Length, limitations, and rules. I will now make my opening statement. Over the past three months, three deadly terrorist attacks have struck the United Kingdom and other plots were thwarted. These are the latest that have struck. In three years, there have been more than 36 attacks across western europe killing a number of people including americans. This poses a serious challenge to european authorities. They are investigating as many as 23,000 suspected and 500 suspected plots. Been trying to protect freedom, the terrorists only have to get lucky wants to threaten our freedom. Kitchen knives, delivery trucks, are now used as tools of terror. Patrolling thece streets, children, families exiting concerts. Terrorists have struck bystanders at the heart of european capitals and struck small towns, killed priests and imams in world communities. Relentlessstop such murder . The first step is not living in. Not accepting terror as they knew norm. Some unfortunately you are accepting terror as a way of life. We cannot let them kill europeans. R we must stand together and fight this battle together. Right click, our European Partners have put up with dangerous extremism far too long with groups openly educating islamic law and supporting a brand of islam supported by isis and offered across the european continent. This is a breeding ground for terrorism. Allow our western values to be exploited by those who seek to destroy those values and we must not allow technology born of our free and Enterprising Society to be asked what it for mortar by to be exploited for murder by terrorist groups. Offer plots on how to build bombs on social media. We must fight the terrorism online. Some have taken steps to shut down extremist accounts and we applaud those efforts and stand ready to assist. Others need to do a lot more. This difficulty league, telegram, which has been described as the choice for terrorism. We have to bring down the fight to cyberspace. Lester, i introduced an act which requires a strategy to get terrorists offline. The bill became part of the authorities act and were still waiting for the administration to provide this critical strategy because lives are at stake. In addition, we must keep the channels for sharing open. As a isis made its rapid advance, a concerning amount of westerners have made their way to the terrorist battlefield. This is especially true in europe. As many as 5000 have traveled to iraq in syria. Many of these fighters may want to bring the fight back home and kill the people who are where from. Ere originally a study says 73 of attackers are citizens of the country they are attacking and as many as 82 of attackers have been previously flagged by Law Enforcement intelligence. Intelligence sharing can only be useful if we protect our borders. One of the London Bridge terrorists was allowed to enter the United Kingdom despite being put on a security watch list. If someone has been flagged for terrorism they should not be able to enter another country until that case has been closed. What is the sense of placing someone on a watch list if that person is able to travel freely question mark vigilant to travel freely . Theust stand together in fight with our european allies because a threat to one is a threat to all. Thank you. Thank you, witnesses for thing here. Introduced a resolution thatding terrorist attacks have been carried out against our european allies, including countries that stood with us honoring commitments. We stand with them in solidarity frequent loss and of lives in their countries. Were convening this hearing because understanding how to address this threat is not only related to security but it is an arena where there is Incredible Opportunity to learn from and collaborate with our European Partners. At the country level, the landscape is unique to each country with foreign fighter more significant threat. For others, the terrorists were radicalized without ever leaving their country. At the region level, there is a challenging aspect of integration within the context of the fight against terrorism but i am seen firsthand how Member States and e. U. Institutions have taken this seriously and have been working diligently to improve collaboration around tracking individuals whove man been radicalized and identifying the best way to tackle the threat. We must root out and prevent extremism and deal with foreign fighters returning home. Some rely on Civil Society organizations and communities investing in productive collaboration between them and Law Enforcement. Some have strategies of working closely with religious leaders. Others have tried to address the threat of radicalization and prisons. Removing the threat of those traveling abroad. Sometimes it backfires and exacerbated the threat. They are also exploring ways to remove extremist content online that is used to recruit individuals and to reduce financing and Money Laundering schemes that make it possible for a soul and others to find the operations that target innocent civilians. As we work in concert with agencies in the executive branch, we can learn a lot in the efforts of our european friends. I look forward to hearing from our friends about what we can learn and the efforts to combat terrorism and what we can do better in the United States to work with our European Partners to eradicate the threat of terrorism here and abroad. I want to thank the witnesses for the year and i yield back. We will now recognize the chairman from california, the chairman of europe and asia on the emerging threats. Good afternoon. Thank you. Allies have suffered at the hands of violent extremist terrorists. To say that. For a long time, it seemed we could not. It has been violent and shocking but the resilience of the british people is inspiring and reminds me of why america is fortunate to call british people our friends. This hearing serves as one more example of our transatlantic solidarity and our commitment to confront and destroy evil forces in this world. These same forces seek to peopley murder innocent people ofo terrorize the world into submission to their fanatic land of islam. Youe the our strength that consistent, the tactics and methods of extremist islamists as our policeolve and Security Services have been boiling elaborate plots and breaking up networks, isolate and other terrorist organizations create new kinds of plots that require more ingenuity and flexible tea to counter. Tois hard for any security work. As we see today, forces in europe are being especially challenged. Large migrant populations, some of which have remained aimlessly on integrated into their new countries present a perplexing challenge that pits humanitarian impulses against the necessity of protecting ones own populations. Domesticxtent, these issues are the ones that european citizens and governments want to work out to their own satisfaction to find a balance he tween these humanitarian impulses and the ideas of protecting their society. However, we americans must stand in solidarity against what evildoers do. Whonst those evildoers murder vulnerable populations to achieve their ends. I look forward to learning from the witnesses on how the United States might be able to lend a hand and understand the threat that faces us. One last point i would like to the pleasure of oneg after the after terrorist attack in boston, with my Ranking Member at the time and we were there in order to see if there could be cooperation between russia and the United States in dealing with the terrorist threat. When we left, i was very satisfied that the russian government was willing to work with us and they actually give us information that was very valuable in analyzing what happened in this massacre of people across the marathon and with that said, since that time, our relations with russia have gone down so dramatically that it has hindered us from working together with the russians to defeat this thread to the planet. This is a threat. We are talking about radical islamic terrorism as a threat to every good person on the planet, wherever they come from. I am interested in hearing our witnesses to see if there is something you believe that working with russia in trying to thwart radical islamic terrorism is something that should be on our twodo list. Yourk forward to hearing testimony and i especially want to thank the judge for holding this hearing and letting my subcommittee participate. Thanks thank you. Teacher recognizes the ranking from new york. Ks his opening statement. Thank you for calling this hearing to address the growing threat that is coming at our allies in europe. It is not only a threat to our allies in europe but it is a threat to those outside of nato as well. Systemsthreat to our and in fact we had a meeting today with the secretarygeneral of the u. N. And when asked what fear was, he said it was the International Aspect of terrorism and how they are trying to come together to create a global terrorist threat. Andit is extremely timely important to appreciate the efforts that this problem that we have specifically