(CNSNews.com) – The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Wednesday that calls on the U.S. Department of State to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, citing national security as the reason the designation is needed.
H.R. 3892, or the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015, passed on a vote of 17-10, according to a press release distributed to the media.
“The Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, remains headquartered in Egypt but operates throughout the world,” the press release stated.
“The Muslim Brotherhood’s strategic goal ‘in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions,” it stated.
Aside from the terrorist designation, the bill would also deny admittance into the U.S. to those with ties to the Brotherhood. Those who provide material support to the group could face “federal criminal penalties,” and it would empower the U.S. Treasury Department to block financial assets associated with the Brotherhood.
“The Muslim Brotherhood’s embrace of terrorism and the very real threat it poses to American lives and the national security of the United States make it long overdue for designation,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the committee, said in a statement.
“The Muslim Brotherhood continues to pose a global threat,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “The jihadist movement actively supports and finances terrorist networks around the world, including al-Qaeda and Hamas.
“The United States must recognize and sanction the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization as part of our national security strategy,” Diaz-Balart said.
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi was elected president of Egypt in 2012 but after just more than one year in office, his regime was overthrown and his Freedom and Justice Party was banned by the new government. The Egyptian government has designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, according to the BBC.