Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) called for a financial war on terror as he kicked off a hearing on terrorist financing and the Islamic State. Hensarling serves as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. In his opening remarks of the hearing, the Texas representative drew an alarming picture comparing the financial strength of ISIS as compared to al Qaeda.
“The 9/11 Commission estimated that al Qaeda’s brutal, evil attack on 9/11 cost the terrorists approximately half a million dollars,” Chairman Hensarling began. “So for half a million dollars, terrorists were able to murder almost 3,000 of our fellow countrymen and inflict immeasurable suffering upon our nation.”
He compared that to what appears to be a much more financially sophisticated terror organization, ISIS also referred to as ISIL or the Islamic State. “Today we face another terrorist enemy for which half a million dollars appears to be pocket change; an organization that reportedly raises between $1-$2 million per day,” he continued. “Unlike al Qaeda and other terror groups with which we are familiar and rely mainly on private donations and state sponsorship to fund their activities, ISIL is almost entirely internally financed and apparently is sitting on assets of almost $2 billion.”
Hensarling said the goal of the hearing was to help ensure the government’s efforts to do everything in its power to stop ISIS and other terror groups from using the world’s financial networks to finance their evil activities.
“Fighting the financial war against terror will demand constant innovation and improvement,” the Chairman concluded. “The tools we have used in the past may not be suitable for the future. I look forward to hearing from all the witnesses on what may be necessary to upgrade, innovate and improve our capabilities to starve the terrorists of the money they so desperately need to carry out their attacks.”
Other Texas representatives on the committee include Republican Randy Neugebauer from Lubbock, as well as Democrats Rubén Hinojosa from McAllen and Al Green from Houston. Chairman Hensarling represents the 5th Congressional District of Texas which stretches from northeast Dallas southeastward to nearly Nacogdoches.
Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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