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Good
afternoon Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Member Collins, and
members of the Committee. Thank you for this opportunity to
discuss the FBI's Community Outreach Program in my capacity
as the Assistant Director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs.
I am happy to join with my colleagues here from the Department
of State and Department of Treasury, as well as USAID, to
discuss with you the important efforts of the U.S. Government
to strengthen our relationship with segments of the community
to better allow us to recognize and prevent violent and other
illegal activities.
Radicalization
At its
root, radicalization takes the basic tenets of a faith or
a political movement and carries them to extremes, extremes
that often are drastic enough to adopt violence to intimidate
others into accepting those extremes or to punish those who
will not accept the extremes, and that process carries across
lines of nationality or religion, from Mohammad Atta to Timothy
McVeigh.
The FBI,
consistent with the First Amendment, defines radical individuals
as persons who encourage, endorse, condone, justify, or support
the commission of a violent act or other crimes against the
U.S. government, its citizens, or its allies for political,
social, or economic ends.
The FBI
recognizes four steps in the radicalization process: pre-radicalization,
identification, indoctrination, and action. Each step is separate
and distinct from the others. Indeed, an individual who completes
the first step may never move beyond that first significant
action.
The concern
with radicalization has always been a part of FBI efforts
at outreach into minority and ethnic communities, but this
concern has intensified in the aftermath of attacks orchestrated
by "homegrown" extremists in Spain, the United Kingdom,
and even in the United States. We have seen cases of radicalization
of Americans here in Virginia, Portland, Los Angeles, Toledo,
and Chicago.
And we
are not alone. Just last week, a judge sentenced five British
citizens to life in prison for plotting to attack targets
in London. Others await trial in Canada. These plots have
transformed radicalization from an ominous theory into a dangerous
reality. And the FBI—as it has been doing for the past
six years—continues to examine approaches to outreach
and develop new ones to address this issue. We cannot effectively
counter radicalization without first identifying some of fundamental
questions about the nature of radicalization. And we must
realize that the answers will not quick-coming or simple.
To understand
why any Muslim—or by extrapolation any minority—would
be susceptible to radicalization the first question that must
be asked is what it means to be a Muslim in America? Or what
it means to be an American Muslim? There are many factors
that may be important to these questions.
In this
environment, we cannot just show up at the door and say: "We
are from the government and we are here to help." Instead,
the government must earn the trust and respect of such groups.
Overcoming distrust and suspicion, especially in the Muslim
community, will not, however, be achieved quickly. And we
must recognize that developing metrics or statistics to measure
the success of the mission is nearly impossible.
For example,
how can we know if the conversation we have with that 15-year
old boy in one of our youth programs dissuaded him from embracing
radicalization? How can we know if the brochure that a young
girl read inspired her to consider employment with the FBI?
Yet the lack of clear metrics should not suggest that our
efforts are either unimportant or ineffective.
Civil
Rights
In getting
to know a community, the FBI must confront the same balancing
test that it faced even before 9/11: we must strive to protect
the civil rights and privacy concerns of individuals in minority
and ethnic communities while we work to identify and preempt
the planning and execution of terrorist activities in our
country. This is not a mission that lends itself to easy solutions,
but I want to reassure this Committee that in our efforts
to identify and stem radicalization, we work hard to ensure
that individuals' constitutional rights are not compromised.
The laws
of the United States, including the constitutional guarantees
of free speech and freedom of religion are, in fact, enormous
aids in our outreach to the minority and ethnic communities.
In other parts of the world, where such activities are not
protected, individuals are muted or forced underground where
their anger and frustration festers and often leads to radicalization
and violence. In the United States, individuals can vocalize
their frustrations, speak directly to their government, and
have law enforcement that protects those very rights.
Countering
Radicalization
So what
are these other options? What has the FBI been doing to counter
the threat of radicalization?
First,
since 9/11, much attention has been given to messages encouraging
Muslims toward radicalization. To counter such messages, the
FBI engages national Muslim organizations in the United States
that have public positions against terrorism and radicalization.
The FBI, through its Community Relations Unit at FBI Headquarters,
has constructed relationships with a variety of national Arab-American
and Muslim organizations.
Two concrete
results of those relationships have been a biannual meeting
with the FBI Director and a national-level phone conference
call with key leaders bi-monthly. The FBI Director has found
his meetings with the leaders from the various communities
to be mutually beneficial and an opportunity to view the world
through the eyes of these U.S. citizens. After the last meeting,
a working group was organized to convert discussion points
into actionable items, as moving from talking to taking concrete
action is key.
The bi-monthly
conference calls allow the organizations at the street level
to call up to their national branches, which in turn can bring
key issues to the attention of FBI Headquarters. We then identify
"action items," either for the FBI or for the community-based
organizations, to carry out. Progress is gauged on the next
conference call. The conference calls are also initiated spontaneously
to brief the community on breaking events or to allow the
community to bring an exigent issue to the attention of the
FBI at the national level.
Second,
a lot of work is taking place at the grassroots for the FBI.
Our Special Agents in Charge and our Assistant Directors in
Charge have reached out to minority and ethnic communities
in their domains, where the potential for radicalization is
the greatest. The 56 field offices of the FBI have created
innovative programs to communicate with the diverse groups
within in their domains, and in turn, each of the community
outreach specialists brief the Assistant Director for Public
Affairs every 60 days in person via secure video conference.
