of you for doing just that. If i am not mistaken, you are still my constituent. This is wonderful to hear. A lot of my constituents are terrified by the rise in the antisemitic violent and appearance of small kids especially if they go to jewish schools and so on. And i know this is something of great concern in the Orthodox Community. What special precautions were being taken and whats more do you think the government can be doing to enhance peoples sense of security against the resurgence and antisemitic terror and violence . In terms of precautions, theres a range of precautions my organization is pursuing around the country and undertaking. They range from assisting the congregations with becoming educated and applying for the security improvements available to us in the federal government and state and local government. We are also working with local congregations in terms of developing best practices for training them on what to do should there be an unfortunate emergency situation. Many, many of our congregations have volunteers who are standing outside of synagogues and have been trained on how to be watchful in service to see insee something Say Something context. So that is what we are doing in terms of the congregational life. As i said earlier there is a lot of anxiety around this, but i dont think that we are going to cower in fear. We are a Resilient Community and perhaps because there have been centuries of antisemitism, we have the resiliency and the courage to work with people with good will to push this back and say we are going to exercise our freedom of religion in this country. Thank you and i will yield back. We think the witnesses of the first panel for their extraordinary testimony. We ask that we move expeditiously to the second panel we welcome the second panel of witnesses. The first witness is mr. John miller, Deputy Commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism at the new York City Police department, the greatest Police Department in the history of the world, we think the men in blue. It is good to be back. Good afternoon counterterrorism with the new York City Police department on behalf of the commissioner, i am pleased to justify before the subcommittee to discuss the disturbing rise in crimes especially antisemitic violence against efforts to address the. The. Attacking a member of a particular community either because of the race, religion, nationality, gender or Sexual Orientation is an attack on all new yorkers. New york city is the epicenter of diversity and stands as an example of how distinct cultures, religions, nationalities exist sidebyside learning from one another and enriching each other. Unfortunately, last year in new york city we saw 428 hate crimes that is a 20 increase over 2018 which in and of itself is concerning and the 26 increase in antisemitic hate crimes that comprised a majority of the total in the city. To be 234 antisemitic hate crimes. Now, we see that the lions share of that number are things like graffiti, broken window, property crime is a hate crime these are very challenging to solve because often times nobody knows when it occurred or who did it or how long its been there. It is a challenge when these things were in the back rows were to find the evidence and witnesses however i would underline in a much smaller percentage with a physical attack on another person the clearance rate now is over 80 and that is significant. We put out all stops. Bthe stops. By now we have all ha machete attack in new york just miles south of the city that injured very seriously these are people peacefully happily celebrating hanukkah and the brutal attack in a shootout in jersey city that you also heard of that code six including a Police Officer. These days it also seems like every news cycle carries another targeted jewish new yorkers including children so what are we doing about it in new york city and what are we doing about it specifically has the nypd . Theyve been targeted by antisemitic violence at the first line of defense is the most valuable asset and that is finelthe highly trained dedicatd extraordinarily diverse person now. We are succeeding and the majority minority city in the department is now in the police force with each subsequent graduating Police Academy class reinforcing trend. We now have members of the service from 161 Different Countries and 382 members who speak more than one language represented among them. That is encouraged by the support of the organizations across all of the ethnicities, religions and language. We embrace in new york city and terrific recipe has the nypd. We spend significant resources to ensure those who commit crimes motivated by hate or apprehended and brought to justice. The numbers bear that out. Last year hate crime apprehensions increased by 38 for the most serious offenses for criminal mischief, robbery, assault, grand larceny, murder and attempted murder. This is the job of every member of the new York City Police department, but the focal point of the effort in this area is the detective bureaus hate crimes task force. The personnel are detectives, state troopers who identify and investigate. Its the largest in any Police Department in the country. The crimes are sweeping across the country and move very early on between the time of september and december they move to the extremism unit within the intelligence being. This new unit also has about 25 personnel detectives, analysts, Police Officers working sidebyside with men or something new jersey can dish new York State Police as well as agents from the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. Specifically