Vice President Joe Biden kicked off the White House’s three-day summit on countering violent extremism today, and said assimilating immigrants into all aspects of society is key to preventing the spread of violent ideologies. House Homeland Security Committee chairman Michael McCaul (R., Texas) took exception to the summit, saying it proves that the Obama administration has not taken the threat of violent extremism seriously.
“Instead of simply making speeches this week, I urge the president to overhaul his strategy and to develop a bold, actionable plan to confront violent Islamist extremism worldwide and to immediately staunch the flow of fighters seeking to join these barbarians,” McCaul says in a statement. “They [Obama administration officials] still have no clear budget for combating domestic radicalization, have put no agency in charge, and have been unable to tell Congress how many people are working on the problem.”
McCaul has written numerous letters to the White House expressing his concerns about the administration’s strategy to counter violent extremism, and says he has received no responses. He has, meanwhile, developed his own seven-point plan to defeat Islamic terrorism, which he outlined last week.