SWAT team prepares at the Watertown Mall (Photo: Getty)

With the news that two of the suspected terrorists from last Monday's Boston Marathon bombing have roots in the Russia's Muslim-dominated Chechnyan region, Long Island Congressman Pete King says the United States "can't afford to be politically correct" with its immigration policies anymore.

"I do believe that whether it's Chechnya or whether it's really any countries from areas where there is fighting going on--particularly terrorist fighting--that we have to be extra careful, extra scrupulous," Mr. King argued during a PIX 11 interview earlier this afternoon. "That would include, to me, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia [and] obviously .... somebody of a Chechnyan background. All of that, to me, we can't afford to be politically correct and say that somebody coming from a country where there's a Muslim war going on is the same as somebody ... from Switzerland, for instance. There's a difference."

Mr. King, who is also the former head of the House Committee on Homeland Security, pointed to the fact that both suspects have been in the country legally for a number of years, one of whom immigrated when he was very young. Although the motives for the Boston attack are still very much unclear, Mr. King concluded that there's a problem of radicalization in the local Muslim community.

"This person was 9 years old when he to this country," he said. "Basically, he was raised as an American. It's not like he came over here as some kind of a terrorist. So what in the community radicalized him? We have to look at the whole issue of radicalization as to why someone--who was 9 years old who he came to this country, has received scholarships to an excellent school--what would prompt him to kill and maim and cause such carnage to innocent people and kids?"

Of course, this is not the first time Mr. King has brought up the "radicalization" of America's Muslims--the Republican congressman previously held high-profile committee hearings on the very subject that drew controversy and accusations of Islamophobia. Regardless, Mr. King feels it's a simple issue as he pressed his case today.

"This is just something that has to be faced," he said. "There are people in this country that want to kill us and we have to face up to that."

Pete King on Morning Joe. (Screengrab: MSNBC)

President Barack Obama may have been reluctant to use the term "terrorism" to describe yesterday's deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon, but Long Island Rep. Pete King, who up until recently was Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, thinks there's no doubt.

"Clearly, this was a terrorist attack," Mr. King said on Morning Joe today. "You had the multiple explosions. You had someone who was able to penetrate security. Amateurs don't do that, so this was well-planned and coordinated. It was a terrorist attack. It's a question of who did it, ... it's too early to say. Obviously we have to consider whether it was Islamic jihad. It could also be white supremacist, it could be anti-government people."

Regardless of who committed the crime, Mr. King said, the bombing serves as a reminder of why security procedures are in place even when they're inconvenient.

"When people complain about being stopped at the airport, or they talk about too much security at events, that's why that security is there," he added. "Because of what happened yesterday."

Mr. King would later elaborate on this point in another MSNBC interview this morning, arguing that the New York Police Department's occasionally controversial surveillance policies should be a model for security efforts in other areas vulnerable to terrorism.

"If you're out in public, I don't believe you have the right to assume that anything is private. So that's why I believe [in] these cameras on street corners, the way they have in London, the way that they have in lower Manhattan in New York and they're working their way up through Midtown,"  he said. "I know it's a very, very effective tool that the N.Y.P.D. uses ... It's important to have intelligence, that's why I think what the N.Y.P.D. has done--going out to communities, monitoring areas where they think they can get intelligence--is absolutely vital."

And to critics who would disagree with Mr. King, the Republican congressman urged them to talk to the families of the victims, such as the 8-year-old boy who died in Boston yesterday.

"I would just say, ask the parents of that 8-year-old--I don't want to even get into it," he said. "Talk to people who have lost somebody in one of these terrorist incidents and say, 'Would you rather have your loved one dead or a camera on the telephone pole?' I think they'd say they'd take the camera on the telephone pole."

Pete King and Josh Foley practice ahead of their bout. (Photo: Facebook)

Congressman Pete King is about to step into the ring, literally.

This Saturday in the Nassau County hamlet of Wantagh, Mr. King is set to go glove-to-glove with “Irish” Josh Foley, a New York State light heavyweight kickboxing champion.

