U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

69–010 

" ! SENATE 

114TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2016

114–365 

Calendar No. 655 

COUNTERING ONLINE RECRUITMENT OF 

VIOLENT EXTREMISTS ACT OF 2015 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 2418 

TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO 

ESTABLISH UNIVERSITY LABS FOR STUDENT-DEVELOPED 

TECHNOLOGY-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR COUNTERING ONLINE 

RECRUITMENT OF VIOLENT EXTREMISTS 

OCTOBER 27, 2016.—Ordered to be printed 

Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of September 29, 2016 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

BEN SASSE, Nebraska 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Staff Director 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Chief Counsel 

ELIZABETH E. MCWHORTER, Professional Staff Member 

GABRIELLE A. BATKIN, Minority Staff Director 

JOHN P. KILVINGTON, Minority Deputy Staff Director 

MARY BETH SCHULTZ, Minority Chief Counsel 

HARLAN C. GEER, Minority Senior Professional Staff Member 

ERIC HANSON, Minority U.S. Army Congressional Fellow 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 655 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 114–365 

COUNTERING ONLINE RECRUITMENT OF VIOLENT 

EXTREMISTS ACT OF 2015 

OCTOBER 27, 2016.—Ordered to be printed 

Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of September 29, 2016 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2418] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 2418) to authorize the Secretary 

of Homeland Security to establish university labs for student-developed technology-based solutions for countering online recruitment 

of violent extremists, having considered the same, reports favorably 

thereon with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 5 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 5 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 6 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 7 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 7 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The purpose of S. 2418, the Countering Online Recruitment of 

Violent Extremists Act of 2016, is to authorize the Secretary of the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS or ‘‘the Department’’) to 

establish one or more Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Labs 

at existing DHS university-based centers of excellence. The CVE 

Labs will allow students to leverage new technologies to create 

peer-to-peer solutions that counter the online recruitment methods 


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1See generally, The White House, National Security Strategy 20 (2015), available at https:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2015lnationallsecuritylstrategy.pdf. 2Press Release, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Empowering Local Partners 

to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States (Aug. 3, 2011), https://www.whitehouse.gov/ 

the-press-office/2011/08/03/empowering-local-partners-prevent-violent-extremism-united-states. 3 Naureen Chowdhury Fink & Jack Barclay, Mastering the Narrative: Counterterrorism Strategic Communication and the United Nations, Center on Global Counterterrorism 6 (Feb. 2013), 

http://globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Feb2013lCTlStratComm.pdf. 4 Jerome Bjelopera, Cong. Research Serv., R42553, Countering Violent Extremism in the 

United States 9–13, 15, 17 (2014), http://www.crs.gov/reports/pdf/R42553. 5Threats to the Homeland: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental 

Affairs, 114th Cong. (2015) (statement of Jeh Johnson, Sec’y, Dep’t of Homeland Sec.). 6Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment: Hearing Before the 

S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 31 (2015). 7 Id. at 63. 8 Inside the Mind of ISIS: Understanding Its Goals and Ideology to Better Protect the Homeland: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 77– 

79 (2016) (statement of Hedieh Mirahmadi, President, World Org. for Res. Dev. & Educ.); National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Community-Level Indicator of Radicalization: A Data & Methods Task Force, University of Maryland 7 (Feb. 16, 

2010), https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/STARTlHFDlCommRadReport.pdf. 9 Inside the Mind of ISIS: Understanding Its Goals and Ideology to Better Protect the Homeland: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 35, 

36, 55–57, 64, 65, 69–72 (2016) (statements of Hedieh Mirahmadi, President, World Org. for 

of violent extremist organizations. The Secretary may reprioritize 

existing grants to such universities to fund each CVE Lab and is 

required to report to Congress on an independently-commissioned 

assessment of the impact of each CVE Lab that the Secretary opts 

to establish. 

