The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Counterterrorism Screening and Assistance Act of 2016, H.R. 4314, authored by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), on Tuesday.
“Today the House acted decisively to shut down the jihadist superhighway that allows extremists to get to their safe havens—and return to the West, prepared to strike America and our allies,” House Committee on Homeland Security Michael McCaul (R-TX) said. “This legislation will streamline and elevate U.S. efforts to combat terrorist travel and make sure we are focusing our attention where it is needed most.”
The bill, coauthored by the House Homeland Security Committee and marked up by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would establish international border security standards to close security gaps that currently exist that allow terrorists to travel internationally.
“The horrific terror attack in Paris that killed over 100 people showed us just how easy it is for terrorists to move undetected across borders,” Zeldin said. “This attack was largely carried out by European nationals – many of whom traveled to train and fight in Syria and then later returned to Europe through Greece and Turkey. Although local authorities already knew some of the attackers, they were still able to move across borders without detection, and in some cases used fraudulent passports. It’s essential that the United States works with the international community to monitor and stop the movement of terrorists abroad.”
The legislation would require appropriate U.S. departments to put together a joint plan to stop terrorist travel, accelerates U.S. assistance to the highest-risk countries to better detect and disrupt extremists, establish minimum international standards for combating terrorism, allow the Secretary of State to suspend assistance to foreign governments that fail to meet those standards, and require the State Department to produce an annual “score card” on how countries are fighting terrorist travel.
“Additionally, this legislation helps us counter the spread of infectious diseases, like Zika,” Zeldin said. “With the recent outbreak of the mosquito borne Zika virus, which has spread at rapid rates across South America, Central America and the Caribbean, and the number of Zika cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States, we must take action now. As evidenced with the Ebola outbreak in 2013, which decimated populations across Western Africa, if the proper effort is not implemented proactively, the consequences can be truly devastating.”
The House also passed a bill authored by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) to modernize public alerts and additional warning systems. The bill will modernize the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) by leveraging modern technology to streamline the overall system.
“The way people communicate today is changing and this legislation ensures emergency messages will reach people on the devices they use most,” Shuster said. “The more people that can be alerted prior to a disaster, the more lives can be saved.”