for our european allies. They are asking, how can we work together. It is especially important when we find our president has founded difficult at times to talk about the importance of such alliances. You know, because as mr. Keating has indicated, after 9 11, that is the only time when article five was triggered. So i would hope that we speak with one voice in regards to our president not sending conflicting messages out about nato and the in you it was newsrbing when i saw the reporting how drastically confidence in the United States president has eroded around the europe and ast in fractious Transatlantic Alliance allows more space for terrorists to act both in europe and here at home. Terrorism in europe is a multifaceted threat. While in some countries it has proven to be more nuanced and others. Most recently, we have witnessed a barrage of coordinated in the other lone wolf attacks. Europe, in central governing politicians point to welcoming refugee policies in other European Countries as a leading contributor to terrorism in order to push their agenda of stronger Border Control. In fact, you have to go all the way to russia to find similar examples of terror in eastern europe. But in turkey, another nato ally that has been under attack by terrorists have pommeled cities across the country. But we see the less attention for doing so. This brings me to the first point of clarification, threat perception. Politicians on all sides in the media are attracted to Shocking Stories of terror in europe. These acts have taken center stage with the help of cctv and cell phones that can immediately transmit harrowing videos across the world. In this sense, advanced technology has made the terrorized aspect of terrorism a lot easier and alsosomething that we must focus on. Because the threat is very real. Foreign fighters from western europe, the balkans, and russia will return home from syria having perhaps become more radicalized in their quest for glory. Some may return home disheartened, giving ourauthorities an easier opportunity to learn more about the attraction. Weve got to figure out the difference so we can make sure its to our advantage. One key aspect of preventing radicalization in the first place, which is something we should look at, also, is understanding the drivers that push a young man or woman into such radical territory. Thankfully, we have best practice examples that show us there is no one size fits all solution. And that the problem is evolving. Italy a country with thousands of refugees and immigrants is able to accept them in ahumane manner, discern the proper status for the people and move the process along. The process is by no means perfect. Yet, with the help of International Humanitarian organizations are absolutely essential. And the american story can be of use here. I believe that despite our bumps and bruises, we can help european nations in integrating communitiesinto their societies. On paper, european states may be all inclusive. But this often differs in practice, which is as well here in the United States. As a result, some communities are forgotten or isolatedand susceptible to radicalization. So weve got to focus on what we cando to try to prevent those from being radicalized. And so i look forward to engaging with our witnesses to discuss how the u. S. Can learn from and help our european allies who are under attack. And i thank you, and i yield back. I thank the gentleman from new york. Without objection all members may have five days to submit questions, and without all objection all witnesses statement will be a part of the record. If you see a red light come up in front of you, that means stop. Ill introduce each witness and give them time for their opening statements. Mr. Hughes is the Deputy Director of the program on extremism at George Washington university. Hes an expert on terrorism, home grown violent extremism and countering violent extremist. Martin sillcox potentialized innational security policy. Dr. Cragen is a Research Fellow at the National Defense university. Recently left a position as political scientist at Therand Corporation and has taught at Georgetown University and the university of maryland. Miss georgia home or is at the institute of peace where she oversees a broad portfolio of legal related subjects and projects and research. She chairs the working group on counter violent extremism. Mr. Hears, we will start with you. You have five minutes. Thank you. Chairman, Ranking Members, distinguishes distinguished members of the committee. Europe is facing a sustained threat from the Islamic State. An estimated more than 5,000 europeans have travelled to syria to join isis. The percentage of european foreign fighters who have returned to their countries of departure is estimated as high as 30 . In the United States, some 250 americans have travelled or attempted to travel to isis controlled territories. Of the 250, the program on extremism has identified more than 60 u. S. Based individuals who successfully migrated to syria. Theres not a typical profile of an american or european isis recruit. They vary in Socio Economic background, age, gender, locationand the degree of religiosity. Until recently, isis operated a relative safe haven from which to plan attacks. Despite recent territorial losses it continues to maintain a country of sympathizers who have a feeling of obligation to help the caliphate. Since 2014, we have identified 51 attacks in europe and north america. The vast majority of the perpetrators were citizens of the country in which they committed the attack. Only 5 of those who carried out the attacks were refugeesor Asylum Seekers. Most had a prior criminal past. Less than 10 were directly ordered by isis to commit the attacks. In most cases the attackers are isis inspired or had some touch point but no explicit direction. About 20 of the attackers were returning foreign fighters. Those that did commit those attacks were more lethal in their attacks. The majority of the perpetrators who pledge allegiance to isis before their attack and after their attack. Isis took credit for about 40 of them. France has experienced the highest number of attacks at 17, followed closely by the United States with 16 attacks. Attacks in the u. S. Tend to be significantly more unstructured. Spontaneous than europe. Even though some of them, orlando, and San Bernardino, being a good example, have been no less deadly. There have been 395 jihadist related arrests in 2014. 687 in 2015. And 718 in 2016. Numbers are much lower in the United States, where 18 individuals were arrested for terrorism relatedactivities in 2014. 75 in 2015, which was banner year for us. And just 36 in2016. Unlike europe, the United States does not seem to possess extensive home grown militant organizations that provide support to isis. Jihadists propaganda continues to be easily accessiblethrough various Online Platforms for the last ten years. It has played a role in radicalizing westerners. With the advent of numerous social media applications, a would be recruit can access realtime support and have a stronger sense theyre part of a wider network. An important dynamic at play, is isis has employed what wecall isis virtual entrepreneurs who use social media to connect people in the west, these are people in raqqah that are reaching out to americans and europeans. They were involved in at least 21 of domestic plots in the United States. During that same time period, 19 of 38 isis linked plots in europe involved some form of online instruction. Technology companies have addressed isis online activities in two ways, content based regulation and countermessaging. The current approaches by twitter, facebook, google, microsoft to name a few may not necessarily address the new types of encrypted channels on platforms liketelegram, now frequented by extremists. Even though online radicalization phenomenon received a lot of attention, offline dynamics still matter a great deal. Physical networks in europe remain of importance. Its important to note that far right movements in europehave taken advantage of the recent wave of isis inspired attacks in europe to mobilize old and few followers. These groups tend to ignore distinctions between islam and jihadists seeing all muslims as a threat. Its triggered attacks against innocent muslim communities. Weve seen how they have fed off each other and used this to assist in their recruitment efforts. This dynamic of radicalization between jihadist andfar right extremists needs to be monitored. