Enemy Expatriation Act Politics DA

Uniqueness-- The Enemy Expatriation Act has been introduced to Congress and will pass-- it has bipartisan support. Ken Berwitz, Editor of HopelesslyPartisan.com and co-author of The Hopelessly Partisan Guide to American Politics, Thursday, October 13, 2011 A new bill introduced by Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and several other members of Congress would strip the citizenship of Americans deemed by the government to be involved in terrorism. Lieberman introduced the Enemy Expatriation Act Wednesday with Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent and Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire. The legislation would update federal law to revoke the citizenship of Americans involved in terrorism. Currently, there are seven categories under federal law for which U.S. citizens can lose their citizenship. Existing expatriation law includes such acts as renouncing ones citizenship or serving in the armed services of a foreign state engaged in hostilities against the U.S. The new legislation would expand the list to include providing material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as designated by the secretary of state, or actively engaging in hostilities against the United States or its allies. Unfortunately, we live in a
world where our own citizens may engage in terrorism against our country, Altmire said. To help meet the challenges we are facing, and to protect our homeland, updates to our current laws are necessary as we continue to fight the global war on terror. How can anyone vote against this bill? How can anyone take the position that "citizens" who proactively support terrorism

against the United States should not be stripped of their citizenship? Well, there is no intelligence test for congress, so you can bet that some number will do so. But - thankfully - not enough to prevent its passage. The only person who can put a kibosh on the Enemy Expatriation Act is President Obama, with his veto pen. But I find it nearly inconceivable that the President who ordered a drone hit on USborn anwar al awlaki would do that. I fully expect he will vigorously support this bill. And, if for some incomprehensible reason he did not, I fully expect that congress would override his veto anyway. There aren't many instances when both sides of the aisle can agree on legislation and join forces to do something for the good of the country. This surely is one of them. Specifically, it has the support of Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Jason Altmire, who are both co-sponsoring it. Hillary Chabot, The Boston Herald, Wednesday, October 12, 2011 U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is co-sponsoring a bill that would strip terrorists of their citizenship if they are found guilty of actively conspiring against America after two accused homegrown terrorists were arrested in the Bay State recently. Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland was arrested last month and charged with a complex plot to attack Washington D.C. and Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury is set to go on trial this fall on charges he provided material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and acted as a media wing for al-Qaeda. Individuals who work with terrorist organizations to attack our country and kill our people should lose the privileges of citizenship, said Brown in a statement. The recent arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus, who was stockpiling advanced weaponry and planning a major attack against our nations Capital, highlights the growing problem of home grown terrorism, even in a peaceful community like Ashland, Massachusetts. In future cases, this bill would take away what terrorists have already renounced through their words and actions the right to call themselves Americans. The bi-partisan bill, dubbed the Enemy Expatriation Act, is co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Congressmen Jason Altamira (D-Pa.) and Charlie Dent (R-Pa.).

Enemy Expatriation Act Politics DA However, the constitutionality of the bill has been questioned, so it needs Brown's continuing support to pass. Farah Stockmann and Matt Viser, Globe Staff, The Boston Globe, Brown wants citizenship revoked for terror ties, May 7, 2010