"I've actually been doing boxing for a while," Mr. King explained in a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera earlier this morning. "There's a whole boxing card on that night, there's like twelve fights on. I think it starts at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The promoter is actually my boxing trainer, Chris Cardona, and he asked me to box."

Along with the fact he's 68-years-old and has never been a professional athlete, the Long Island congressman said a shoulder injury could also hamper his efforts. Regardless of who wins, however, Mr. King, who's been recently raging at his political foes in Washington, said he expected the match would be a good way to vent his frustrations.

"I've been working out," he said. "I train every week but I'm doing more of it now. I have to watch myself because I have a damaged left shoulder so I have to somehow manage to protect that. Listen, I'm looking forward to it. It should be a good crowd there at Mulcahy's Pub and it gets my aggressions out."

(Photo: Getty)

Congressman Pete King was not pleased with his fellow Republicans who opposed the federal Hurricane Sandy relief package. Accordingly, Mr. King told us he was shocked to learn that Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who's widely seen as a potential 2016 presidential contender, has been raising cash on Wall Street after voting against the Sandy bill.

"Being from New York we're not supposed to be suckers," Mr. King told Politicker this morning. "It's bad enough that these guys voted against it, that's inexcusable enough. But to have the balls to come in and say, 'We screwed you now make us president?'"

Mr. King went on to urge Empire State donors to cut off Mr. Rubio and any other member of Congress who "threw a knife in the back in New York" by voting "no" on the bill.

"Rubio and these other Republican candidates are coming to New York to raise money," he said. "I don't think any senator or congressman who voted against aid for Sandy should get one nickel from New York."

Mr. King, of course, wasn't the only Republican to criticize House Republicans for initially blocking the aid. Notably, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared that the cynicism involved was "why the American people hate Congress." In his conversation with Politicker, Mr. King connected the Conservative Political Action Conference's recent snub of Mr. Christie to the Sandy vote.

"They are more and more taking on this anti-Northeast attitude," Mr. King said of his party. "We say fine, if you want to be anti-Northeast, then the Northeast is going to be anti-them."

(Photo: Getty)

In the wake of the House of Representatives' failed vote on Hurricane Sandy relief, Congressman Pete King has gone rogue.

“These Republicans have no problem finding New York when they’re out raising millions of dollars,” Mr. King said on Fox News this morning. “They’re in New York all the time filling their pockets with money from New Yorkers. I’m saying right now, anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to congressional Republicans is out of their minds. Because what they did last night was put a knife in the back of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans. It was an absolute disgrace."

Mr. King went on to almost describe himself as a Republican without a conference in the GOP-controlled chamber.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m on my own,” he said. “They’re going to have to go a long way to get my vote on anything.”

Mr. King, who represents a Long Island district hard-hit by Sandy's path, was hardly the only legislator to rage at his party over the situation either.

“It is with an extremely heavy heart that I stand here almost in disbelief and somewhat ashamed,” Staten Island Republican Michael Grimm said. “I am here tonight saying to myself for the first time that I am not proud of the decision that my team has made.”

Many New York and New Jersey Democrats piled on as well, using words like "unconscionable," "ashamed," and "disgusting."

Grover Norquist (Photo: Getty)

As they face down the fiscal cliff, a growing number of Republicans are abandoning the pledge not to increase taxes that they made to anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist. Today, Hudson Valley Rep. Chris Gibson came up with what might be the most creative excuse yet for breaking the pledge. Mr. Gibson saw his district number change from 20 to 19 during this year's redistricting process and he reasoned that the pledge no longer applies to him as it was only to the constituents under the previous district number.

"The Congressman signed the pledge as a candidate in 2010 for the 20th Congressional District," his spokeswoman explained. "Regarding the pledge moving forward, Congressman Gibson doesn’t plan to re-sign it for the 19th Congressional District, which he now represents (the pledge is to your constituents of a numbered district)."

Indeed, the pledge itself is addressed "to the taxpayers of the _____ district," with the candidates filling in the blank. However, the next line of the pledge says "and to the American people," which calls Mr. Gibson's logic into question.