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you, i welcome your questions. Mr. Simcox. Thank you. Chairman poe, distinguished members of the subcommittee,thank you for the opportunity to testify here today. The views i expressin this testimony are my own and do not represent the official position of the heritage foundation. My goal this afternoon is to highlight the Severe Threat that islamic terrorism poses to europe. There are several aspects of the threat, which ill discuss today. The first is the scale. As we all know, recently theres been much discussion by governments about the threat posed. This refers to at least five to 6,000 european whose have fought alongside isis and other groups in syria and iraq and are returning to their home countries. Most devastatingly, members ofthe cell that committed attacks in paris in november 2015 killing 130 andwounding 368, had travel today syria from europe, fought and trained with isis and returned to europe to carry out an attack. This cell contained isis member whose had entered europe from syria after makingfalse asylum claims. While the majority of Syrian Refugees are not tied to terrorism, germany has seen a sharp up tick in the threat it faces. There was an eight fold increase in plots between 2015 and 2016. Largely due to a surge of those involving refugees. In fact, germany faced more plots last year than it did in the entire 2000 to 2015 period. As the u. S. Has experienced with the attacks in San Bernardino and orlando, european governments also have a very significant problem with home grown radicals. To give an idea of the scale of this threat, the uk hasapproximately 23,000 terror suspects on the radar. Within this, a 3,000 suspect assessed to be the most imminent threat. However, such assessments will never be foolproof and always lies the possibility that the likes of Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood slips through the net. The second aspect is the breadth of terrorism throughout europe. Data demonstrates the number of plots europe has faced hasrisen year on year. There had been 15 separate countries targeted, most commonly, belgium, france, germany and the uk. This year, there havebeen multiple attacks on traditional targets in the uk and france. An isislink to Asylum Seeker from uzbekstantistan in a truck attack in stockholm and an italian tunisian stabbed ofrsz officers in milan a. Itsimpossible to build that catch all profile of who will carry out these attacks. Its not just young men. Khalid masood was 52. For example, in february, 2016, a radicalized 15yearold german girl in contact with isis stabbed a Police Officer in hanover. Y ou have those who have criminal records and those who do not. Those who trained with terrorists and those who have not. Those who are welleducated or affluent as well as those who are poorly educated or from a lower Socio Economic background. All were drawn into the terrorist orbit and planned attacks in europe. The thirst aspect is the range the third aspect is the range of weapons now used by terrorists. Since november 2015, belgium, france, germany and the uk have seen operatives acquiring expertise and materials toassemble suicide bombs without having their plans thwarted. There has not been a lack of willing volunteers to carry out these suicide missions, including salman abedi who committed the attack in manchester. The use of vehicles. There have been no publicly disclosed instances in which vehicular attacks have been thwarted. Weve seen the consequences in niece, stockholm, london and else where. Over 1,400 people were injured and over 300 People Killed in islamic attacks in europe in the past three and a half years. Including in this number are nine americans. C chairman poe, distinguished members, the grave dangerthat terrorism poses to europe is only likely to increase. The u. S. Must work with europe to defeat the threat. Thank you for inviting me to discuss this with you and i look forward to any question. I thank the gentleman. Doctor . Id like to thank the chair and the Ranking Members for inviting me to testify on the subject of the threat posed to europe and the west by the Islamic State in iraq and syria or isis. Over the past 20 years ive explored the topics of what motivates people to become terrorists and how groups adapt and counterterrorism. Much of the research has focusedon what is often referred to as foreign fighters, or individuals who leave their homes and travel abroad to fight. My written testimony provides the details of this research and i plan to summarize it briefly today. As you know, isis stepped into the global spotlight in june 2014 after its spokesman announced a newly formed islamic caliphate. Soon thereafter isis began to consolidate control over territory within syria and iraq, but it also established provinces outside of the area. Isis has 25 provinces in 11 countries. The apparent focus by isis on control overterritory caused many to conclude at the time that isis was less interested in attacking the west than al qaeda. This has proven to be false. The First Successful attack by a foreign fighter returnee took place in may 2014 at the Jewish Museum in brussels. The perpetrator was part of a cell. This suggests that isis leaders intended to attack the west months before they even declared a caliphate. The overall pattern ofattacks by isis reinforces this conclusion, between june 2014 and may 2017, isis operatives conducted 225 attacks outside syria and iraq. 42 were external operations, or attacks outside of those provinces. To put this in perspective, isis has been more aggressive in its external operationsthan al qaeda. Only 10 of al qaedas attacks between 2008 and 2010 took place outside of countries with affiliates. 10 for al qaeda, 42 for isis. To truly understand the threat we need to examine successful and failed attacks and the numbers become even more grim. 58 of all isis external operations including both attacks and plots have taken place in the west. Lets take the november 2015 attacks in paris as an example. There were nine core operative, seven foreign fighter returnees, two iraqis. They recruited an additional 21 individuals to help with logisticsonce they arrived in europe. Seven of these recruits were foreign fighter returnees and 14 were not. Foreign fighters return home to attack, they also recruit others to help. That is the bad news. The good news is that the paris attacks acted as a catalyst for the west. Spain has detained 159 individuals and interrupted at least six plots. France has foiled 22 plots, the uk has detained almost 300 and foiled 18 plots. In fact, the combinedefforts by Law Enforcement intelligence and military forces led to aplummet in the number of successful external operations by foreign fighters in late 2016. This predates the mosul offensive. It tells me that the u. S. And its allies have come up with the correct formula to minimize the threat posed by foreign fighter returnees. But its only a short term solution, because arresting individuals preempively causes short prison terms. It also presents the threat of prison radicalization and its hard to see how this formula can be applied by less affluent countries. Isis has proven itself to be adaptive and the recent attacks in englandunderscore there is still more to be done. I mention that successful attacks by foreign fighters plummeted in august 2016. But the overall trend in external operations continues to go up. So why . As attacks plummeted they were replaced by attacks conducted by local recruits with directive guidance from isis fighters based in syria, sometimes referred to as virtual planners. They will identify local recruits, introduce them to individuals with Technical Expertise and help pick the target. All via telegram or whatsapp. I dont want to leave the impression weve solved the problem in the west by foreign fighter returnees, wehavent. But the most urgent need is to find a way to take this formula and expand it geographically. And beyond the urgent need we need to fit these within a wider strategy to address the threat from foreign fighter returnees and virtual planners. And ms. Holmer. Good afternoon, mr. Chairman. Ranking members, thank you for theopportunity to testify today. Please note that my comments reflect my own views and not necessarily that of the u. S. Institute of peace. I began my career working on terrorism in europe for the fbi over 20 years ago. That was the tail end of a wave of marxist and national politicalviolence in europe that included kidnappings, bombings and assassinations and generated the same feelings of fear and outrage aswere experiencing. The wave of Political Violence in europe is greater. Were witnessing not only directed attacks but selfinspires acts of violence. The justification for the violence has changed as well and idealogy is rooted in religious militancy. Unlike the wave of terrorismfrom the 1970s to the 1990s the targets are indiscriminate and there is more a willingness on the part of the attackers to die. Counterterrorism investigations today are more sophisticated. They are more mechanismsfor international collaboration. There has been a steadily increasing awareness in understanding that effective operations are critical, butinsufficient without an investment in prevention. Law enforcement and Security Forces cannot possibly anticipate and disrupt every potential attack, especially low level attacks involving one man and a truck and a knife. Understanding why individuals are willing to give their lives to a movement or cause, and working to address the issues and grievances that push them in