WASHINGTON Senator Scott Brown responded to the attempted Times Square bombing yesterday by cosponsoring a bill that would allow the United States to strip Americans of citizenship if the government determines that an individual supported or joined a terrorist group. But a host of scholars and fellow lawmakers, including the House Republican leader, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, immediately questioned the constitutionality of the proposal, saying it was at odds with a half-century of Supreme Court precedents that ruled that citizenship can be relinquished only voluntarily. The legislation would affect US citizens whether they are native-born or naturalized. Some said the Terrorist Expatriation Act was worded so broadly that those who write checks to groups on the State Departments list of terrorist organizations could be at risk of losing citizenship. The bill, cosponsored with Senator Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, is the highest-profile legislation that Brown has backed. The measure, which quickly attracted considerable national controversy, amounts to a strong political statement; after spending months saying he was focused on nuts-and-bolts issues such as jobs, the Massachusetts Republican ventured yesterday into hot-button debates over immigration, counterterrorism tactics, and the extent of federal power. We have home-grown terrorists among us, Brown said at a Capitol Hill press conference, mentioning attacks at Fort Dix and Fort Hood, as well as Sudbury resident Tarek Mehanna, who was arrested in October on federal terrorism charges for allegedly planning attacks that included targeting people at a mall. They remain determined to try and infiltrate. Our enemies today are even more willing than the Nazis or fascists were to kill innocent civilian Americans here in our homeland, Lieberman said. The bill expands a 1940 law that allows the State Department to remove the citizenship of anyone who is determined to have pledged allegiance to foreign armies or states. The proposed measure would give the State Department wide discretion to determine whether an American should be stripped of citizenship. The decision would be made in an administrative process and does not require a court hearing or a conviction of a crime, although the ruling can be appealed in a court. The senators and their aides portrayed the bill as a common-sense response to Saturdays attempted car bombing in Times Square, allegedly by a naturalized citizen from Pakistan, and as a new tool to prevent terrorists from traveling freely into the country.

Enemy Expatriation Act Politics DA The plan prevents the passage of the bill in two ways: First, Changing space policy results in months of in-fighting because many competing interests are at play-- this delays EEA. KELLEY 11. [Mike, staffwriter Many hands in development of US space policy, panel says -http://www.al.com/42/index.ssf/2011/05/many_hands_in_development_of_s.html] Development of U.S. space policy has become increasingly complex, with many government agencies and non-government groups having a hand in policy formation, a panel of space development experts told the opening session of the International Space Development Conference at the Von Braun Center.

The conference, being held in Huntsville for the first time since 1993, has attracted more than 500 space enthusiasts, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to the Rocket City. "Fifty years ago the U.S. outlook in space was as confused as it is now," said Dr. John Logsdon, Professor Emeritus at George Washington University and author of a new book, "John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon." The national goal to put a man on the moon by the end of the '60s fascinated the American people with space exploration in a way nothing has since, said Logsdon. U.S. space policy, he said, typically originates with the president, then is modified by

Congress, influenced by many often competing interests. "Your first necessity is to find out who's doing what, who are the current powerful players," Logsdon said, adding that the Washington space community is a tight community "where almost everyone who makes space policy knows everyone else." Panel members agreed that U.S. space policy has become a political compromise, with many different players. "If you want to influence space policy, make sure your voice is heard," said Peter Marquez of Orbital Sciences. "But it's very difficult to break into the old boys' network." Secondly, the plan destroys Brown's political capital-- Brown based his campaign around reduced government spending and a reduction in the space program. Dr. Bruce Cordell, State of the Web10 Space Trends for 2010, 21st Century Waves, January 26, 2010 10. Although 2009 was the Year of Obama, in 2010 it will continue to be hard for him to focus on space. According to Stratfor, Obama dominated 2009 as no freshman year president has since Reagan. Early in the year public confidence in Obama was so high that he was easily able to engineer major bailouts and stimulus bills including the $ 787 B stimulus package that were guaranteed to keep unemployment under 8 %. As unemployment approached 10% public confidence in the administration began to decline; e.g., on July 12, the Los Angeles Times announced The End of Obamania.
During 2009 the presidents job approval rating fell 20 points, from 68% to 48% (Gallup.com), largely due to high unemployment, record government spending, huge deficits, and Obamas preoccupation with his health care program. Recently the unthinkable

occurred: a Republican (Scott Brown) won a special election in the most Democratic state in the U.S. (Massachusetts), and took the Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy that hed held for decades. And the Washington Post recently reported (1/16/10) that By 58% to 38%, Americans said they prefer smaller government and fewer services to larger government with more services. Thats 15% more people favoring
small versus large government since Obamas nomination in June, 2008. Last January, 21stCenturyWaves.com noted that President Obamas agenda would be dominated by the great recession and national security, and he would not be able to focus on space. This is still true; e.g., Gallup reports that 67% dont expect economic recovery to start for 2+ years. But unlike early 2009, Obama has

to contend now with the serious political challenges of Republicans in 2010. All this comes as the U.S. space program is approaching a tipping point, as described below.

