Miller Center Contributes to Department of Homeland Security Report

Miller Center senior fellow Paul Goldenberg delivering remarks at the Department of Homeland Security’s Faith Based Community Safety and Security Symposium.

January 14, 2020 — The Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience (CPR) senior fellow Paul Goldenberg is the co-chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council Subcommittee for the Prevention of Targeted Violence Against Faith-based Organizations, which issued a report on preventing violent crime targeting faith-based groups. The report was written with significant contributions from Eagleton and CPR director John J. Farmer, Jr. and Paul Goldenberg, with assistance from Eagleton Undergraduate Associate Christina Gaudino.

“We at CPR drew upon the work we have done with vulnerable communities over the past few years in assisting with the research and writing of the report,” said Professor Farmer. “We intend to monitor aggressively the implementation of the report’s recommendations, which reflect the lessons of hard experience. The inaction which has greeted reports in prior years is unacceptable given the recent escalation of deadly attacks on religious communities in the United States and around the world.”

In a recent article, The Washington Post interviewed Goldenberg about the report’s recommendation to shift the federal government’s response to the rise of crimes against religious groups.

“[Goldenberg] noted that, as administrations change, people shuffle in and out of positions. That’s why one of the [report’s] top recommendations, he said, remains the establishment of a leadership position to oversee the department’s efforts to protect religious organizations.”

Goldenberg, along with General John Allen of the Brookings Institute, who co-chaired the subcommittee’s report, will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, January 15.

The Miller Center is affiliated with the Eagleton Institute of Politics and Rutgers Law School.