that direction is a critical investment of american timeand resources. Last year, usip conducted research why kosovo had thehighest rates of foreign fighters traveling to fight with isis. Youth found their messages particularly compelling because of their frustration with their own lives, lack of opportunity, complicating ideasabout their idea, and an inherited legacy of conflict and violence. Kosovo faces a multifaceted challenge, managing the return of those who went to iraq and syria as well as those who never left but are radicalized and intent on causing harm. And also preventing newrecruits from forming new groups. Kosovo is not alone, but theirexperience illustrates how important it is to have effective programs and strategies to prevent individuals from radicalizing and joining these groups or rejoining once they out of prison. I would like to offer that all are three critical areas in which efforts to prevent radicalization could be advanced and which our European Partners have madesignificant progress. First, is increasing Public Awareness and engagement in preventing radicalization. Preventing early stage radicalization, especially for those who have never engaged in any criminal activity is out of reach of Law Enforcement and is moreappropriately addressed. Much of the work in europe is led by ngos but supported by National Governments and the e. U. Community level programs involving teachers and social workers, religious leaders and families who help build the resilience of youth and intervene appropriately when they show signs of influence. These efforts include,but go beyond countering the idealogy that underpins these groups to address the relationships and practical issues that make youth vulnerable to recruitment in the first place. Idealogy after all is how theyre recruited, not why they join. Secondly, insuring effective andaccountable criminal justice and Law Enforcement procedures. Individuals touchpoints with the police. The establishment of accountable information sharing mechanisms between the public and Law Enforcement helps insure that individuals are not prematurely criminalized and many european Law Enforcement forces have implemented programs. Third, working to prevent recidivism. After prison, many individuals return to the same environment in which they were radicalized in the first place. Even if they do not engage in violent activity directly they may continue to espouse ideas. European has a number of programs that were originally developed to address quasi criminal groups. The u. S. Has been a leader in efforts to prevent violent extremism and can continue to support our allies in europe, in this role in prevention. Thank you for your time. I thank the witnesses and thank you for staying on time. We all appreciate that. The chair will reserve its questions for last. Ill recognize the chairman of the european subcommittee for his questions. I want to thank the witnesses, youve given us a really Good Foundation to look at this. And, you know, its perplexing, peoples lives are at stake. And statistics and your analysis of it frankly we needed your help and thank you, your honor for holding this hearing. Id like to ask some, you have some information for us on this, im sure. How much spying is being done by our government of our ownpeople. Every time its come for a vote, i voted against permitting government to have more spying on american citizens. Were faced with this decision wooxter going to allow more and more people to tap ourtelephones or whatever they do. Go into our internet systems and things. Do you think that we should be, that thats a wrong vote on my part . Am i wrong for not agreeing to allow the, the Law Enforcement and our protectors to actually have greater leverage in spying on american citizens . Who might be related to someone who came, migratedhere, as you know, ten years ago . Who wants to answer that question . Oh, come on, be courageous, we have to vote on this. Ill take the easy one. I agree with the chairman in terms of the question of intelligence, is wonderful, right. The fact that you have afisa and thousands of documents on that individual, gives you insight into the person. But its one thing to have the intelligence and another thing to have the agents and sources to run that down in some parts of america you have an influx of information, social media, wire taps, but not an ability to act on that and not knowing when to theextent we can limit the data so to the extent we can limit the data thats just exactly what we need to kind of bring down the level of general were cooperating with europe, correctly. Are we involved in spying on european citizens in order to track down these terrorists that we wouldnt be allowed to do in our own country . Anybody know the answer . Well, i know that the european government, especially the ones thatwork closely with the u. S. , of which the uk certainly is one of those countries, tremendously grateful for the help that the u. S. Offers in terms of the Intelligence Capacity that it provides. Which is far outstretched that of the vast majority of European Countries. I tend to think and we have a lot of these debates in the uk as to the privacy,liberty, security debates. Its obviously a very tricky one. I tend to think as long as the oversight is robust and it seems to me im not a subject matter expert. But having looked at the u. S. Intelligence Community Oversight seems to be quite robust certainly compared to many other european governments, some of whom perhaps complain in purpose about american spying. But in private are grateful for some of the intelligence thats passed on. I think its highly likely and im not getting the details right now. But probably behind closed doors that we are conducting extensive and listening and hacking, if you will, overseas and we are sharing that with our european allies and i would hope we are. Let me just ask this, go to one other issue before my time comes up here. I mentioned that theRanking Member and mr. Keating went to russia. And we met with the head of their renamed kgb, fsb i guess they call it. And they were very generous with us, with information. And they actually gave us some information that we believe was gave us a better understanding of the Boston Marathon bomber and where he was coming from and his family background. And that by the way, i believe, had they shared that with us beforehand, we might have put them on a higher level of observation. And do you think we should be working with the russians . I would just tell you that i personally, im a lone wolf here, right, in the congress. We need to be working with russia to defeat radical islam, because that threatens their people, and threatens our people. And theres no reasonin the world, i think because we have disagreements in other parts of the world, that that cooperation should be in some way shut off. Do you have any thoughts on that . And please feel free. Ill take that one. Ive run out of time, but i think theyll give you time to answer. You can answer the question about russia. Over the past couple of years ive been involved in some track ii diplomacy discussions with russian academics and weve wrestled with this issue of to what extent could we cooperate and how could we cooperate on counterterrorism. So ill just tell you sort of my impressions from that. We kept getting bogged down. Now we were academics, so were not policymakers. We kept getting bogged down andill smaurize how we got bogged down. We kept getting bogged downbecause as an american im comfortable with a certain amount of instability in pursuit of Democratic Values. So im probably more riskseeking, im willing to accept some risk with Democratic Values being established. And my russian counterpart, the ultimate goal was stability we kept getting bogged down, almost everything came down to this almost cultural or valuebased tension. So i would just offer that to you as you think about the practicality of it. We just couldnt seem to come to a lot of solution on it. It was an interesting experience. Ill say that. The chair recognizes the Ranking Member, the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Keating. This is a great hearing to have, between this committee and the Homeland Security committee im on, i spend a great deal of time looking at issues of terrorism. Its a complex area, no simple solutions. We spending some time today on an area that im very intrigued in and we havent come close to maximizing our prevention efforts in and i was listening to ms. Homers testimony as a former fbi person as my own experience as a District Attorney andtheres similarities between how we approach crime issues in these terrorist crimes as well. I was in europe, the hollings institute was doing a study on trying to find common characteristics among terrorists, people that were radicalized, and you know, they were dealing with things like whether there was a male rolemodel, strong male presence in the family. Some of these characteristics in fact much less scientific. I remember testimony of the former fbidirector