dedicated to an instigating not just hate crimes but more specifically the actions but also those across the internet and the idea is to identify the groups with a propensity to violence and those individuals that make. Out to stop the incidences before they happen. They consolidate and streamline against this landscape and facilitate engagement in the department with our federal, state, local and private sector partners some of whom we spoke to today. The antisemitic hateful violence we see around the communities inevitably touches on new york city even if they do not start in new york city. Because of this, wherever there is a highprofile incident anywhere in the country or in the world, the chance changes we discussed a moment ago the pittsburgh synagogue attack or the christchurch shootings on the other side of the world in new zealand the nypd goes on high alert and further increases the visibility around the houses of worship and the plan to discourage any potential copycat attack that may be inspired. The value of the collaborative efforts imported cannot be undersold. Jersey city is literally on the doorstep. The upstate attacker arrested by our officers with no connections to new york city for current beg the question why did they leave the scene and come to new york city, what were they doing there. We still dont know. That Investigation Continues whether we are still working tirelessly with our part is to find out. Most are not from new york city but when they decided to engage in violence the group patriot fund had taken their recruiting efforts in new york city this past week they brazenly hung a banner over the overpass in brooklyn its the same reason that the target for violence all at the same time. Finally, part of the approach to combating hate crimes as announced last week they will now be included in the Statistical Analysis so as we generally follow the hate crimes will be in that lineu the lineue watch very closely with them and understand the mapping and the crime strategies for any uptick or change. Antisemitism manifests itself in many forms. Organized groups, while factors, the deluded individuals and everything in between. Antisemitism and all of its forms however are steeped in ignorance and conspiracy theories some of which were discussed at the table this afternoon. It is more easily spread and consumed these days, however, because of social media. For these reasons the solution to the bigotry and hatred will never be grounded solely on Law Enforcement and heightened security that wouldve me be achieved if every citizen were to collectively educate each other and reinforce shared values of tolerance and unity, new york city and the nypd will continue to be at the forefront of the movement. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I would be happy to answer any questions. How much longer do we have you for . Ten minutes, i will make a quick point of privilege. I know you cant go into these individually but how many are collected to the neonazi organizations that also have global links . You mentioned you were following the same rulebook you used over the course of the last decade or two decades but you dont have the same toolkit particularly designations of the Foreign Terrorist Organizations, which as you know is a very almost singular focus of mine at this point. Can you give a brief analysis of what you are seeing and how much this is hurting you the absence of the designation as you continue to tackle the neonazi threats come antisemitic threats and threat of domestic terrorism . They are by and large involving White Supremacists into the neonazi groups to date. Whatoday. What we see is a trend that the activity is rising that we alsoo see its dynamic in that we have organized groups. Some of them, to answer the questions have overseas connections with foreign groups of the same ideology. Others are purely domestic and beyond that we have people that are a part of the groups that follow them online and then act out violently. We encompass all of that, but it is disturbing when you see people that are part of the supposedly domestic groups that are training overseas and domestic groups that are planning actions that if they were giving the same action on behalf of isis or al qaeda would be squarely within the terrorism statute even though the actions are driven using violence and the fear of violence are not considered terrorism under the statute as they stand. Do you think we can seriously take on the fight without considering the designations for the global neonazi organizations . I dont understand why we were torturing the subject. They should be regarded as a terrorist. I dont understand why we have to decide. Its terrorism but its domestic, terrorism is terrori terrorism. Considering that mr. Miller has been constrained does anybody have questions that they would like to ask . Thank you mr. Chair and commissioner for your hard work and dedication to the people of the United States of america and of course the beloved city, new york city. As you know, thereve been a number of antisemitic incidents in my district particularly in bed would and Crown Heights area. I urge the nypd and other Law Enforcement agencies to monitor the situation closely. Im very happy to hear what you are doing about things that may help us to get to the floor of the matter of can you discuss strategy to combat violent hate crimes and in particular incidents targeted towards the communities. The first thing we did as they began to rise with increased Police Presence in those neighborhoods and round houses of worship and in areas we are