Enemy Expatriation Act Politics DA However, the EEA is crucial to preventing sleeper-cell terrorism within the United States.

From the website of Jason Altmire, Lieberman, Brown, Altmire, Dent Introduce Terrorist Expatriation Act, October 12, 2011 WASHINGTON, D.C. Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Scott Brown (R-MA) and Congressmen Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Jason Altmire (D-PA) today introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would update existing federal law to account for U.S. citizens who engage in terrorist activities. An existing federal statute, 8 U.S.C. 1481, identifies seven categories of acts for which U.S. citizens lose their citizenship if they perform one of those acts "with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality." Under the proposed Enemy Expatriation Act, an eighth category would be added for a person who engages in hostilities or purposefully and materially supports hostilities against the United States. "The repeated attempts by the now-deceased al Qaeda leader Anwar al Alwaki to recruit other American citizens to strike our homeland demonstrates the necessity of updating our laws to account for an enemy who would subvert our freedoms to attack us," said Senator Lieberman. "This bill would establish in law a fact that all Americans already know when an American citizen joins wartime hostilities against the United States, he is also renouncing his citizenship and should not be able to use an American passport as a tool of terror or a shield of self-protection." "Individuals who work with terrorist organizations to attack our country and kill our people should lose the privileges of citizenship," said Senator Brown. "The recent arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus, who was stockpiling advanced weaponry and planning a major attack against our nation's Capital, highlights the growing problem of home grown terrorism, even in a peaceful community like Ashland, Massachusetts. In future cases, this bill would take away what terrorists have already renounced through their words and actionsthe right to call themselves Americans." "When American citizens like Anwar al-Awlaki incite the violent overthrow of the United States and work within terrorist networks to coordinate attacks against the American people, it is appropriate that the federal government consider their actions a voluntary relinquishment of citizenship," said Congressman Dent. "This bill modernizes the process by which the citizenship status of an individual engaged in hostiles against the American people is examined by treating terrorists in the same manner as a U.S citizen who marched with the Third Reich, Imperial Japan or the forces of Saddam Hussein." "Unfortunately, we live in a world where our own citizens may engage in terrorism against our country," Congressman Altmire said. "To help meet the challenges we are facing, and to protect our homeland, updates to our current laws are necessary as we continue to fight the global war on terror." The same due process that applies to the existing statute will apply to those whose citizenship could be revoked under the proposed amendment to the law.

Enemy Expatriation Act Politics DA Sleeper-cell terrorism poses an enormous risk to the US-- nuclear facilities are vulnerable to terrorist infiltration.