comey, in front of our committee. Describing these people as poor souls. Theres something to that. Miss homer, could you tell us from your experience, i could tell from your testimony, some of the common characteristics, that are there that make people more prone tobeing radicalized . I think the first answer to that question is it is unique per individual. There are some common trends that make people more vulnerable. Certainly we find in the european context it has to do with issues of assimilation. It has to do with issues of opportunity. It has to do withexposure to violence. Exposure to criminality. And all of those issuesmake people more vulnerable to recruitment. I think that the challenge when youre dealing with such a large pool of potential recruits is that its outside the reach of Law Enforcement to possibly identify them. Especially when youre dealing with such lowlevel attacks. How can we empower. I think the committee as a whole here, verystrong in their support empowering women and mothers. To able torecognize this radicalization as it occurs. Are you familiar with any of those. Im very familiar with it theres one ngo based in vienna, called womenwithout borders thats done some very groudbreaking work in thisspace. And their approach is to work with mothers to help them understand Early Warning signs of radicalization in their families, so they might intervene. They might know when the role is appropriate for parents and when it is indeed to pull in Law Enforcement. I think that Law Enforcement i had programs like alternatives to prosecution for young people. Mental health diversions and certain probationary areas. Theres a stage to deal with a lot of issues to correspond in any case, heres a question that i am perplexed with. When you look at europe and the u. S. In particular. Its the amount of radicalization that occurs in prisons, in europe versus the radicalization that occurs here. Now it occurs in both places but its not even close in scope. Given my knowledge in this area. Why is it, so much of a, more of a problem in europe . Why is this so commonplace in europe . What are the factors there. What are they doing to correct that . Anyone . Well part of the problem is that in europe the release rates are a lot quicker than the u. S. , right . So people get the example i always give is that somebody like the carried out the brussels 2016 attack hadpreviously been convicted for a bank robbery. Where he shot a kalishnakov at a Police Officer in america i think that would lead to apretty lengthy jail sentence. Think in belgium he got Something Like three years. So he had contact with radicals in prison. He was out very quickly and carries out these attacks. European governments are trying all sorts of different strategies to deal with this france tried isolating certain highrisk people, certain radicalizers, but that hasnt really worked. I think part of it down to numbers. The population ofmuslim population in prisons is way, way disproportionate in compares ton the overall population. And i know that lots of countries are arresting with different strategies and nobody has been terribly successful. I think we need to keep experimenting, to be frank. If i could, one more, mr. Hughes. In terms of the u. S. Context, we tend to segregate our convicted terrorists and use especially administrative measures. And that tends to work. I would agree with robinthat the numbers are smaller. I would mention a Public Policy question we grapple with. The average prison sentence for an americanized recruit is 13 years, weve had about two folks that have already been released. Were going to have to grapple with a large number ofamericans who were arrest ford isisrelated activities that are getting out of jail in the not too distant future. You talk to the bureau of prisons or department of Homeland Security, their eyes glaze over and its incumbent on us to roll up our sleeves and figure this out. The chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. Duncan. I thank the gentleman from texas for holding this hearing and the gentleman from california, its a broad topic. I dont think were going toget to all the areas of discussion in this one hearing, i hope well do itagain. My concern has been isil operatives infiltrating the Muslim Migration into europe that we saw last year, last 18 months, a lot of those were militaryage men coming into europe. Countries like hungary, recognizing their own sovereignty and securing their borders. The free flow of people across europe was exploited by one of thei believe one of the brussel attackers or somebody headed to brussels. Had a carload of automatic womens and grenades snd cemex. A lot of the folks i represent reasonable doubt concerned about those folks getting to europe and staying long enough to gain citizenship and coming to this country at some point in the future. Isil has been in existence for 24 months, 36 months and so were getting into that timeframe where citizenship can be earned. Folks could possibly come to the United States with visa waiver programs. Et cetera. Dr. Kragen, youve dot a lot of work regarding the return of foreign fighters. Europeans have gone to syria and iraq, libya and returned back. We saw it recently in england. How can Congress Better understand this and fight back against that threat . I guess ill start with the refugee issue. In my data set of external operations, outside the provinces of about 3 of the attacks had a refugee involved in them. Not saying its a nonexistent threat. But its very, very low relative to inspired individuals who are already residents and citizens. Those directed by virtual planners and foreign fighters returnees, so when youre looking at a Risk Assessment and putting all those in place, my tendency as can counterterrorism professional is looking at the foreign fighter returnees. Now looking atthe foreign fighter returnees, i do think that intelligence cooperation,in coordination with Law Enforcement and military activities hasimproved significantly. I would say since 2016, late 2015, early 2016, so were on the right track. My biggest concern in that area are the foreign fighter returnees that are going to be going to north africa and tunisia, 6500 and tunisia is awfully close to europe. They simply do not have a capacity nor the intelligence assets that we have. If youre interested in helping out europe, the next step is to actually broadenthat cooperation to try to find a way to help egypt. Help tunisia, jordan to a certain extent, make sure that they can absorb and reintegrate their foreign fighter returnees. Do you think youre going to see, we have seen, do you think youre going to see more Border Control measures put in place . Germany do a little bit of that. And france do that. And hungary, which wasnt schengen. Migration to their countries or through their countries. Do you think europe will address the open border situation, see more return to Border Controls . Or do you think theyre going to continue with the open border situation we have now . And dr. Craigin, ill let you address that. Whichever one would want to answer. I havent talked to european officials so i dont know what they intendto do as a counterterrorism official, Border Security is one part in my research, the more you can push out the threat and deal with it outsideof europe as i said in sort of north africa and the levant thats better than relying on Border Security measures as theyre crossing back into europe quite frankly. Thats sort of my interpretation. You talk about wide range and middle east and north african. Weve seen the fighters coming across from libya, tunisia morocco, portugal,spain. Italys got a huge problem. Malta, european union. Theres a lot of issues, thats a big, broad area. The fact of the matter is there are peoplein europe that could be radicalized that have traveled from the middle east. Through this migration, militaryage men who could have been inspired before they even left. Weve got a problem in the country. I understand what youre saying what weve seen is people who have been inspired in europe. They didnt, maybethey came from north africa at some point. But theyve been there long enough. The issue today are the people that are in the country. Theirability to travel around, and they are getting inspired through online measures. Mr. Chairman, those are some questions i hope the europeans are asking themselves. Were not going to solve it for them, but i appreciate the information. