WASHINGTON, D.C. (MASNET) March 25, 2008 - In October 2007, by a landslide vote, the U.S. House of Representatives allowed the passage of H.R. 1955—otherwise known as the 'Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007'.   

Given the overwhelmingly politically-charged notion of the words "violent" and "terrorism", it does not come as a great surprise that so many members of Congress chose to vote for the bill—even if they had private reservations about the content and implications of the proposed legislation. The bill has subsequently been sent to the Senate for 'discussion'.

But what, exactly, does H.R. 1955 propose?

As the name of the bill suggests, this is about the prevention of "homegrown" (as in, made in the USA) radicalism and terrorism. The focus of this law (if and when it is passed into law) will be two-fold. 

The first part of the proposed law will create a National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, its membership to be appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, together with, of course, the President (who will be George Bush, as you know, until January 20, 2009). The current version of the bill stipulates that members of the proposed commission should have security clearance, which, by the way, might be problematic for any of the 200-plus national Muslim leaders and organizations caught up in the net of the Department of Justices' current un-indicted co-conspirator craze.

The second part of the proposed law will create a university-based Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism. The mandate for this new institution is not exactly clear, but it is likely to be populated by the same people who brought us the Iraq invasion of 2003 and the torture camp at Guantanamo.

H.R. 1955 will not provide subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify before some future congressional commission, and while the bill contains language that guarantees the freedom of individuals from targeting "based solely on race, ethnicity or religion" (Section 889F, subsection 7), it should be clear that this critical piece of legislation was not written with environmental extremists of white supremacists in mind. One need not have a crystal ball to envision that Muslims, first and foremost, are the focus of this initiative.

Although H.R. 1955 sailed through the House of Representatives, there were a few dissenting voices.

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), until recently a candidate for his party's nomination for President of the United States, expressed grave reservations about the impact of H.R. 1955 on civil liberties in America, stating that the proposed legislation, "sets the stage for further criminalization of protest. This is the way our democracy, little by little, is being stripped away from us."

Prominent officials of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and other leading civil rights advocates, have also expressed skepticism about the proposed legislation.

Violent radicalism from any religious or ideological base is a matter of grave concern for any advocate of non-violent, constructive social change. But H.R. 1955—despite what it professes as 'guarantees of protection for freedom of expression'—seems to be the kind of legislation that potentially moves the country further in the direction of increased subordination of our civil rights to the dictates and prejudices of the national security apparatus dominated by right-wing Islamophobes, and their networks.

At the very least, if this legislation is passed into law, it will create cushy jobs for people like David Horowitz and Steve Emerson, et. al., who are already deeply connected to the machinery of systematic Muslim-bashing and promotion of the totally bogus notion that legitimate Muslim organizations, like MAS, are incubators for Islamic radicalism.

Major organizations, including MAS, CAIR, ICNA, MPAC, MSA, and numerous other civil rights organizations, are meeting and exchanging information on the progress of this proposed legislation as it makes its way through the Senate.  The final form of the bill has yet to be determined, but any legislation of this nature, given the climate of fear, the continuous war against Muslim nations, and evidence of attempts to curtail some of our freedoms, should be a grave concern for the entire Muslim community and civil liberties advocates as well.

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MAS Freedom (MASF) is a civic and human rights advocacy entity and sister organization of the Muslim American Society (MAS), the largest Muslim, grassroots, charitable, religious, social, cultural, civic and educational organization in America – with 55 chapters in 35 states. Learn more here.

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