King to Convene Fifth Hearing on Radicalization within Muslim-American Community

Washington, D.C. – The Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), will hold a hearing entitled “The American Muslim Response to Hearings on Radicalization within their Community” tomorrow at 10:15 a.m. in 311 Cannon House Office Building.

King said:  “When I began this series of investigative hearings in March of last year to examine radicalization within the Muslim-American community, I was vilified by the politically correct media, pandering politicians and radical groups such as CAIR – even though this issue was non-partisan and of serious concern to national security and counterterrorism officials in the Obama administration.

“To date, we have examined radicalization of Muslim-Americans generally, focused on the problem of radicalization in U.S. prisons, investigated al-Shabaab’s recruitment of more than 40 young American Muslims, and examined the threat to military communities inside the U.S following attacks at Fort Hood and in Little Rock.   Our witnesses included a number of Muslims, including a Muslim leader who testified at the al-Shabaab hearing that these hearings have empowered the Muslim Community to confront this serious problem. 

“Tomorrow’s hearing, at which I will be calling three Muslim witnesses, will expand on the prior hearings to examine the impact they have had in the Muslim Community’s ability to address this issue and on U.S. efforts to counter al-Qaeda and affiliated groups’ radicalizing of Muslims in this country to carry out terrorist attacks on the homeland.”

WHAT:       Hearing on “The American Muslim Response to Hearings on Radicalization within their Community”

WHEN:       10:15 a.m., Wednesday, June 20, 2012

WHERE:     311 Cannon House Office Building

**Live video feed will be available HERE

Opening statements, witness testimony, and the live video feed will be available HERE.

Witness List:

M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.

·         President and Founder, American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD)

·         Founded AIFD in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States to provide an American Muslim voice advocating for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, and the separation of mosque and state

·         Former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and served 11 years as a medical officer, where among other accomplishments he served as Medical Department Head aboard the USS El Paso during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia

·         Recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal and the 2007 Director’s Community Leadership Award by the Phoenix office of the FBI

·         Physician practicing in Phoenix, AZ

·         Testified at first radicalization hearing on March 10, 2011

Ms. Asra Nomani

·         Former Wall Street Journal reporter and current journalism lecturer at Georgetown University

·         Author of Standing Alone: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam and Milestones for a Spiritual Jihad: Toward an Islam of Grace

·         Co-director of the Pearl Project, an investigation into the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl

·         Subject of a PBS documentary, The Mosque in Morgantown.

·         Instructor at Islamic culture seminars for the Federal government, including the U.S. military

Dr. Qanta A. A. Ahmed, M.D.

·         Expert and prolific writer on political and religious issues relating to Islam

·         Author of "In the Land of Invisible Women," a personal memoir of living and working as a western Muslim woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

·         Recognized expert in health issues pertaining to the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, her work relating to Hajj medicine appearing in The Lancet and other leading publications

·         Board-certified physician, practicing medicine and teaching at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY, and at the State University of New York in Stony Brook

Ms. Faiza Patel

·         Co-Director, Liberty and National Security Program, Brennan Center for Justice

Tomorrow’s hearing will be the fifth hearing in a series of radicalization hearings.  The prior hearings have been:

Hearing 1: The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response
March 10, 2011

Hearing 2: The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons
June 15, 2011

Hearing 3: Al Shabaab: Recruitment and Radicalization within the Muslim American Community and the Threat to the Homeland
July 27, 2011

Hearing 4: Joint Hearing: Homegrown Terrorism: The Threat to Military Communities Inside the United States
December 7, 2011

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