seeing the hate crime. That was a combination of the personnel, house of worship personnel, personnel that can literally change their uniforms and become counterterrorism officers and the place out there because they do have the training as well as the crc that is our forward leaning uniform counterterrorism force. We have pushed all of that into the neighborhoods when this started just as we pushed those towards the mosques during the christchurch attack just as we push them towards Christian Churches after the attacks in sri lanka. This is something we are trying to get a handle on is a trend, does it have in an . We have seen a disturbing uptick and we are there. Next, we are joined by general john alan the advisory subcommittee for the prevention of targeted violence agains agae statebased organizations and finally, paul goldenberg, the cochair of the same committee. We thank you and we look forward to hearing your statement. Thank you chairman and Ranking Member walker. Members of the subcommittee, thank you for your leadership. As noted i am a retired marine and slightly selfconscious but im not from new york this afternoon. [laughter] it is a great pleasure to be before the subcommittee this afternoon to be joined by paul who was my fellow cochair of the Homeland SecurityAdvisory Council subcommittee on the prevention of targeted violence against the statebased organizations. As we found in our research it is absolutely crucial we have this conversation in future conversations of this kind for go so giving us the latitude of a joint statement , speaking for the next several minutes to the nature of the threat that we face. Thank you general. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen let me mirror the generals thinks because of your leadership perk i do want to add to the record i am from the state of new jersey. Our recent mission and tasked us with considering the rise of attacks against places of worship. Security of faithbased organizations across the country in particular the subcommittee we chaired was tasked to have findings and recommendations on how dhs can best support state and local governments with faithbased organization for houses of worship to be kept safe and secure and resilient. The final report released just a month ago today, details our findings and recommendations for go the work was significantly aided by the advice and counsel of representing one representing offices across dhs which has a vast array of highly dedicated men and women. In the broader Us Government fpa one fbi, ed doj and secret service our members took to the field perk we went to the ground visiting synagogues and mosques and temples and churches to meet with communities by targeted Violent Attacks committed by heinous violent extremists. These engagements were literally eyeopening for a very jaded former Police Officer from the state of new jersey. Our nations faithbased communities are one of the few institutions that have the resources and the will to bring together people of contrasting political opinions release one uniting communities from a variety of backgrounds and interest to offer a range of competencies not found in a Single Community or organization or for that Matter Police force or Government Agency to have the fundamentals to empower people with a sense of ownership among all members of the community and for someday see that as the achilles heel. Whether a Faithbased Community or the Jewish Community is targeted is not up for debate synagogues here and abroad remain targets the thread itself the primary inspiration between these targeted attacks is to force us not merely question our fundamental security and safety as our ability to protect our nation neighborhoods and families and look to change our behaviors. Success in the eyes of these domestic terrorist when we detract from our daily routines and spiritual political beliefs to further explore the impact of the hate filled messages with public trust. As well as the attacks perpetrated from similar separatist, we should all be concerned a public reaction may generate something as the violent extremists on their own. This complex psychological progression is the enabling tool for those who seek to derail our way of life. Citizens immunized against the influence of targeted terrorism have a much greater ability to resist such manipulation. That is our perspective in our mission and now i would like to turn it over to general allen to discuss recommendations how we respond to this threat. Ladies adjustment of the subcommittee what he has described is no ordinary threat but a National Security issue for the United States and a threat to our way of life its the truth plain and simple and the testimony of the first panel what we discovered in the course of our research substantiates the nature of the threat we are not here today to admire the problem but discuss what we can do about it to that end much of this is reflected almost verbatim by our recent report to think of these at a strategic level with tactical framing as well with efforts undertaken at the National Level with congress and the administration leading the charge but there are many efforts to be undertaken at the local level also. Report contains 46 recommendations we lay out seven key recommendations in the executive summary and response to the unique nature of the issue we are happy to go into greater detail to add some framing, we looked at how communities prepare themselves prior to the terrorist incident or attack to the left and how they can prepare and react to the incident itself and we also talk about and research what can be