II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 2015, President Obama identified al-Qaeda, the Islamic State 

in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and their affiliates, as the preeminent security threat to the United States.1 In August 2011, the Administration released a CVE strategy entitled, ‘‘Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States.’’ 2 This 

strategy represents a shift in how the counterterrorism community 

understands prevention and a willingness to consider new and innovative tools that can address the evolving nature of terrorism 

better than traditional Federal counterterrorism functions.3 Yet, 

according to the Congressional Research Service, the 2011 CVE 

strategy and accompanying implementation plan lack ‘‘specific initiatives to combat radicalization at the grass-roots level.’’ 4

During a Committee hearing in October 2015, DHS Secretary 

Jeh Johnson testified that terrorist groups use the internet to ‘‘inspire individuals to conduct attacks within their own homelands.’’ 5

During another Committee hearing in May of the same year, 

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for 

Defense of Democracies, testified that ‘‘the interconnectivity of the 

Internet . . . suddenly makes someone who is alone a part of a 

group.’’ 6 At the same hearing, Peter Bergen, the Director of New 

America Foundation’s National Security Studies Program, testified 

about the importance of amplifying a positive message rather than 

trying to attack or eliminate ISIS’s negative message.7 Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of the RAND Corporation, later told the Committee, during a January 2016 hearing, 

that marginalization and alienation are significant motivations for 

radicalization.8

In spite of several challenges, governments must somehow effectively counter terrorist ideologies and narratives to diminish their 

recruiting and operating capacities.9 The United States is balVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Oct 28, 2016 Jkt 069010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR365.XXX SR365

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Res. Dev. & Educ., and Dr. Lorenzo Vidino, Director, Program on Extremism, The George Washington Univ., and Dr. Jessica Stern, Research Professor, Pardee School for Global Studies, Boston Uni.); ISIS Online: Countering Terrorist Radicalization & Recruitment on the Internet & Social Media: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs Permanent 

Subcommittee on Investigations, 114th Cong. (2016) (statement of Alberto Fernandez, Vice President, The Middle East Media Research Institute); Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution 

of Terrorist Recruitment: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 63–64 (2015) (statement of Peter Bergen, Director, National Security Studies 

Program, New America Foundation). 10Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment: Hearing Before the 

S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 61–62 (2015) (statement of 

Mubin Shaikh, Author, Undercover Jihadi). 11 Inside the Mind of ISIS: Understanding Its Goals and Ideology to Better Protect the Homeland: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 77– 

80 (2016) (statements of Hedieh Mirahmadi, President, World Org. for Res. Dev. & Educ., and 

Dr. Bernard Haykel’s testimony). 12 Id. 13Michael J. Williams, Ph.D., John G. Horgan, Ph.D., & Williams P. Evans, Ph.D., Evaluation 

of a Multi-Faceted, U.S. Community-Based, Muslim-Led CVE Program, National Criminal Justice Reference Service 4, 37, 50, 54, 87, 103 (June 2016), https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/ 

grants/249936.pdf; Williams et al, THE CRITICAL ROLE OF FRIENDS IN NETWORKS FOR COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM: TOWARD A THEORY OF VICARIOUS HELP-SEEKING, 8 Behavioral 

Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression 45, 47, 50, 62 (2016), available at http:// 

www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19434472.2015.1101147. 14The Impact of ISIS on the Homeland and Refugee Resettlement: Hearing Before the S. 

Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 73 (2015) (statement of Peter 

Bergen). 15 Id. 

ancing this national security imperative with protections for freedom of speech and expression.10 In addition, any government 

counter-narrative campaign must consider that their target audience will be skeptical of government credibility.11 As Hedieh 

Mirahmadi, President of the World Organization for Resource Development and Education (WORDE), and Dr. Bernard Haykel, 

Princeton University Professor of Near Eastern Studies, both testified before the Committee, any government narrative describing 

ISIS’s atrocities is dismissed by the group’s followers as an 

inauthentic misrepresentation of the so-called Caliphate.12

According to a National Institute of Justice funded evaluation of 

an existing domestic CVE program, as well as a separate study by 

the same researchers, ‘‘those best positioned to notice early signs 

of individuals considering acts of violent extremism likely would be 

those individuals’ friends: perhaps more so than school counselors, 

clergy, or family members.’’ 13 During a Committee hearing in November 2015, Mr. Bergen testified that 24 years is the average age 

of Westerners drawn into the Syrian conflict by the Salafi-jihadist 

ideology.14 Mr. Bergen went on to explain that American recruits 

are particularly active in online jihadist circles.15 It logically follows that peers best positioned to counter ISIS’s ideology are 

millennials that are active online. 

Finally, in an April 2016 hearing focused on United States drug 

demand, the Committee received testimony from Cheryl Healton, 

Dean of the College of Global Public Health at New York University, and Tony Sgro, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EdVenture 

Partners, regarding their specific initiatives to empower youth-driven messaging to counter-narratives of drug demand and violent extremism. 