This communication allows us to stay abreast of the outreach
efforts, successes, and challenges. This process also allows
us to identify best practices by community outreach specialists
and share them widely.
Third,
the FBI brings many U.S. citizens into its offices across
the country through its Citizens Academies. This program—now
in every FBI field office—allows citizens to view the
Bureau from the inside and to learn about its missions and
the difficulties faced in carrying out those missions. A strong
effort is made at the field office to attract minorities to
the classes, so that we are able to directly interact with
individuals from various walks of life.
Fourth,
and closely related to the Citizens Academy, is the Community
Relations Executive Seminar Training or, as we call it, CREST.
This program is the Citizens Academy on a smaller scale. The
program is tailored with input from the requesting organization
and addresses issues that are of immediate concern to that
organization.
The CREST
can be held at a venue chosen by the requesting organization.
This program allows the FBI to reach into communities where
trust with the government or the FBI in particular needs to
be built. The CREST program allows us to demystify the FBI
and its work. CREST also allows the participants to choose
the curriculum.
We have
found that issues regarding terrorism are not always the first
choice for the seminar in Arab-American or Muslim communities.
In some cases, these communities have asked for seminars on
child safety on the Internet and on crimes like identity theft
and credit card fraud. These crimes affect the Muslim communities
like any other.
The effectiveness
of the CREST program is that it is often the starting point
for bridging the gaps of trust that may exist between the
FBI and a given community. In the context of countering radicalization,
a key step is to develop relationships within the community
based on trust and to do so under non-stressful circumstances
rather than in the immediate aftermath of an incident. CREST
is a first step in that building process.
Fifth,
the FBI recognizes the crucial need to address the youth in
minority communities, and so we have formulated targeted programs.
Our field offices sponsor teen academies that are designed
to introduce youth to the FBI. We have continued the Junior
Special Agent program, designed to introduce youth to the
mission and work of the FBI, to encourage good citizenship
and to encourage youth to consider a career with the FBI.
We have also sponsored various youth conferences at the local
level, including a very successful Pakistani Youth Conference
in a joint effort with our New York field office and the Community
Relations Unit at Headquarters.
Sixth,
in the past few weeks, our Community Relations Unit held a
conference call with community leaders focused exclusively
on countering radicalization. The chief of that unit, Brett
Hovington, hosted the call.
Recognizing
Progress
Muslim
leaders on the recent call acknowledged a growing fear of
radicalization by the United States government. According
to the group on the call, however, most American Muslim leaders
do not think their community is as ripe for radicalization
as many observers believe, and these leaders are fearful that
by increasing media and public attention on the potential
for radicalization in the Muslim community, we may reinforce
what some leaders believe is a cloud of suspicion that hangs
over their community in post-9/11 America.
These
leaders emphasized that, in their view, if we overlook the
progress we have made, we do so at our own peril. While it
is hard to determine whether putting a spotlight on the issue
helps defeat radicalization or actually reinforces a negative
stereotype, the conference call is a good example of the frank
dialogue that now exists between the FBI and the Muslim community's
leaders.
Today,
the Director of the FBI can pick up the phone and talk to
leaders from the various communities in an instant; three
or four years ago, that would not have been possible. As I
mentioned earlier, the Director of the FBI sits at a table
with those same leaders twice a year; three or four years
ago, that was not happening.
Throughout
the country, Arab Americans regularly participate in Citizens
Academies; three or four years ago, that did not take place.
Today, FBI Headquarters measures whether outreach efforts
across the 56 field divisions are being carried out effectively.
Two years ago, we could not do that.
We do
not intend for these achievements to encourage complacency;
the FBI knows that plenty of work still needs to be done in
our outreach, not just with the Arab-American and Muslim communities,
but with all ethnic and minority communities. But progress
has been made, and we and particularly our Muslim-American
fellow citizens agree that we need to tend our accomplishments
carefully.
We now
have partners in the Arab-American and Muslim communities.
Some have become publicly declared allies in our efforts to
condemn terrorism. They have become our bridge to many who
viewed the FBI with either contempt, or worse, fear. They
now come through the doors of the FBI and feel free to share
their views on sensitive issues. We commend our friends for
their efforts, and we commend the leaders of the other minority
and ethnic communities who have also become friends with the
FBI and who are building similar relationships for their communities.
And while
we realize—all too well—that we are going to have
disagreements with these same communities, we are talking.
And, given the circumstances of today's world, that is what
matters most. The leadership of the American Muslim community
is working vigorously on many levels to emphasize that American
Muslims are Americans. American Muslims welcome the opportunity
to cooperate with the FBI and other authorities to ensure
the safety and security of their communities and the United
States.
Conclusion
I hope
these few minutes have painted a clearer picture of the FBI's
strategy to counter radicalization. As our friends on the
London Metropolitan Police Force recently told us, this project
will take time, and if we cannot immediately measure the results,
we must not become disillusioned.
I believe
this will be a three-step process. First, we must address
the issue of trust. Second, we must seek to achieve true partnership.
Third, we must leverage that partnership to achieve positive
change.
It has
been said that even the longest journey begins with one step.
We in the FBI have taken many steps, but we and our community
partners understand the journey ahead is long.
I thank
the Chairman and the Members of the Committee for their interest
in this important issue affecting our nation and look forward
to answering any questions you may have.
Congressional
Testimony | Press Room
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