Dave Gaubatz, 20 years as an active duty USAF (Special Agent/OSI), 3.5 years as a civilian 1811 Federal Agent, trained by the U.S. State Department in Arabic, and was the first U.S. Federal Agent to enter Iraq in 2003. He is also a counterterrorism counterintelligence officer, Family Security Matters, Sleeper Cells in the USA, January 26, 2011 During my lectures to local, county, and state law enforcement officers it was revealed the true first line defenders in the U.S. are not trained nor prepared to combat terrorism in the U.S. (through no fault of their own). The local law enforcement agencies were not receiving adequate funds or assistance from the Federal Government to fight terrorism. The majority advised they were supposed to be the first line defenders, but in actuality they did not even know what Al-Qaeda meant, and/or could not point out Iraq or Iran on a map. They had no Arabic language training. I began conducting research and talking with experts from various fields and determined three significant facts that I corroborated by further research: 1. The terrorists groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda each had different leaders and to some degree operated in different ways, but they each had the same two goals (destroy Israel and destroy America and any country that supported either). 2. Our nuclear research centers were very vulnerable to an attack and the potential for a suicide bomber using a dirty radiological bomb from these facilities was and is a high probability. Note: Vic Walter and Brian Ross of ABC News did an excellent report on the lack of security at these facilities. I received an enormous amount of information from individuals associated with Russian nuclear programs that there is nuclear material being sold on the black market and nuclear material is in the hands of Islamic Extremists. 3. Terrorist sleeper cells are located primarily in Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, California, and Canada. The "sleepers" are prepared to conduct terrorist attacks within the U.S., and nuclear material is available to them. "Prepared" in this instance indicates they have the necessary tools to carry out their attacks and are prepared to die. 4. Non profit organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MANA, MSA, and several other Islamic based groups are in actuality simply fronts for Al Qaeda and Hamas. The leadership within these groups receives funds and training from the Saudi government. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows these groups to operate freely throughout the U.S. and at Americans taxpayers expense. Essentially the IRS grants the groups immunity and the authority to train, organize, and prepare for attacks against our country. Why? Because CAIR and other such groups have a confidential informant network much better than even our FBI. CAIR uses contractors such as Corey Saylor (Simple Resolve Company) to place interns into our elected officials offices, and into organizations such as the IRS. Terrorist operations are active in the U.S. and are being operated/financed by Al Qaeda throughout the U.S.

Enemy Expatriation Act Politics DA An act of Nuclear Terrorism in the US would lead to retaliation, which causes nuclear conflict resulting in 100 million deaths Greg Easterbrook, senior editor with THE NEW REPUBLIC, November 2001, p. www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/01/gal.00.html. (UNDRG/C324)

Terrorists may not be held by this, especially suicidal terrorists, of the kind that al Qaeda is attempting to cultivate. But I think, if I could leave you with one message, it would be this: that the search for terrorist atomic weapons would be of great benefit to the Muslim peoples of the world in addition to members, to people of the United States and Western Europe, because if an atomic warhead goes off in Washington, say, in the current environment or anything like it, in the 24 hours that followed, a hundred million Muslims would die as U.S. nuclear bombs rained down on every conceivable military target in a dozen Muslim countries. This will escalate to mass extinction via global nuclear war Mohamed Sid-Ahmed, Al-Ahram Weekly political analyst, 2004 [Al-Ahram Weekly, "Extinction!" 8/26, no. 705, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/705/op5.htm] What would be the consequences of a nuclear attack by terrorists? Even if it fails, it would further exacerbate the negative features of the new and frightening world in which we are now living. Societies would close in on themselves, police measures would be stepped up at the expense of human rights, tensions between civilisations and religions would rise and ethnic conflicts would proliferate. It would also speed up the arms race and develop the awareness that a different type of world order is imperative if humankind is to survive. But the still more critical scenario is if the attack succeeds. This could lead to a third world war, from which no one will emerge victorious. Unlike a conventional war which ends when one side triumphs over another, this war will be without winners and losers. When nuclear pollution infects the whole planet, we will all be losers. Such a conflict would trigger every impact and plunge the world into a new Dark Age. Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, FORBES, January 9, 2006, p. 25 Even if you agree with what's being done in the war on terror, you still could be upset about what's not happening: doing the utmost to prevent a terrorist nuclear attack. We all should have a pretty clear idea of what would follow a nuclear weapon's detonation in any of the world's major cities. Depending on the potency of the device the loss of life could be in the hundreds of thousands (if not millions), the destruction of property in the trillions of dollars, the escalation in conflicts and violence uncontrollable, the erosion of authority and government unstoppable and the disruption of global trade and finance unprecedented. In short, we could practically count on the beginning of another dark age.