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new york mr. Meeks . I want to degree, this has been a very interesting hearing. Something that weve got to really dig into. Let me just try to go a little bit furtheri guess on what mr. Duncan was taking about. Because i hear a lot of folks talking about the way to prevent terrorist attacks is by banning immigrants and refugees and individuals from coming back into, going into various different countries. So i guess my first question is, do you think by banning immigrants, i think you said, ms. Craigin, it was only 3 of individuals coming from the war areas. Those returning from battle. But the actual refugees and immigrants, do you think that by banning all refugees will that cut down on terrorism in these various areas . Or any place in the world for that matter, because terrorism is all over the place now. [ inaudible ] the way that you successfully put together a counterterrorism strategy is you have layers and lots of different security measures throughout. So my data suggests of external operations that is attacks conducted by isis outside of its provinces, its 25 provinces, 3 included somebody who had come through the refugee system. So thats not zero, its something, but then you Start Talking about where do you put yourresources. Nobody can devote just everything to this problem. Do you devote it to Border Security measures . Do you devote it to intelligence operations . Do you devote it to military operations . Thats sort of what were talking about. As a counterterrorism professional, i prefer to see more devoted out towards intelligence, Law Enforcement investigations and military operations than Border Security and that doesnt necessarily mean you dont do Border Security. Now im talking about relative resources and what you devote to what type of operation. One of the things that ive seen that we could be taking our eye off the ball, for example in the western balkans, where we talk about theres a space of very high unemployment, disenchantment and religious extremism present and i think that can present a dangerous recipe what can be done in this region to helpsecure partways, todays nature nato and the eu minimizingthe risk of terror in that area. One of the important things is for the kosovo government is theyre not member of interpol. Having acknowledging that the threat is not just from returnees, but from people who are already in the country who havent left. Who may be inspired to engage in acts of violence. And that speaks to not just bolstering Law Enforcement intelligence operations, but also to havinga commensurate resource to prevention. As i talk to some of my, well some are friends, some are constituents,et cetera, here in the United States. Those who happen to be muslim also,they do say the words that we utilize in the United States, in europe andothers, are important. Some would help, words are important, some helps to recruit, well help recruiters recruit individuals. Do you think words matter in how we entitle, how we title for example my friend from california says, were free to now say radical islamic terrorists. Or i heard mr. Simcox, he indicated he used the word he used the phrase islamic, islamist terrorists, as opposed to islamist terror. Does that make a difference . For us . Just semantics do words matter in this regard when were fighting terror . I think all Political Violence is an affront to ideological values, while it helps us to understand the motives and recruitment dynamics and help us understand and counter those ideologies, to know exactly what they are, im not sure theres a very big difference between thetypes of violence that were inspired by the marxist ideals of the 80s. I think its important as a part of our understanding, its only one piece of the puzzle. Overemphasizing it is going to keep us aweay from the other pieces. The chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. Garrett. Im curious, because weve spent a lot of time on the entity that i call daesh or isis. Some people call it isil, the entire Eastern Mediterranean region, extending intowhat some would argue is iraq, libya, egypt, as well as the island of cypress and greece, et cetera is that roughly correct as to what the levant would mean . Normally north africa is the magreb, but then egypt, algeria. Lebanon. Syria, lebanon, iraq. Turkey, i mean in the broadest historical sense. If were you to refer to isil you would be giving a larger geographic footprint to the entity thats isil, as opposed to isis. I think this is a semantic thing of do you use the word they use to call themselves. Do you assign something to them. Is it the daesh, isis, isil . Having spent a little bit of time affiliated with Law Enforcement andwarfare, unless you wish to bolster your enemy, unless you wish to strengthen your enemy, in the world, you minimize, you might refer to them say for example as the jv team, right if that would be, but normally traditionally you dont want to build your enemy up, right . I guess whatim driving at is the levant is larger than iraq and syria, and why someone would call them isil to give them greater credibility. It is beyond me, and yet it has been done. Fisa, to talk about recent reports indicate up to 5 of fisa court applications, upstream informationgathering during the last Previous Administration was actually usedagainst american citizens. In section 702 of the code allows us to use fisa, it orders that american citizens be masked, wherein those citizens identity might have been accidentally associated with a foreign intelligence target. Because why . We dont know whos called whom, a wrong number or for entirely unrelated methods or reasons. In in fact this is the case and i dont know enough about the fisa regime to enter. Any opinion on the . On that . I would submit to the record, if we weaponize he foreign intelligence act that has existed or 38 years against americans that people like myself and others who are reasonable and appreciate the bill of rights, specifically the Fourth Amendment, might rail against the use of those techniques. If we rail against those intelligence gathering techniques, i argue we would gather less intelligence and be less effective in stopping the next attack. I would submit that perhaps the blood of americans who are victimized because someone to turn to in some undetermined determined, and they private expectations of citizens, that entity might have blood on their hands. Lets switch subjects briefly to the Muslim Brotherhood. From a source gave us the Muslim Brotherhood motto. Organizationrist before this congress, and i understand the political sensitivity. I would ask you if the motto is roughly translated into the lawn is our low and our and dying is our goal, could a thinkle person inc. That was a reason to commit extremist acts . Mainthink one of the concerns is whether you could legally designate what is a terrorist entity, and if it would achieve what you want to achieve. Either supported entities that could be struggled out to be more accurate . I think you could take a hard look. If you all would please contact my office with the names of the subordinate entities that would be more appropriate. Thank you. Recognizes the gentlelady from california. Thank you mr. Chairman and. Ur witnesses i am a new member of this committee. I was a local mayor in the state legislature in california. I spent a lot of time studying and dealing with state prison issues in my district. Prison, a womens prison and a juvenile Detention Center which has been closed. So going back to a question that was asked by Ranking Member keating. Regarding our prison system versus the european prison system. If incarcerated people in europe are spending less time in prison than incarcerated people here in the u. S. , wouldnt that be less time that they have inside you know a prison system to recruit . Well, i think part of the problem is people who dont go into prison as radicals would come out that way. This is especially relevant anything about the isis connection to the criminal nexus and the ability to recruit from criminal fraternities. You certainly have a very influential people with in french prisons, for example, who have a long track record of being able to connect with people who have gone in for somewhat petty crimes that are going to be needing to release in six months to two years. , our u. S. Prisons institutions, we try to separate mexican mafia, for example. With other gangs. The bloods and the crips, we try withinhold them in the same area. Is this different than what is happening in europe . Theyve experimented with different approaches. I think theres definitely been a problem when you have key radicalizers in and among the general prison population and increasing radicalization. The problem is you get some groups that are concerned if you start putting terroristonly wings, then there are complaints that youre creating a british Guantanamo Bay or Something Like that. I dont find those to be persuasive arguments, but those are the sorts of things you hear on the other side. Lets talk about Community Policing. Having coming from that environment, spent a lot of time representing a city that has high crime and numerous gangs and very atrisk youth. There is a lot to be said about atrisk youth and the lack of services and the lack of education and opportunities. Here in the u. S. , i think, at least the Muslim Community within my district is very much integrated, theyre very much a part of the quilt that, you know, is the makeup of our very cultural community. Theyre seen as a positive influence in our community, not as a negative influence. They tend to want to work and