Dr. Healton, who previously served as President and CEO of Legacy, the leading Foundation dedicated to tobacco control, focused 

her testimony on a ‘‘bold counter-marketing campaign for youth, 


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16 America’s Insatiable Demand for Drugs: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & 

Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. (2016) (statement by Cheryl Healton, Dean, College of Global 

Public Health, New York University). 17Pete Favat & Bryan C. Price, The Truth Campaign and the War of Ideas, Combating Terrorism Center 10 (July 28, 2015), https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-truth-campaign-and-thewar-of-ideas. 18 Id. 19Dr. Matthew C. Farrelly et al., EVIDENCE OF A DOSE—RESPONSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

‘‘TRUTH’’ ANTISMOKING ADS AND YOUTH SMOKING PREVALENCE, 95 American Journal of Public 

Health 429 (Mar. 2005), available at http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/ 

AJPH.2004.049692. 20 America’s Insatiable Demand for Drugs: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & 

Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 7 (2016) (statement by Cheryl Healton, Dean, College of 

Global Public Health, New York University). 21 Id. 22 America’s Insatiable Demand for Drugs: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & 

Governmental Affairs, 114th Cong. 29–33 (2016) (statement by Tony Sgro, Chief Executive Officer, EdVenture Partners). 23 Id. at 29. 

truth—now in its 16th year.’’ 16 That campaign learned from the 

same research that drove the strategy of the 1950s British-American Tobacco Company advertisements: meet the psychological 

needs of adolescents to take risks, rebel, fit in, remain independent, 

self-express, and be respected.17 Through guerilla-marketing 

stunts, youth participated in a grassroots campaign in the days before social media to expose how the tobacco industry lied to its customers.18 In 2002, this initiative resulted in 300,000 fewer youth 

smokers than predicted.19

According to Dr. Healton, a critical component to the success of 

a national campaign to ‘‘un-market’’ and prevent illicit drug use is 

its ability to produce youth-driven, ‘‘unpalatable’’ ads. 20 Dr. 

Healton testified that certain oversight and ‘‘approval’’ processes 

‘‘can undermine a public education campaign’s ability to succeed.’’ 21

Mr. Sgro’s organization administers an education program to university students. The Peer-To-Peer (P2P): Challenging Extremism 

program is a grassroots youth-driven contest to empower credible, 

youthful voices to create countervailing narratives that appeal to 

and mobilize their peers to proactively undermine violent extremism.22 In the words of Mr. Sgro: 

Who better to develop alternative counter narratives to extremist messaging than the very same audience extremists 

want to recruit. Government has recognized it can’t do it, 

so it makes perfect sense to enlist tech-savvy youth to be 

part of the solution to push back on hate, terror, and extremism.23

The P2P: Challenging Extremism program inspired the language 

of S. 2418 to codify an educational curriculum and structure based 

on the P2P model. The Committee believes that DHS universitybased centers of excellence could be a driver of CVE innovation, especially if CVE Labs incorporate disciplines not traditionally associated with counterterrorism. For this reason, S. 2418 also modifies 

current law to include universities that can demonstrate expertise 

in CVE as designated university-based centers for homeland security. 

Under this bill, the Secretary may reprioritize existing grants to 

such universities to fund CVE Labs. One year after establishing a 

CVE Lab, the Comptroller General is required to report to the Secretary and appropriate Congressional committees regarding that 


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24 Id. at 30. 

Lab’s impact on CVE. This bill also requires the Secretary to commission an independent assessment of each CVE Lab’s impact, and 

provide that assessment to Congress. 

By defining CVE as ‘‘providing positive countervailing alternatives,’’ this bill emphasizes the difference between the intent of 

new CVE functions and traditional punitive Federal counterterrorism functions. Finally, S. 2418 states congressional findings that 

campaigns to undermine terrorist recruitment of youth ‘‘are credible, authentic, believable, [when] they are created by youth for 

youth.’’ 24

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator Cory Booker and Chairman Ron Johnson introduced S. 

2418 on December 17, 2015, which was referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Senators Gary 

Peters and Tom Udall joined as cosponsors on January 21 and January 27, 2016, respectively. The Committee considered S. 2418 at 

a business meeting on February 10, 2016. 

