FBI Director James Comey is "going all out" to find would-be terrorists in the United States who were sympathetic to the Islamic State (ISIS), Rep. Peter King told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
The terror threat reached outside the Middle East when it was reported on Thursday that authorities arrested 15
supporters of radical Islam in Australia, who police said intended to attack and kidnap random individuals and behead them.
"I think Director Comey is very much aware of the threats that face us. And so far, so good with Director Comey. He is on this. And he is really going all out, 24/7," the New York Republican said Thursday.
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King, who is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, called identifying potential terrorists a "very, very tough challenge" which posed a "very, very dangerous situation" to the country, but added the federal government was expending all its resources to protect American citizens.
"The FBI, the CIA, all the defense agencies, our allies overseas, are attempting to cooperate on this as much as possible. This is a very, very real threat," he said.
King said he wasn't aware how Australian officials discovered the plot to kidnap and kill individuals, explaining "either they did it on their own, or it could have been intelligence they received from other countries."
He said the United States routinely shared intelligence information "from the countries that we trust."
When U.S. officials identified a person who they thought might be planning terrorist activities, King said they generally were not arrested immediately in order to determine "what sources they may have overseas, what contacts overseas, who else in this country may be involved."
The national terror watch list was "constantly being weeded out" and was being "zeroed in on," King said, although he admitted "probably not quickly enough."
"Progress is being made. It's a full-scale effort," he said. "It's really nonpolitical and nonpartisan."
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