be a part of the solution. With Law Enforcement and with fbi officials. So, in the case of San Bernardino, that really comes lost and i have constituents, i used to represent the city of San Bernardino as a state senator. It really troubles me that there werent real signals out there, from a young mother, with a young baby and a young father, what could we do . What is the lesson we could learn . Certainly without having to racially profile someone. Just because of the way they look. George has done really good work on Community Policing and things. I would say, Community Engagement is one step is your microphone on . Yes. Talk latter, then i used to do Community Engagement mostly in mr. Keatings district which was you go to a mosque with 300 people in the room and you talk about terrorism and radicalization. You dont talk down to them . No, you let them talk to you. You have to, it has to be numbers, it has to be human stories. How do you reach a kid before he crosses the line. When you look at u. S. Cases you have a bystander effect. You dont know what to do with it and dont have the tools to do with it. We havent provided as the u. S. Government, alternatives to prosecution, intervention programs, so thatting if you so that if you have a case like enrique marquez, who is on Law Enforcement radar for a number of years, you cant veer him off to someone else. Our European Partners have developed these interventions, they are putting resources behind if youd thank you, mr. Chairman. The chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois. Thanks to you and the rankings for holding this hearing today on terrorism and given the recent terrorist attacks and especially the three attacks that have taken place in the United Kingdom since march, combatting terrorism is increasingly important to the United States and our allies across the atlantic. Over 70 of the perpetrators of terrorism in europe are citizens of the countries they attack. This is an indication that radicalization is taking place within countries in europe and it can also happen within the United States. The former undersecretary of state for Public Diplomacy testified before congress that other countries can better deal with terrorist Information Operations than the United States. So for all of you, is the current Global Engagement center being run by the department of te the best messager messenger to counterextremism and how we should be coordinating Information Operations to counter extremist propaganda to help protect the homeland and help our allies . Whoever feels they can answer. Jumping on the Global Engagement center. We see a number of different iterations they appeared there. I tend to be a believer that the u. S. Government shouldnt see the space. As long as you also have the black, the gray and the white still going on at the same time. I think were seeing an he have looks at the gdc of away from this broadbased, 30second video on youtube that will get your target audience to how do we move folks that we identify in the online space to offline, intervention, boards, groups, ngo in europe and other places where we can start getting these people back in the fold. I would hope that the center moves away from largescale programming towards more targeted programming. You are able to measure effectiveness. You can go back and say, it is working and we need more money, or it is not working, lets shift gears. On the Global Engagement center i think you need to have, i think its important to have an approach thats flexible that changes if necessary, region by region, its not going to be a cookiecutter strategy that you can implement across any area of concern. Agree with seamus, i dont think the u. S. Government should see this space. I know that people would say somehow its an imperfect messenger. While that may be true, what is perfect about this area were working in . I hope the u. S. Remains engaged. Ok. I would just add that the success of any counter messaging program is that the message itself is local. Locally originated and locally given. So the success of any sort of effort like that is rooted in having partnerships in the countries that are the recipients of those messages. Do you feel, in light of changes that have gone on in the United States, that the countries feel confident enough in our european allies . I think that his country to country. I still think there is. Whenever i speak to european governments on this. I dont think that you should overestimate in the u. S. The distrust thats coming from europe. People from europe still want to work with the u. S. On these issues. Theres a great level of trust that still exists and alliances have been built up over decades. They are not dependant on one president and one party. So all the conversations ive had with european governments throughout various levels, have been people saying how do we increase contacts, how do we carry on these working relationships because they know the u. S. Is important on so many levels. Be it diplomatic, intelligence, military. All the things that go into forging an effective kind of effective counterterrorism policy. That is good to hear. I yield back. I thank the gentlelady and recognize the gentleman from california. Mr. Sherman. We in the United States per capita faced far less islamic extremism from plots hatched on our own soil, which of course excludes 9 11. What is it about what were doing that is better or worse in terms of assimilating our Muslim American communities and convincing them not to engage in the behavior we see from brussels to paris to london . There are a host of things. One, and i hope it does not seem trite, example. The words you used, assimilation is not a word that is ever used in europe. Thought to be politically incorrect . I think people just dont see people talk about integration perhaps. But theres also a lot of debate about should we really expect people to integrate. This is how you allow parallel societies to develop that essentially in the way they have in europe. Theres an incredible reluctance still to even talk about, like i say, the word assimilation isnt used. I think that is an area where europe certainly needs to change. There are a whole host of other issues relating to the type of immigration thats taken place, whether for example the u. S. Took in people from affluent backgrounds perhaps, as opposed to the waves of migration that came into the uk or germany. I think theres a whole host of things around that you could debate and go back and forth on. I do think the assimilation , integration is an interesting component to this. I would point out that we as a country have a much longer period of assimilating people while they still retain their religious traditions. Theres a tendency to think that if youre doing better than someone else, that everything youre doing is right and everything theyre doing is wrong. What can we learn . What is europe doing right that would make sense to do here in the United States . Ms. Holmer . Or anyone else. Sure. Europe is spending a lot more resources and time on the prevention agenda. They have a lot more programs that are about divergent and are about interventions before people at early stages of radicalization. This is something that the eu has invested heavily in. Something that happens on the municipal and National Government level in terms of funding and support and they have a lot more programs than we and yet they have the bigger problem. If i could just add, not to pat ourselves on the back too much or to get too critical of europe, their networks exist all the way back to the conflict in bosnia. So these networks of recruitment and radicalization have been around a lot longer than we have had in the United States. So let me get this straight, nato, predominantly christian or christian heritage organization, went to war with a christian country, serbia, to defend the people of bosnia, and of kosovo, two of the three muslimmajority states in europe today. Instead of people saying my god, here nato is living up to its values and defending people regardless of their religion, instead somehow the narrative was, now its time to blow things up in the countries that saved the people of kosovo and bosnia. The muslim people of bosnia and kosovo. Let me explain it on two levels. Youre talking about motivations and i think there is one part of that that exists, that nato and the United States intervene too late. So there is that. But i am actually talking about wait a minute. The muslim majority countries intervene not at all and saved almost no one. But those who saved people didnt do a good enough job. Continue. I agree. What i want to point out is the Logistics Network that exists and the Financing Network that exists, that then funneled fighters and money into that conflict and then reversed. That network is what theyre trying to root out now. The countries of kosovo and bosnia and the muslim majority area of bosnia exist because of nato. Have their leaders and imams been helpful in pushing back against islamic extremism, given the fact