Buchanan Slams 'Lame' Obama Administration Terrorist Screening Plan

Sarasota, FL — A Department of Homeland Security Proposal to ask foreign travelers for their social media information to help ferret out potential terrorists is drawing heavy fire from U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican.

“No ISIS terrorist will voluntarily offer up incriminating evidence,” Buchanan said. “What terrorist is going to give our government permission to see their radical jihadist rants on social media? The only people who will share that information are those with nothing to hide.”

Under the Department of Homeland Security proposal, U.S. officials would ask visitors about their accounts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites as part of the pre-entry screening program. The proposal was published in the Federal Register on June 23.

The department’s proposal would add an “optional field” to documents filled out by foreign visitors and those entering the country on the visa waiver program. The proposed language is as follows:

Please enter information associated with your online presence—Provider/Platform—Social media identifier.

Answering the question is not mandatory, according to the DHS document filed in the Federal Register. The data, if obtained, will be “used for vetting purposes, as well as applicant contact information.”

The department contends collecting the social media information “will enhance the existing investigative process and provide DHS with greater clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity and connections by providing an additional tool set which analysts and investigators may use to better analyze and investigate the case.”

Buchanan calls it “lame.”

“Voluntary disclosure won't keep anyone safe,” Buchanan said. “If we want to win on the digital battlefield, mandatory screening is required.”

Buchanan has pitched a bill that would require social media screening for any foreigner who wants to enter the U.S. The Social Media Screening For Terrorists Act directs DHS to vet all public records, including Facebook, before admission to the country is granted.

“Internet and social media sites are now a digital battlefield for terrorists,” Buchanan said. “My bill requires the examination of social media to ensure we aren’t opening our doors to terrorists. This proposal lacks teeth, and fails to make America safer.”

Buchanan’s bill, which has yet to come up for a full House vote, has support of the chairmen of the House Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Veterans’ Affairs committees, his office says.

It is unclear how soon, if at all, the bill will make it to the full House. It was referred to the subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security on Jan. 15. No action on the bill has been taken in the House since then.

Buchanan’s bill was introduced in December following the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. The attackers in that case, Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook, killed 14 and left 22 injured.

Malik, 29, reportedly sent two private messages on Facebook to Pakistani friends back in 2012 and 2014 pledging her support for jihad and expressing her desire to join the fight.

The government’s failure to screen Tashfeen Malik’s social media activity prior to her entry into the U.S. is “staggering incompetence” on the part of the government’s screening process, Buchanan said in December.