For Bachmann, the War on Terror starts in Committee

While Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is vocal supporter for President Bush and the military intervention, the Global War on Terror is fought on many avenues.

After the 9/11 attack, Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill stated “If we are going to prevail, it will take the combined efforts of people everywhere in the world to identify people who want to do evil things. While we know that there are military cadres in Afghanistan, there are other people in the world who do their dirty work by providing money to those who want to hurt others.”

Although the Bush Administration is aware of the role that money plays in funding al Qa'ida, it has failed to dismantle terrorist financing networks. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in October, 2005 using the title : Terrorist Financing: Better Strategic Planning Needed. In April, 2006, the House Financial Services Committee examined the findings of the GAO report. At the hearing, the Comptroller General testified that the three agencies have essentially ignored the GAO's recommendations and that the problems outlined in the GAO report continue to persist. Democratic Committee Members at the hearing criticized the agencies for allowing their turf battles to endanger the security of our nation and called upon them to adopt the GAO recommendations to develop an integrated strategy. read more here.

Finally, H.R. 1993 The Counter-Terrorism Financing Coordination Act has been introduced to address these problems and require interaction between the key agencies -- the Departments of State and Treasury. The first hearing will be by the House Financial Services Committee which Congresswoman Bachmann sits. This is a simple bill that has nothing to do with the politics of Iraq War funding. This is a bill that all Republicans and Democrats should co-sponsor … starting with Congresswoman Bachmann.

The Global War on Terror will not end with George Bush’s term. Regardless if the next administration is Republican or Democratic, the State and Treasury Departments need to work to eliminate the terrorist financing networks … those networks are funding the insurgents and assassins whose endgame is based on exhausting our resolve. Bachmann will get to the first to vote on this legislation, so Minnesotans need to hold her accountable.

For more on Counter-Terrorism Funding, see read more in my blog here.