Rep. Louie Gohmert bucked members of his own party on Tuesday to demand that a bill boosting counterterrorism grants to cities be changed so that some of the money would have to be used to fight radical Islamic terrorism.
The fiery Texas Republican took to the floor for several minutes late Tuesday night during a debate on the bill from House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas. His bill would authorize $39 million a year in new grants to counter-terror efforts in cities across the country through 2022.
But while the bill has support from both sides, Gohmert said the bill is no good unless it specifically directs the Obama administration to fight radical Islamic terrorism. He said President Obama has made clear his opposition to even naming radical Islam as a threat, and has taken steps to ensure that counter-terrorism efforts don’t single out radical Islam.
“When you can’t trust the people in the White House to train properly to recognize radical Islam, then it is incumbent upon the Congress to put the language in our bill so they don’t have a choice,” he said.
“We have the power to put in the bills who does the training, who will get the training, exactly what kind of training, and we’re leaving it to this administration,” he complained.
“Let’s put the language in there so that this administration cannot prevent the true professors of radical Islam from teaching law enforcement on what to look for to know whether someone is radicalized,” Gohmert added.
Gohmert drew sharp criticism from members of both parties. McCaul said it was an “insult” to say law enforcement officers can’t be trusted to fight terrorism, and Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., said it was “disrespectful” of Gohmert to make his suggestions.
But Gohmert said both were missing the point, and that his only complaint is with the Obama administration, which is willfully ignoring the threat of radical Islam.
“We really do need to help our law enforcement learn what radical Islam is about, and the way to do that is put it in the bill so this administration cannot change what is done with the money,” he said. “That’s what we should be doing.”
The bill in question will get a vote as early as Wednesday under special rules requiring a two-thirds majority to pass.
