The Hill News

In September 2002, in response to the Sept. 11 attacks the previous year, the Department of Homeland Security was established to coordinate all the agencies charged with protecting the United States.

That same year, I joined department’s counterpart in the House of Representatives, the newly formed Select Committee on Homeland Security, as the senior policy advisor. With this reorganization of government functions â€" the largest in 50 years â€" we set out to better understand and address the new range of threats to the American homeland.

Now, the current chairman of the committee, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) is planning to hold hearings on the recruitment and “radicalization” of American Muslims. Neither in my years on the committee staff nor in the years since I left the staff has the committee conducted hearings targeting a specific religious or ethnic group.  This is for one simple reason: it doesn’t work. 

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