done on the other side of the incident where resilience and reconciliation and recovery is essential and at the incident itself to the left of the incident before it occurs many preventable here with Community Outreach especially between state and local Law Enforcement officials is essential with our faithbased communities. After the attack there are perfect one protective measures from Security Advisors increase coordination and defensive capabilities hardening the infrastructure within the community themselves and the funding is crucial and i have to commend this committee and the congress not just enlarging that funding but open to a discussion to discuss it more after it has occurred it can include resiliency efforts to efforts focused on reconciliation and justice and accountability for Community Advocates and Law Enforcement and healers to play such an Important Role alongside our beliefs as well as civil leadership and legislators that response can carry the community through the trauma of that attack in some form of normalcy in the aftermath. Importantly i said legislators because for congress it means three things this is a personal plea as much as a recommendatio recommendation, first no other body today can maintain focus of this our faith communities as u. S. Congress you are of the people you represent the people and your attention on this matter is evidenced today is extraordinary and continuing into the future will be absolutely essential second you have the power of a purse there is a need for increased funding not just in the form of grants but assistance to Law Enforcement at all levels. Weve talked a lot about closed legislation in the process of being enacted i could not more strongly associate myself with all of that conversation because we have to have the laws to hold those accountable. But there needs to be a formal discussion. I believe we have reached that point where we not only talk about domestic terror by designating organizations and domestic terrorist themselves. Its an unsettled conversation we have not found a way to a final conclusion and there are complexities with the First Amendment and civil rights. But we have to have the conversation now with the uptick in the Jewish Community violence and communities of color, hindu, muslim, black communities. We have to have these conversations go now its time to have the conversation with the domestic terror law and designation i will turn it back for closing remarks. As the list of recent attacks against american faithbased communities rose almost dail daily, we have seen a re con long rekindled call to provide federal Law Enforcement agencies similar tools available to combat targeted Violent AttacksLike International terrorists. We heard that several times today from experts many believe these bills specifically provide the required resources to officials some of which have indicated they did not possess suitable tools. My apologies. We stretch this. We have to vote so the committee will stand in recess to allow members to vote and we will be convene in ten minutes there after and then continue this very important conversation. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] again. We will get started when i was speaking with general allen a few hours ago when he introduced himself he said i believe we served together a one. Which officially is going down the greatest understatement in the history of my life. [laughter] but thank you again and we will that your testimony continue. In closing the list of recent attacks and as it grows we have seen a rekindled call for domestic terrorism was to provide federal Law Enforcement agencies similar tools that are available for targeted violence attacks committed by international terrorists. Many believe these bills specifically have required resources federal Law Enforcement officials some of which have indicated they currently do not possess suitable tools for addressing domestic terrorism and we are happy to talk about that more in the q a but faithbased non governmental organizations are an important unit of a Homeland Security effort faithbased and nongovernmental organizations own and operate within the structure that is vulnerable to attack provide direct response support response to manmade disasters and provides vital resources and services to tens of millions of americans every day. By educating Community Members and leaders to share critical realtime information and more effectively working with lawenforcement partners to have the fundamentals to empower themselves to develop a sense of ownership among the whole community. Every recommendation of general allen today to include our report is sourced in that reality and framing. Finally let me say having the honor and privilege of working with our current acting secretary over the years i could not possibly count the number of times he has pushed on these issues general allen noted the importance to be seized at this moment is more significant and critical than ever. This is the case for acting secretary wolf and i can personally attest to his passion and care fighting for progress and support on faithbased communities. With that, we will close. General allen and i welcome your comments and questions , thank you for the opportunity to speak on this most important and critical issue. Thank you again for your testimony. I yield to one of the fiercest fighters of antisemitism in the country the congressman from new jersey. Thank you mister chairman. I am honored to have you presen present. General, do you think it would be helpful if we had a domestic terror law . Have a piece of legislation