Hillary Clinton outlines "360-degree" strategy on homeland security
MINNEAPOLIS -- Hillary Clinton laid out a five-part plan to combat the growing threat of domestic radicalization in the United States on Tuesday and reiterated her commitment to fighting, and defeating, the Islamic State.
Clinton's remarks, at the University of Minnesota's campus in Minneapolis, come two weeks after the fatal shooting in San Bernardino, carried out by a husband and wife that were inspired by ISIS.
"San Bernardino felt different," Clinton said. "Maybe it was the timing, coming so soon after the Paris attacks. Maybe it was how random it seemed."
She added: "It made us all feel it could have been anywhere at any time."
At the heart of Clinton's strategy is shutting down the online recruiting and training systems used by ISIS, through stepped up intelligence sharing and careful scrutinizing of social media, and the prevention of potential jihadists from traveling to the United States.
"Our security professionals need to track and analyze ISIS social media posts and map jihadist networks," Clinton said, directly addressing a hole in one of the San Bernardino shooter's vetting process, referring to the fact that Tashfeen Malik had posted about her support of violent jihad on Facebook. "Companies should double their efforts to maintain and enforce their own service agreements and other necessary policies to police their networks, identify extremist content and remove it."
Clinton also said that she was "glad" that the U.S. is taking a closer look at visa security and suggested that the Department of Homeland Security should dispatch agents to "high risk countries" to "better investigate" visa applicants.
"Anyone who has traveled in the past five years to a country facing serious problems with terrorism foreign fighters should have to go through a full visa investigation," Clinton said, "no matter where they're from."
Ahead of her speech, Clinton met with a group of Muslim community leaders from the area and, according to a campaign aide, "enlisted their input on best ways to partner in counter-radicalization efforts." Much of Clinton's strategy depends on Muslim-Americans, who she called the "first, last and best defense" against homegrown terrorist threats.
She praised local law enforcement's partnership with members of the Muslim community here and said more federal resources should be put toward programs like it.
"To all our Muslim-American brothers and sisters," she said, "This is your country, too, and I am proud to be your fellow American."
Clinton criticized the "shallow slogans" of Republicans, without mentioning any candidates by name, and criticized the language they have used in light of the recent attacks.
"Promising to carpet bomb until the desert glows doesn't make you sound strong," she said. "It makes you sound like you're in over your head."
She also slammed Republicans' refusal to pass legislation that would ban those on the no-fly list from buying firearms, saying it "defies common sense." Clinton has been arguing for stronger gun control measures.
"You'll probably hear it tonight," she said, alluding to the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. "They will say that guns are a totally separate issue and have nothing to do with terrorism. Well, I have news for them: terrorists use guns to kill Americans, and I think we should make it a lot harder for them to do that ever again."