that we saved them . I know youve done work on this. Ill just say one thing that i think is really interesting, about the dayton accord, which is that they actually required all of the foreign fighters who went, and there were 3000 who went to fight in bosnia, to leave. I think that its a good precedent and they are trying with limited resources. The gentlemans time has expired. The chair recognizes itself for its questions, thank you for being here. Theres been some discussion about american intelligence sources spying on americans. I have a great concern about that under the fisa courts, secret courts issuing secret warrants on secret individuals. I do believe we can have security and safety and we can have Civil Liberties in the United States. If used by the intelligence services, specifically 702 of the Foreign Surveillance intelligence act must end or Congress Must take immediate action to stop fisa in its entirety. They are abusing the law as it already is, in my opinion and that is our obligation. Because we are unique among nations. We have the Fourth Amendment to protect people and americans in the United States. Something that hasnt been talked about very much is the use of social media. We have Foreign Terrorists using American Companies to recruit, to raise money to spread propaganda and to teach other terrorists how to make bombs. The europeans are talking about trying to rein in social media. We have legislation that requires our government to tell us what the plan is on social media. To be very clear, the Supreme Court has said that terrorists do not have a constitutional right to use social media. It is not a free speech platform they are entitled to use. That is not an issue, im a big First Amendment guy, what are we doing to rein in our social Media Companies, to stop recruitment, raising money, propaganda and the building of bombs . Anybody want to talk about that . The europeans are talking about fining these businesses, social Media Companies, what are we doing . So given the option, social Media Companies would want to be libertarian. Take down no content. Because of the pushback theyve gotten from capitol hill and the public saying why raw letting your platforms being used by a terrorist. Theres no free speech issue. Weve seen it happen at least recently on twitter. If asked me two years ago, what the platform of choice would be i would tell you twitter. My concern now the isis recruits are largely concentrated on a german program. It allows for encryption, youre less likely to get a kid from the midwest who is curious about isis, youre more likely to get the true believers who are a looking for the connectors and the guys in raqqah. Saying, here is the bomb you should use. What can we do . Cut to the chase. No problem. I think more pressure that they held considerably liable for that. I think you could argue some level of civil liability to play here. Our social Media Companies have brought down all of the child pornography sites with absolutely no problem about liberty and that works, why not use the same protocol to bring down terrorist sites . Why is that the not occurring . Do you know . I think its occurring more rapidly in facebook and less so in other places. I would encourage social Media Companies to do what theyre doing now, which is using ai and hastag technologies. Are any of you in favor of criminal or Civil Penalties against social Media Companies that dont bring down terrorist sites . Any of you . I guess thats a no. I have a question for all of you. How many isis terrorists are there in the world . Does anybody know . An estimate . Yall are the experts, youve got to give me a number here. Does anybody know . Nobody wants to say . I think we ought to at least know how many of the enemy there are. If were going to be able to defeat them. What is the definition of a terrorist . Give me a working definition of a terrorist as opposed to some outlaw, criminal, whatever, whats a terrorist . Ms. Holmer . The fbi . A terrorist is someone who commits an act of violence or a violent crime, justified by an extreme radical, political or religious or social ideology. Mr. Hughes, you are not very encouraging. You said the problem going to get worse on terrorist activity. I believe it was you or mr. Simcox, who said its going to get worse in the future. We are not going to have a grip on this. Why is it going to get worse . That will be my last question. I think its going to get worse because in terms of the subjects, the problems in europe are stark, and only getting worse. I dont see integration proving, i dont see security improving. I that obviously has an img pact impact on the u. S. There are a number of trends in europe which look terrifying and that has an impact here. I want to thank all of us for all of you for being here, i will allow the ranking, the chairman of the european subcommittee to make a comment, final statement. A short closing statement. Let me just note one of the say, withlet me just all due respect, saying that only 3 of the terrorists come from the migrant camps or have migrated in totally distorts a view of what were really talking about. Because i imagine that 97 then come from migrant families that came and migrated into western european societies maybe 20 years ago or 30 years ago, even 40 years ago. This isnt like you have a bunch basically, what we used to have in northern ireland, where you have a bunch of catholics coming out who are basically part of the irish society. This is basically the 3 you say, and every time you said it i think was deceptive, and i dont mean you intentionally were deceiving people. But it was deceiving us as to what the real threat is. If you have a bunch of migrants coming into your country and youre saying, only 3 of them will actually become terrorists fine. But if 90 of the terrorists or their childrens children, yeah, youre putting yourself on a line to have a lot more terrorism in the future. And thats why maybe when they say terrorism going to have an expanding problem, thats what we mean. I dont feel comfortable saying , well, only 3 of the people who are immigrants into my community are going to be susceptible to terrorism. But if their children, 97 of the children are, thats a problem. With that said, again, we are country of freedom and i have voted against, with your honor, i voted with you, to make sure we dont step on people, people who are here legally. I have, i think thats, i am in favor of legal immigration, whether there is muslims or other people. But the fact is, whoever comes here, we have to make sure we understand the potential if they are coming here from a country, that has a lot of terrorism or upheaval and radical islamic culture, then we have to be careful with that. We have to make sure that people in San Bernardino, that San Bernadino we had a young man, i guess he was born here, of islamic parents, he went out with his wife and they slaughtered social service workers. They went out and slaughtered them. We should have taken more care there. We should have made sure that someone who was susceptible like that got a lot closer attention than what he obviously got. And its a challenge for all of us. Freedom versus security. Like were saying in all of our countries. So i dont think we can side totally with freedom. But i dont think we can side totally with security, either. So thank you for helping us make up our minds to where that is. But i think the 3 number didnt help us. Ok, thank you very much. The chair will recognize for the final statement, the Ranking Member from massachusetts, mr. Keating. I want to thank the witnesses. We deal with the terrible epidemic thats not just domestic, but worldwide, in so many different ways. Today we had a chance to focus in part on things that werent fully utilized, thats the idea of prevention. You cant quantify it in statistics, because if you prevented it, you may never know what indeed was responsible for stopping it. But just as the chair started the hearing saying for instance , in 1,000, im paraphrasing, in 1,000 attempts, all the terrorists had to do was be successful once. In the prevention, some of the techniques we are learning from europe and theyre learning from us, all we have to do is be successful one of those times to stop one of those terrible terrorist acts and programs like mr. Hughes was involved in in my region and other areas, theyre successful. But they need resources and they need commitment and they need an understanding that Law Enforcement needs help outside the traditional system to deal with preventing this. And thank you for a glimpse of that and some ideas today. I yield back. I thank the gentleman and the witnesses for being here. You are advised now that you may have some questions presented to you by members of the subcommittee that ran out of time. Please respond promptly to those questions and send us answers and i thank the members for being here as well. This has been a very important and enlightening hearing, thank you for your expertise. The subcommittees are adjourned. [crowd noise] president