im working on that i introduced through last congress that freezes the assets would that be helpful from home grown terrorist and terrorist in the United States . Yes. No question. That is my opinion is not the opinion we expressed in the report. In the report we made the point this is an issue that needs to be thoroughly debated. On the one side it gives us the tools you discussed on the other side there are concerns about civil rights and that conversation needs to be had because its not settled i happen to believe we should have both a domestic terror law and the capacity to do designations. And what case do you think it would be best utilized to fight antisemitism how do you believe it could be utilized to help protect our country . Because those individuals who are organized in a manner to employ violence as a measure of their extreme ideology there should be a price to be paid for that also a price to be paid for those in the same context as the foreign terrorist for those who provide Material Support to those organizations as well as a commander overseas fighting the talent van and al qaeda one of the great assets that i had was the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation. This terrorist threat is no less a threat now in the United States as americans to send upon americans to inflict tear in enormous quantities and having that Legal Mechanism in terms of freezing assets and limited travel penalizing those who provide Material Support to this group as well is designating individuals gives us another tool in the toolbox. You may take this one thing we worked on together is fighting the massive spread of terror online which through social media now used as a tool to recruit not just around the world but at home and we are concerned about the spread and facebook has taken a lot of steps that we have worked closely to encourage twitter to do the same but the handles go up every single day is hard to stay ahead of them. And those who have those designations should not be allowed in our opinion to post online or have handles to be on facebook or youtube so your thoughts on that . The entire cyberdomain in which so much of the world operates in the physical domain that the cyberdomain just as i mentioned with the capacity and the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation limits the movement in the physical to limit their capacity to travel having the capacity to limit the movement of domestic terrorist and cyberdomain to limit access by law to certain social platforms is a different way to think about this and we need to think in those terms in the cyberdomain there are no boundaries or borders sovereignty has an entirely different meeting than traditionally and when domestic terrorists victimize elements of our population and move with impunity from one platform to another we should be thinking in those terms this is a different kind of sovereignty it is digital we should be confining and limiting their capacity to move across cyberdomain to use that as the mechanism and platform to victimize the population. Thank you im limited on the clock. Im from new jersey. Agrippa in essex county. By the shore . I love the jersey guy. [laughter] have you heard of whitefish montana . Hopefully you will google it it is a pristine beautiful place it is pretty magical sits on the side of a mountain amongst some good people population of 8000. To because ago i received a call from a rabbi who said to me what do we do . My sons photo of a local realtor in town there was a situation between herself and Richard Spencer and that was very proactive in certain ideologies. And on the internet and a star of david on the chest of the children and called for an armed insurrection against whitefish. It was literally one of the most heinous acts i have seen as former Law Enforcement executive myself that if someone took one of my childrens photos then that would have a huge impact to put terror and fear into my heart. Heres the problem no one was arrested or prosecuted and quite frankly this is not a criticism but the local Attorney Generals Office and Prosecutors Office and state Attorney Generals Offices, state investigative bureaus, were not quite sure how to handle such a thing. Here we had a Jewish Community rethinking to stay put in a beautiful pristine place such as whitefish. Now two and a half years later they are there and stronger than ever. With all colors and religions. And those that are propagating these types of thick terrorist threats that this conversation pro for doj. And where is the line. Thank you both for your time and i yelled back. Thank you very much to allow me to join your panel. I am most grateful and to follow up on a couple things you are speaking about , general allen, when you talk about cyber, we have conversations in the social Media Company and you touched on that but i want to talk about what we dont often talk about is those who use those companies to draw people in from the dark web. And with the violence that is promoted there. And how to combat those types of efforts. The good news and bad news if come so far, its out of the dark web, the domains that are used now are across the spectru spectrum. I can rattle off the head had a very eloquent job of concerning the threats coming from the very dark places but the general knows this better that not to be unsophisticated group but to become very sophisticated very quick and people woke up one day to say how did isys get here and i say that humbly because the person responsible is sitting to my right. But it didnt just get here. And the level of concern of what we are not seeing. I