district director for Rep. Scott Garrett (R-5th District)

NYC bombing suspect arrested in NJ

September 22,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statement after the House passed H.R. 5859, the Community Counterterrorism Preparedness Act, a bill that Garrett co-sponsored and supported:

“With bombs detonating in New Jersey and New York this week, the first line of defense against terrorism continues to be police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services professionals. To better prepare these men and women on the front lines,tonight the House passed the Community Counterterrorism Preparedness Act, a bill that I co-sponsored and supported, that will provide additional training for emergency responders to prevent or respond to terrorist attacks in high risk areas like New Jersey and New York.”

Key points of the Community Counterterrorism Preparedness Act include (courtesy of the Homeland Security Committee):

The bill authorizes $39 million for emergency response providers in major metropolitan areas to conduct training and exercises to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the most likely terrorist attack scenarios, including active shooters.
Eligible recipients include emergency response providers, including law enforcement, fire fighters, EMS, and emergency management in any jurisdiction that currently receives Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funding and any jurisdiction that previously received UASI funding.

Full text of the bill can be found here.

OCTOBER 15, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RODRIGO TORREJON
STAFF WRITER |
FRANKLIN LAKES – OAKLAND SUBURBAN NEWS

Oakland — When leaving home and traveling to an unknown land, there often are myriad reasons why. Freedom. Opportunity. Even survival.

For Sandy Khabbazeh, it was all of the above. Leaving her home in Aleppo, Syria, and her parents and older brother was by no means an easy decision, but it had to be made.

“I would consider myself a strong person because I had a lot of difficulty when I got here,” said Khabbazeh at a panel discussion on the Syrian refugee crisis, held at Ponds Reformed Church on Oct. 6.

The panel discussion was organized so area residents could hear firsthand the dangers and difficulties of being a refugee. Its goals were to elicit their feelings about the crisis and ascertain what they and the government could do to help the refugees.

Khabbazeh is one of the estimated 9.5 million Syrians who have been displaced by the civil war that broke out in 2011. As many as 6.5 million remain internally displaced. Arriving in 2014 on a student visa, Khabbazeh is being hosted by Rev. Nathan S. Busker of Pond’s Church, who moderated the discussion.

“It was about a year ago this month that Sandy knocked on the side door here, where our offices are located, and asked just to come in and pray,” recounted Busker. “From that moment, we began to befriend Sandy and get to know her. In January, she moved in with my family and she’s been there since.”

Upon hearing Khabbazeh and Busker’s story, religious leaders such as Minister Nolan Psalma of Upper Ridgewood Community Church, Imam Mahmoud Hamza of the Muslim Society of Ridgewood and Imam Mohammad Moutaz Charaf of the Elzahara Education Foundation in Midland Park expressed solidarity across religious lines and hoped to help housing refugees through their respective clergies just as Busker has.

The church leaders looked to panelist Robert Pettet, district director for Rep. Scott Garrett (R-5th District), for answers on ways they and their clergies could help, citing the government roadblocks often faced in the sponsorship process.

“If there are folks that come here and are brought here in more than one sponsorship where there’s a group of individuals, it’s not the government’s responsibility, is it?” said Pettet. “It’s ours. Because we are the people.”

While most agreed with personal accountability, no direct answers on the individual sponsorship procedure were offered. Pettet acknowledged his own lack of preparation and emphasized community accountability for the issue. Residents and church leaders pressed the issue, reiterating that their churches are already willing to help.

“I agree with that 100 percent, but if the government doesn’t allow refugees to come, we cannot help,” said Psalma.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/world/houses-of-worship-open-doors-to-refugees-who-come-knocking-1.1432771

Garrett-Sponsored Community Counterterrorism Bill Passes House

Houses of worship in Northwest Bergen open doors to Syrian refugees