U.s. congressman Rodney davis proudly representing the 13th district of illinois

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) today voted for H.R. 5471, the Countering Terrorist Radicalization Act, to strengthen tools used by law enforcement to combat homegrown terrorism. H.R. 5471 passed the House by a vote of 402-15.

“Our country is facing the highest terror-threat level since 9/11 and we’ve seen in Chattanooga, San Bernardino, and now Orlando that these threats are increasingly from American citizens radicalized by terrorist groups like ISIS overseas,” said Davis. “There’s no doubt that our intelligence and law enforcement officials have prevented many attacks but these threats are growing and becoming more and more difficult to track. It’s time for the Senate and President Obama to act to strengthen our counterterrorism. The House has a plan and has passed several bills to close gaps in our national security and use new tools and resources to stop homegrown terror attacks. These are bipartisan bills with wide support and there’s no reason they should not be signed into law immediately.”

H.R. 5471 includes three bills already passed by the House this year to strengthen counterterrorism but continue to await Senate action:

• H.R. 4401, ALERT Act – provides countering violent extremism training to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) representatives and local fusion centers.
• H.R. 4820, Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act – requires DHS to use testimonials of former or estranged violent extremists to counter terrorist recruitment.
• H.R. 4407, Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act – establishes a board to coordinate and integrate DHS counterterrorism intelligence, activities, and policy.

These bills are in addition to several other bills passed by the House this Congress and a recently released national security plan which includes 67 detailed policy recommendations to combat terrorist threats at home and abroad. CLICK HERE to learn more about the House’s plan.