have a young 26 yearold Research Person that continuously reminds me of what im missing out there. When you ask for a show of hands in those Law Enforcement communities to say how many know what this is it is unfortunate because the people put their manifestoes out there and lay out their plans. Not First Amendment that planning to kill or maim or destroy because of color of skin or religion so we do need to be more deeply concerned. When you recount the story of whitefish montana the Community Never could have imagined the community in Squirrel Hill never could imagine what would the fall with the attack on the Jewish Community. And certainly no one in new york could have imagined a machete wielding attacker walking in during hanukkah celebration but people also could not have imagined and on the streets and in some cases every day. If you could just speak to the terror that that creates in that community, in this case the Jewish Community but ultimately why it is the Broader Community that america as a whole to be genuinely worried about that. At the level of the education of our children of how intolerant we should be of hatred and create an environment of education that celebrates the diversity of our community and how civility has to shoot through all that we do at strategic levels with the shaping of the education of our children. And those behaviors we would tolerate. And absent of those strategic measures or the legislation passed, we leave large gaps in the field to be filled by those dark forces able to operate with impunity. Those areas we did not control that was the call the space in the room and where they would accumulate. If they are not regulated or have policies attached in those areas dont benefit creates cold spots. We tl intelligence and emerging technologies constantly and one of the challenges we have this is the unique role of the congress and you have been deeply involved in this and we are grateful for your leadersh leadership. But the reality is technology is moving so fast that policy and legislation is always a in trail and sometimes it is years behind. I just tried to describe a few minutes ago that the cyber environment in which this occurs and within which the connectivity can be affected and by which the actions come back out of the physical community in the School Shootings or the attacks on the jewish communities thats the physical manifestation of things occurring yet this is so new to us we have yet to understand the technology is moving so quickly that when kind of legislation and policy are necessary to regulate that is far behind so we scratch our heads when we wonder why the social media platforms are not taking the steps necessary, so it requires that the American People understand that unless we can generate the kind of controls and legislation of policy necessary to gain control of the cyber domain just as we have before the physical domain we will still be scratching our heads because we are watching actions and behaviors and levels of hatred unfolding in the cyber domain that we never could have imagined it because they were isolated from each other and now they are joined together not just in the United States but with the groups overseas. Added to that but just the organizations for those joining overseas, but the Strategic Influence campaign of the russians is aiding this as well, so its not just group to group, its the explicit state policy of the russian government to interfere in the democracy and Civil Society of the United States and th these actions together constitute a direct threat to National Security of the United States but much of it is occurring in the cyber domain right up to the point where it becomes a physical threat and then we are behind the curve and a final point, just as technology has given the capacity for the groups to attack, there are technologies out there today some young groups, small startups with exquisite algorithms with the capacity to find these organizations in cyberspace because of the means that the use into ththeyuse and the codey employ they leave a cyber trail, and this is what is very important and we had this conversation with the acting secretary on monday he is taking the report and handed it to his department with two weeks to come back. Thats extraordinary leadership from my perspective. Part of it has got to be that we must aggressively leverage the advances in technology right now that the enemy is using to victimize in attack on the communities but more broadly the american public. I have spent the last three years through Rutgers University working in the communities across all of europe and i dont know how many of you have traveled to europe as of late but many cases like germany and the netherlands and france and sweden in other parts you cannot go into the synagogue without military troops with long rifles and sandbags in some cases greeting you with barbed wire at the entrance way and these are democratic wonderful institutions many of which survived world war ii, so that is a canary in the mine and probably a place we neve never d to hear in the United States uns comes with these types of work between the dhs and other federal agencies and the communities is probably more critical. