Notes on the House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee Hearings

This year, the House Homeland Security Committee held a number of hearings that included discussions related to Syrian refugees.  Some of what came out of these hearings has instigated much of the concern about their resettlement.  I watched three of these hearings in their entirety and tried to come up with a brief overview of what was discussed. The hearings are long, so I will simply include the general ideas and most relevant points. 

Hearing: “Countering Violent Islamist Extremism: The Urgent Threat of Foreign Fighters and Homegrown Terror” – February 2015

This hearing focused on the topic of both foreign and “home-grown” extremists who may threaten the United States.  The main points being discussed involved the threat from individuals who were being radicalized within the U.S. and possibly even traveling to the Middle East to join ISIS.  Another main point of concern was the possibility of foreign extremists traveling to the U.S., especially those with European passports coming through the visa waiver program.

The witnesses included:

• Francis Taylor - Under Secretary, Intelligence and Analysis, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Nicholas Rasmussen - Director, National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
• Michael Steinbach - Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation

During this hearing, the topic of Syrian refugees was briefly broached a few times over the course of two hours.  The first time Syrian refugees were brought up, it was asked whether the witnesses - all from intelligence organizations - thought that Syrian refugees should be brought into the United States.  None of the witnesses stated that Syrian refugees should not be brought into the country; however, they all stated that Syrians would be a population of concern and it would be important to utilize all intelligence available during the vetting process. 

Immediately following that initial question, the witnesses were asked whether there was a procedure in place for refugees coming into the country to be thoroughly vetted.  Two of the witnesses answered yes.  Michael Steinbach of the FBI responded that “the concern in Syria is that we don’t have systems in places on the ground to collect the information to vet.”  He added during a later question: “It’s not that we have a lack of process, it’s that we have a lack of information.” 

Here are some more takeaways from the February hearing:

•  There are 150 known U.S. persons who have attempted to travel abroad or have traveled abroad to join terrorist groups  (0:47:00)
• 5000 foreign (ISIS) fighters have Western passports that could potentially allow them into the U.S. (1:03:55)
• The intelligence community does not know the identities of all the U.S. fighter who traveled to Syria to join ISIS and are returning home from the conflict zone [Syria] (1:04:10) 
• ISIL’s reach is not directed to or limited to any certain cultural or national group in the U.S., it reaches all and could influence anyone from any cultural group  (2:20:00-2:22:30)  

Thus, it was suggested during this hearing that refugees are not prone more than any other group (including U.S. citizens) to becoming radicalized.  In addition, the main area of concern was U.S. citizens who were radicalized and traveling to Syria to join ISIL as well as radicalized citizens of other Western nations who could easily travel to the U.S. under the visa waiver program.  Nonetheless, it appears that the statements made about refugees during this hearing initiated a larger conversation regarding the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

You can watch this hearing in its entirety here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/58691794.

Hearing: “Admitting Syrian Refugees: The Intelligence Void and the Emerging Homeland Security Threat – June 2015

This hearing was held by the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee and focused entirely on the question of whether it was prudent or not to admit Syrians to the U.S., especially as it concerns the refugee resettlement program.  The witness panel included more individuals from the intelligence and security sector, including:

• Dr. Seth Jones - Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND Corporation
• Thomas Fuentes - FBI Assistant Director (retired)
• Dr. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross - Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

The main concern discussed in this hearing was the lack of U.S. personnel or security “partners” on the ground in Syria and the deficiency of intelligence for vetting Syrian refugees.  The witnesses all raised legitimate concerns about the possibility of a “clean, but radical” individual slipping through the security net, but also stated that it was unlikely that terrorists would attempt to come as refugees given other available options.

Other highlights:

•  Gartenstein-Ross: Minimal concern of ISIS elements coming as refugees because of the slim chances (0:59:40) 
• Question of refugees who come to the U.S. and become radicalized here – especially young people who grow up here
• Vetting process is thorough “assuming that names get into the system”.
•  Fuentes: “Many of these refugees are refugees because they are enemies of the state.  Thus we cannot rely on that state to give us good information.”  (1:15:13)
• Jones: “It is NOT clear to me that refugees would be more likely to radicalize than others.” (1:42:35)

In addition, several strategies were mentioned or discussed that could potentially help to provide more information on Syrian refugees.  One strategy that was suggested was to partner with the Jordanian intelligence services to more thoroughly vet Syrian refugees who had been living in refugee camps in Jordan.  (In other words, focus resettlement initially on the Syrian refugees in Jordan since we have more resources for vetting them.)  Another, suggested by Dr. Gartenstein-Ross, was to implement a database that kept track of significant incidences such as attacks/seizures/massacres that took place in Syria and then use it to further corroborate stories from refugees.

You can watch this hearing in its entirety here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/64730290.

Hearing: “Worldwide Threats and Homeland Security Challenges” - October 2015

This hearing saw a range of questions asked.  The main topics discussed were cybersecurity and the use of social media by terrorist organization, countering violent extremism, border security, and, of course, the refugee vetting process.

The witnesses included:

• Jeh Johnson - Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
• Nicholas Rasmussen - Director, National Counterterrorism Center
• James Comey - Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Takeaway commentary:

• ISIS has “broken the mold” on terrorist strategies through its use of social media to incite people on the other side of the world to acts of violence, either independently or under the directives of a terrorist organization
• Johnson: I have committed that each one [Syrian refugee] will receive a careful security vetting.  It is true that we are not going to know a lot about the Syrians that come forth in this process, just given the nature of the situation.  So, we are doing better at checking all the right databases in the intelligence community than we used to and it’s a good process and a thorough process but that definitely is a challenge.
• Rasmussen: We have a lot of lessons learned in this area from when we went through similar processes over the last few years dealing with other large refugee populations, so I think we’ve now worked successfully to make sure that every bit of available intelligence information that the U.S. government holds will be looked at with respect to a potential nexus for someone being screened as a potential refugee.  I certainly feel good about that process and the degree to which we’ve tightened that up over time.  You can’t account for what you don’t know, and that goes to the intelligence deficit that I think is embedded in your question.  What we can do though is understand where the potential vulnerabilities are so that we’re asking in the screening and vetting process the right kinds of questions to give our screeners and vetters the best possible opportunity to make an informed judgement.  It is not a perfect process.  There is a degree of risk attached to any security and vetting process.  We look to manage that risk as best we can.
• Johnson: There are in fact lessons we learned from the vetting process with regard to the Iraqi refugees that we took in.  The process has improved.  We are better at connecting dots, checking the databases with the information we have.  My people in USCIS - to be doing this - will be on the ground in places to vet refugees, along with the State Department.  But they will do so in consultation with our law enforcement and our agency partners.  And we will do it carefully.  We have made this commitment and we will commit the resources to do it, but we will do it carefully.
• Comey: We can only query against that which we have collected.  And so if someone has not made a ripple int he pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interests reflected in our databases, we can query our databases until the cows come home but nothing will show up because we have no record of that person... You can only query what you have collected.  And with respect to Iraqi refugees we had far more in our databases because of our country's work there for a decade.  [The case of vetting Syrian refugees] is a different situation.
• Rasmussen: We have certainly seen terrorist groups talk about getting people into the country through available programs, so we know that they aspire to do that.  I don't know that I would go as far as to say that they are likely to succeed.
• Johnson: There is a pretty thorough vetting process of each individual which encompasses a personal assessment of each individual which includes an interview.  It's not just simply what's in a public record or whether the person has a rap sheet of any kind, so there is that personal assessment.

You can watch this hearing in its entirety here: https://homeland.house.gov/hearing/worldwide-threats-and-homeland-security-challenges/.