Requiring a Report on the Movement of Terrorist Fighters (H.R. 4564)

What is H.R. 4564?

(Updated January 14, 2019)

This bill would require the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security along with the Director of National Intelligence to produce a detailed report of terrorist movements and activity hotbeds for Congress. It would analyze the countries of origin, intended destinations, and means of travel used by terrorist fighters as well as an in-depth documentation of terrorist activity in Iraq and Syria. The report would have to be submitted to relevant Congressional committees within 180 days of this bill’s enactment.

Argument in favor

It’s common sense for federal agencies to produce a report on the movements and activities of terrorist fighters, they pose a threat to national security.

Argument opposed

Requiring agencies to report to Congress about the movements of terrorist fighters won’t do anything to directly counteract the threat they pose to the nation.

Impact

The Secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence; and Congress.

Cost of H.R. 4564

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) introduced this bill to require the production of a detailed report of terrorist movements and activity hotbeds to Congress:

“Weakness of the Obama-era Executive Branch and State Department, and the associated alarming decline of our military, as President Obama coerced $93.2 billion in cuts to Department of Defense spending over 8 years, has brought great peril upon the world. Radical Islamic terrorists have exploited the power vacuum in the Middle East to terrorize and attack the free world from the shadows. These cowardly terrorist attacks are increasingly being carried out by ‘foreign fighters’…jihadist terrorists who have left the caliphate or their homeland, traveling abroad to radicalize others and to coordinate specific acts of terror and ‘lone-wolf’ jihadist attacks. My bill identifies terrorist fighters and the tactics they utilize to gain entry to the United States. We must identify and destroy this evil, while also bolstering our own security mechanisms to protect our homeland. The threats facing our nation are rapidly evolving and so must our efforts to defeat them.”

This legislation has the support of five cosponsors in the House, all of whom are Republicans.

Of Note: On December 9 the Iraqi government declared victory over ISIS after the terror group had controlled substantial amounts of territory including major cities like Mosul for the last three years.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) Press Release