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My time has long passed, but i want to thank the witnesses and ask a moment when the community that i represent fields under threat, it is your leadership youve shown in calling this hearing with these witnesses to help elevate this issue to the level that it deserves and i am most grateful to you. Thank you for everything youve done on this issue. Two pieces of legislation i would like to bring to your attention that we are working on. One is designating the organizations. Second is to raise the bar act with an Innovative Partnership with the department of Homeland Security as well as a university to a quarterly basis measure how well the companies fulfill their own code of conduct as it relates to getting the content off the platforms. These are two pieces of legislation we would like to actively work with you on and i believe based on your testimony it seems they are much needed would you agree . Absolutely. 100 . As someone working abroad right now and watching these movements grow indigo from the margins to now is acceptable within some of the countries they are communicating here, they are working with some of our actors here so i think there is more of a needed now than ever. I want to speak more to the Global Nature of this and disabuse ourselves of the notion that theres something happening in europe or throughout the rest of the world and it is in tightly separate from what is happening here. You led the fight against iceland. Do you see any commonality between the movement . I do. Im not an expert on the subject. I know that the state and al qaeda pretty well, but the behaviors that i have seen leads me to believe that there is a connectivity we should be certain of. This is an area that i would want to focus serious intelligence resources to establish unambiguously that is the term i will use the connectivity between the two. So much of the moment to moment existence is defined by a cyber environment where i have the capacity on an encrypted application to have near realtime video telephone and communications with someone anywhere in the world. The problem we have with the Islamic State is because of these applications, they could plan strategically in a distributed manner separated by continents they could move by using criminal networks attack locally into the whole as director comey used to call it all in the dark. Very difficult to perceive and that kind of conductivity knows no boundaries. It doesnt Snow Mountains were oceans. That kind of conductivity is realtime and instant and organizations that wish us harm and that would attack the Jewish Community of the United States that are already attacking the community in europe find allies in the united aides over the cyber environment and we have left that line of communication open for them so when we think of this designating them as a neonazi organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, i dont know what the argument is. I need to have someone tell me why we wouldnt because in the end, if that organization which is american interests and citizens and our allies will, which is a big part of why we designate someone as a Foreign Terrorist Organization it seems to me it doesnt require a lot of debate. You mentioned earlier you couldnt have conducted a Designation Authority or without these organizations label such. Can you expand on that . Let me say that it was quite helpful. Doing lesduring most of the figg against isis, but what they would do is if they are nonamerican citizens, and most of them are aliens, they cant travel freely. When we work through the department of justice had designate when elements come and i will talk about the network which was in the eastern the Federally Administered Tribal Areas coming out of thailand. The designations for us gave us the capacity to limit the capacity to travel and throws their resources and gave the ability to sanction those that provide Material Support. That is a very valuable asset and just being on the list maintained through the state department of being a Foreign Terrorist Organization creates for us connectivity with our allies that is valuable to us. Something that i would urge you to consider in future reports is over 17,000 nearly 20,000 have quantified from 50 Different Countries that is more than the number that went to go fight with the mujahedin of the fight of the soviet unions war in afghanistan. I cannot say with certainty please correct me if im wrong we have a system in place right now to track every american going to fight is that correct . Thats not something i can comment on. Can i have your commitment that in the current capacity advising the Homeland Security department that this is something you will consider going further . Absolutely. Fantastic. Thank you so much. First of all for your Extraordinary Service it goes without saying considering both of your extraordinary experien experience. You do not have to be doing this right now. And it exemplifies both your patriotism and commitment to the country and for that, we are in deep, deep gratitude, thank you for taking the time today. Thank you for convening this hearing anything more for the additional work you plan to do. This is a direct threat to the American People. Thank you for your leadership in dealing with it. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] suspe. Without objection. Mr. Brown tomorrow i will do something ive never down. I will vote for a trade agreement, the first time in my career. Im voting for that trade agreement because of the work that my colleague from oregon, senator wyden and i did to fix president trumps deal and secure new protections for American Workers for the First Time Ever in spite of the president s intransigence, in spite of the president s lining up as he always does with corporate interests because our trade agreement for the First Time Ever, ever put workers at the center of this agreement. Every trade agreement that ive seen in my time in congress,