Senator Booker and Chairman Johnson offered one amendment 

in the nature of a substitute, which reflected negotiated changes to 

the definition of ‘‘CVE’’ and ‘‘technology-based CVE solutions’’ and 

to the functions of the CVE Lab. The Committee adopted the 

amendment and ordered the bill, as amended, reported favorably, 

both by voice vote. Senators present for both the vote on the 

amendment and the vote on the bill were: Johnson, McCain, 

Portman, Paul, Lankford, Ayotte, Ernst, Sasse, Carper, McCaskill, 

Tester, Baldwin, Heitkamp, Booker, and Peters. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

This section provides the bill’s short title, the Countering Online 

Recruitment of Violent Extremists Act of 2016.’’ 

Section 2. Definitions 

This section defines the terms ‘‘appropriate congressional committees,’’ ‘‘center for homeland security,’’ ‘‘countering violent extremism,’’ ‘‘CVE Lab,’’ ‘‘institution of higher education,’’ ‘‘participating 

student,’’ ‘‘technology-based CVE solution,’’ and ‘‘violent extremism.’’ 

Section 3. Findings 

Section 3 outlines five Congressional findings related to the use 

of social media as a terrorist recruitment mechanism and the potential of university-based labs to develop technology-based solutions to effectively counter such online recruitment. 

Section 4. Establishment of CVE Labs 

Section 4 authorizes the Secretary of DHS, acting through the 

Under Secretary for Science and Technology, to establish CVE Labs 

and reprioritize homeland security grants to provide funding for 

such labs. 


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Section 5. Functions and requirements of CVE Labs 

Section 5 requires faculty of institutions of higher education that 

house a CVE Lab to establish curricula to develop and test technology-based CVE solutions. Participating students shall receive 

orientations on cross-cultural communications issues and CVE safety issues, learn to incorporate technology-based business development practices, and develop a scalable business plan of their solutions for public and private customers. The faculty shall supervise 

any deployment of a technology-based CVE solution developed by 

a student. Faculty shall also develop enduring research tools to 

support other programs that encourage peer-to-peer CVE solutions. 

It is also the role of faculty to identify experts who can help students target their solutions to the needs of individuals who are susceptible to recruitment of violent extremism while protecting the 

civil rights and civil liberties of individuals not engaged in terrorism. 

The head of an institution of higher education that houses a CVE 

Lab shall ensure that participating faculty and students represent 

an interdisciplinary cross-section that includes disciplines not traditionally associated with counterterrorism. 

Section 6. Assessment and report 

Section 6 requires the Comptroller General of the United States 

to submit a report to the Secretary of DHS and appropriate congressional committees on the impact of each CVE Lab, within one 

year after the lab’s establishment. 

Section 6 also requires the Secretary of DHS, acting through the 

Undersecretary for Science and Technology, to commission an independent third-party assessment of each CVE Lab that the Secretary elects to establish and provide such assessment to the appropriate congressional committees within 180 days of the assessment’s completion. 

Section 7. Functions of centers for Homeland Security 

Section 7 amends Section 308 of the Homeland Security Act of 

2002 to add ‘‘demonstrated expertise in countering violent extremism’’ to the list of criteria used to designate a college or university as a center for homeland security. 

Section 8. Sunset 

Section 8 provides a seven-year sunset date for sections 1 

through 6. Section 7 is not subject to a sunset. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 


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VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, October 12, 2016. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2418, the Countering Online 

Recruitment of Violent Extremists Act of 2016. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL. 

Enclosure. 

S. 2418—Countering Online Recruitment of Violent Extremists Act 

of 2016 

S. 2418 would authorize the Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) to establish programs at institutions of higher education to 

develop technology-based approaches to counteract the promotion of 

violent extremism. Based on information from DHS about similar 

activities that it currently sponsors, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would not significantly affect the department’s 

spending for university programs. 

Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 2418 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2027. 

S. 2418 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and any 

costs incurred by institutions of higher education would result from 

participating in a voluntary federal program. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz. The 

estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill as 

reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE III—SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF 

HOMELAND SECURITY 

* * * * * * * 


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SEC. 308. CONDUCT OF RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION, 

TESTING AND EVALUATION 

(a) * * * 

(b) EXTRAMURAL PROGRAMS.— 

(1) * * * 

(2) UNIVERSITY-BASED CENTERS FOR HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

(A) * * * 

(B) CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION.—Criteria for the designation of colleges or universities as a center for homeland security, shall include, but are not limited to, demonstrated expertise in— 

* * * * * * * 

(xv) Countering violent extremism. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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