WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), senior Democrat on the Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts Judiciary Subcommittee, today questioned witnesses at a hearing convened by subcommittee Chairman Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The hearing was titled, “Willful Blindness: Consequences of Agency Efforts to Deemphasize Radical Islam in Combating Terrorism,” yet failed to consider any real solutions for fighting terrorism.
Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks:
“Frankly, I think whether you call it radical Islam, radical Islamism, Islamic extremism – spending three hours arguing about these semantics in my view hasn’t really moved us anywhere closer towards developing new and more effective ways to combat terror and to defeat ISIS.”
“Today’s hearing presents the American people with a false choice: Its very premise suggests we can either keep America safe or preserve our fundamental values. And I reject that premise.”
“We can and must defeat terrorism without sacrificing our constitutional principles.”
“We cannot fight radicalization with further radicalization.”
“ISIS is not Islamic – it is a perverted misinterpretation of one of the world’s great religions. It is a death cult that has killed more Muslims than Christians, and the extremists who call themselves ISIS neither practice Islam nor speak for it.”
“I utterly reject the notion that there is some sort of political correctness preventing us from fighting our enemies. Any suggestion the administration is simply too polite to pursue threats posed to this country is disrespectful to the brave men and women who devote their lives to keeping us safe.”
“Politicians in America and Europe who cast a broad brush of blame on “radical Islam” feed the sense of an isolated and aggrieved Muslim community, which only seeks to empower ISIS.”
Transcript of Senator Coons’ opening remarks below:
In my view, today’s hearing presents the American people with a false choice: its very premise suggests we can either keep America safe or preserve our fundamental values. And I reject that premise.
We can and must defeat terrorism without sacrificing our constitutional principles. And to compromise these principles and blame over a billion Muslims for the twisted actions of an extremist few only serves to divide Americans, to alienate the Muslim world, and to legitimate the murderous groups who falsely claim to speak for Islam. This makes us less safe. To truly tackle and destroy the extremist ideologies that lead fanatics to do us harm, we will be best defended by maintaining our values of openness, tolerance, and religious freedom. We cannot fight radicalization with further radicalization.
As we hold today’s hearing, the country is still trying to make sense of a tragic attack in Orlando. 16 days ago, a man entered the Pulse nightclub with dangerous weapons and massacred 49 innocent people, injuring 50 more, leaving our nation and world shaken. These acts of violence are sadly all too familiar and leave us asking why this Congress refuses to take simple actions to prevent them. The particular form of violent pathology Omar Mateen undertook will continue to be the subject of scrutiny in days and weeks to come, but there are a few base facts I want to assert.
First, as a nation we are not at war with the religion of Islam. A deranged murder’s invocation of Islam was a hollow attempt to justify his rampage by cloaking it in the legitimacy of religion.
Second, we know that ISIS is trying to falsely characterize as the United States and our allies as being at war with Islam, and ISIS is trying to characterize itself as the legitimate heir to the Prophet Muhammad. ISIS is not Islamic – it is a perverted misinterpretation of one of the world’s great religions. It is a death cult that has killed more Muslims than Christians, and the extremists who call themselves ISIS neither practice Islam nor speak for it.
No religion condones the massacring of thousands of innocent people. And both faithful Muslims and theological leaders around the world have denounced ISIS as the terror group that it is and disclaimed its deviant interpretation of their religion. As you raise the concern or question about whether President Obama and his administration are committed to combatting and defeating ISIS, let me briefly recount that the President has also condemned the threat of ISIS and set about defeating it, not with debates over a few words, but with decisive action. The United States and its coalition of allied partners have carried out more than 13,000 airstrikes and killed more than 25,000 ISIS fighters and more than 120 ISIS leaders. Over the past year, ISIS has lost more than half the territory once controlled in Iraq and nearly a quarter in Syria. The United States successfully built a 66 nation coalition to fight ISIS and these partners, including 19 Muslim majority states and organizations are committed to eliminating the threat posed by ISIS and have contributed across a wide range of ways to the effort to combat ISIS in the Middle East, and Iraq, and Syria, and beyond.
Third, there are over 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, including millions who are American citizens and are interwoven into the fabric of our nation – they are doctors, and lawyers, and scholars, service members, police officers, members of Congress, parents, colleagues, and friends. Over the last several months, I’ve been deeply disturbed by inflammatory rhetoric directed towards Muslims and the way this disparagement has affected our political discourse in the United States. Our Muslim-American citizens and neighbors share our stake in the nation’s security and our desire to be free from violence and hate.
Last, we know that our nation can defeat terrorists without betraying our values. Ensuring that our national security agencies are fully funded and that they are able to engage in clear-eyed pursuit of all threats, and promoting what are demonstrated to be effective law enforcement techniques without prejudice are the best ways to promote our safety.
I utterly reject the notion that there is some sort of political correctness preventing us from fighting our enemies. Any suggestion the administration is simply too polite to pursue threats posed to this country is disrespectful to the brave men and women who devote their lives to keeping us safe. Meanwhile politicians in America and Europe who cast a broad brush of blame on “radical Islam” feed the sense of an isolated and aggrieved Muslim community, which only seeks to empower ISIS.
Let me submit for the record if I could a wide range of different documents, but first a statement of principle signed by dozens of foreign policy leaders including former secretaries Madeline Albright, Michael Chertoff, and Chuck Hagel, which correctly states, I quote, “religious bans and tests are un-American, and have no place in our refugee and immigration policies.” Mr. Chairman, I have a long list of statements I’d like to submit for the record, from the ranking member Senator Leahy, from Centerlink, from Muslim Public Affairs Council, Amnesty International, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, a recent NYT article by Aziz Ansari, a Washington Post article by General Petraeus. I assume those can be submitted without objection.
As to the empty seats before us and your opening comments, Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding this hearing was scheduled with a bare minimum of notice and no consultation with the invited witnesses from the Administration regarding their schedules. It is my expectation they are busy keeping our country safe, and as you surely appreciate from your work at the Justice Department, asking witnesses here to speak about the ongoing investigations into the Orlando incident would not have produced any productive testimony. And I will note that the Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will be before this exact committee in two days prepared to answer questions.
Let me close by quoting what I just submitted for the record -- an article by General David Petraeus. Quote, “those who flirt with hate speech against Muslims should realize they are playing directly into the hands of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State… Demonizing a[n entire] religious faith and its adherents not only runs contrary to our most cherished and fundamental values as a country; it is also corrosive to our vital national security interests and, ultimately, to [our] success in this war.” I look forward to what I hope can be a productive conversation about our national security, our civil liberties, and respect for Muslim Americans. Thank you.