The House Committee on the Judiciary approved the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015 (HR 3892), which would require the Department of State to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.
Under the bill, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015, “Expresses the sense of Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood has met the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization, and, the Department of State should so designate it.”
The legislation further would require the State Department to report to Congress within 60 days whether the Muslim Brotherhood meets the criteria for foreign terrorist designation, and, if not, which criteria have not been met.
According to the committee, “The Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan Al Banna, remains headquartered in Egypt but operates throughout the world. The Muslim Brotherhood’s strategic goal ‘in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.’ It has supported Islamist terrorism directly through fundraising and extortion, and has been designated as a terrorist organization by several US allies in the Middle East.”
Al Banna was a devout admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Historical accounts show the Nazis actively courted and supported the brotherhood, whose purity ideology appealed to the Hitler regime.
Last December, the United Kingdom issued a report describing the brotherhood as a terrorist organization opposed to Western values.
"Aspects of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology and activities … run counter to British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, equality and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs," Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement at the time.
According to the House judiciary committee, “HR 3892 would have a threefold effect: the administration would actually have to deny admittance to aliens tied to the Muslim Brotherhood; persons who provide material support to the Muslim Brotherhood would be subject to federal criminal penalties; and the Treasury Department would be able to require US financial institutions possessing or controlling any assets of the Muslim Brotherhood to block all financial transactions involving those assets.”
In a joint statement, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), stated, “The Muslim Brotherhood’s embrace of terrorism and the very real threat it poses to American lives and the national security of the United States make it long overdue for designation. The bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee … calls the State Department to do the right thing and designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. This will make it less likely that members of the Muslim Brotherhood will be able to enter the United States.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who authored of the legislation, stated, “The Muslim Brotherhood continues to pose a global threat. The jihadist movement actively supports and finances terrorist networks around the world, including Al Qaeda and Hamas. The United States must recognize and sanction the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization as part of our national security strategy.”
