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Capitol View®
Mark Zdechlik

McFadden: stop terror recruiting with education

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden today released a plan he says will deter Minnesotans from going overseas to fight with terrorist groups.

While releasing the plan McFadden took a swipe at his DFL opponent Sen. Al Franken.

“Minnesota has been a hotbed for terrorism recruitment for more than five years, yet once again Senator Franken continues to be AWOL on this crisis, failing to be the leader Minnesotans need him to be. Minnesota needs a leader, so today I’m releasing my proposal to clamp down on terror recruitment,” said McFadden.

McFadden has talked about the plan before, but today released it as a package.

Here are the highlights:

Improve Education and Employment Resources and Opportunities

• Offer resources to connect youth to existing opportunities.

• Develop targeted job training programs.

• Improve K-12 education.

Build Community Mentorship and After-School Programs

• Offer resources for community mentorship programs.

• Provide funding for after-school community programs.

Form Partnerships between Communities and Local Law Enforcement

• Offer grants to local law enforcement agencies to hire community-based officers and build relationships.

Mitigating Immediate Risk

• Require the U.S. State Department to revoke passports of Americans known to be fighting for ISIS.

Franken's campaign pushed back against the notion that Franken has not been working on the problem.

A campaign spokeswoman pointed to press clippings from as far back as 2009 that showed Franken called on FBI officials and others to do more to stop Somalis from Minnesota from leaving to fight with the group Al-Shabaab. He has renewed the calls in light of reports that people with Minnesota ties have gone overseas to fight with the group that calls itself the Islamic State.

Moreover, the State Department already  has the authority to revoke the passports of U.S. citizens who leave to fight for groups like ISIL, and Franken has said he will look at any proposal that would make sure that individuals who do it cannot return to this country, said Franken spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff.