Peter King's Greatest Hits As Homeland Security Chairman

[Douglas Carpenter]

Peter King's Greatest Hits As Homeland Security Chairman

By Ryan J. Reilly | TPM – 2 hrs 57 mins ago

He drew comparisons to Joe McCarthy, hunted fugitives in his free time and maintained his grip on one of the most powerful roles in Congress in the post-9/11 world. Now, Rep. Peter King's time as House Homeland Security chair is coming to an end.

Muslim Radicalization Hearings

In December 2010, King announced his intention to hold hearings on the "radicalization" of American Muslims. It sparked criticism as soon as he went public. His decision to appear on a television show produced by an anti-Muslim group shortly before the hearings certainly didn't help matters. King fought back against the criticism, claiming he wouldn't allow political correctness to "obscure a real and dangerous threat." But by the time of King's first hearing in March 2011, the focus had changed to whether it was a good idea to hold the hearing in the first place.

Ground Zero Mosque Investigation

King called in July 2010 for an investigation into the source of the funding of a mosque set to be built in lower Manhattan, near the site of the World Trade Center attack of Sept. 11, 2001. Earlier that year, he said building a mosque in that location was "very offensive" and wrong but that it could not be stopped because of the First Amendment. No investigation was ever launched.

Too Many Mosques

It wasn't only the Ground Zero Mosque that King had an issue with -- he told Politico in 2007 that there are "too many mosques in this country" in general. King later said he was taken out of context or misspoke. He said he meant to say that "too many mosques in this country do not cooperate with law enforcement."

http://news.yahoo.com/peter-kings-greatest-hits-homeland-security-chairman-193151607--politics.html