WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — In his letter, Cruz also sought answers to a number of questions about how authorities screen individuals returning from regions where Islamic extremists are present.
"It is clear that the federal government's law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies are not as effective as they could be in spotting and monitoring potential terrorists,” Cruz wrote in the letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey.
Cruz asserted that the case of Ahmad Rahami presented numerous red flags, including frequent travel to areas with a "significant terrorist presence," a 2014 complaint to the FBI from Rahami’s father that his son was a terrorist, and Rahami’s marriage to a woman from the "notorious Taliban stronghold" of Pakistan.
The Rahami case, along with mass shootings in Orlando, Florida and San Bernardino, California, and the Boston Marathon bombings, raise serious concerns about the Obama’s administration’s counterterrorism approach, Cruz added.