Nevertheless, Mr. Gibson apparently feels the change in his district number is a sufficient excuse for him to "consider all comprehensive packages brought forward as a result of bipartisan negotiations" in the latest high-profile budget negotiations currently controlling the conversation in Washington. He joins a slew of Republicans who have dropped the pledge, including Long Island Rep. Peter King who entered a heated war of words with Mr. Norquist over the issue. Prior to the recent raft of pledge-breakers, all but six of the current Republican members of the House of Representatives had signed the pledge.

Correction: One of the references to Mr. Gibson's district number switches was initially reversed.

Eric Ulrich and Pete King in what may make good material for campaign literature. (Photo: Ulrich campaign)

City Councilman Eric Ulrich, campaigning for the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Senator Joe Addabbo, got a nice little boost for his campaign this afternoon when he announced that Congressman Pete King is endorsing his electoral effort. Although Mr. King doesn't represent the Queens district, his turf isn't too far away and the veteran representative very well might be the state's top GOP official.

"Eric understands that the way to put New Yorkers back to work and grow our economy is by lowering taxes on families and small businesses and reigning in the reckless government spending that has created unsustainable deficits and threatens our competitiveness," Mr. King said in the statement. "His conservative principles of limited government, safe streets and a strong quality of life will make him an excellent representative in Albany and I urge all Republicans to vote for him on September 13th."

In order to make that trip to Albany, Mr. Ulrich will first need to defeat attorney Juan Reyes in the primary. Mr. Reyes is backed by the dominant faction in the bitterly divided Queens Republican Party.

Despite the divide, however, Mr. Ulrich has mopped up plenty of establishment support, including Mr. King's House colleague Bob Turner. Unlike Mr. King, of course, Mr. Turner represents a good portion of Mr. Addabbo's newly redistricting seat -- one Queens operative estimated as much as 80%.

Majority Leader Dean Skelos and the State Senate's Republican conference have also backed Mr. Ulrich, and their campaign committee has showered him with hundreds of thousands of dollars to help make him the favorite to get the GOP nod on September 13th. To wit, Mr. Ulrich currently has over $350,000 in his campaign war chest, while Mr. Reyes is closer to $20,000.

Update: Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy emails in a response:

"How appropriate that while Senator Addabbo was down at City Hall supporting stronger gun control legislation Eric Ulrich was accepting the endorsement of a right wing Congressman who has voted against common sense gun regulations even supporting decreasing the waiting period required to buy a gun. "

(Photo: YouTube)

Congressman Pete King, the head of the House's Homeland Security Committee, has been generating some media buzz recently with his forceful rejection of a Democratic amendment which would restricting federal funding from police forces declared to be discriminatory by the Attorney General. While the amendment wouldn't directly impact the NYPD, the subtext of the legislation was clearly intended to send a message regarding the Muslim-surveillance controversy unearthed by The Associated Press earlier this year. And on a recent CNN discussion, Mr. King pushed back hard when The New Yorker's Ryan Liza tried to give credit to The AP's report.

"First off, there is no profiling, that's the absolute nonsense that people like you and others are propagating," Mr. King stated flatly when the topic was broached.

"I'm not propagating anything I'm just telling you that there's been some very legitimate questions raised about what the NYPD is doing!" Mr. Lizza shouted back.

"I'm telling you that there is no profiling, so I want you take that back!," Mr. King countered. "There is no profiling, you have no evidence of profiling at all. They use terms like profiling [and] spying -- casually and cavalierly -- and you don't know what you're talking about. ... You're passing it on as if it's legitimate."

Mr. Lizza started to insist that his questions were legitimate, only to have Mr. King overtake the discussion again.

"They are not legitimate, they're illegitimate," he again stressed. "They're irresponsible charges to make."

As the show's host  began to switch the discussion to the Secret Service's prostitution scandal, Mr. King made one last point about Mr. Lizza, saying, “He can say whatever he wants, he's wrong."

Watch below:

Pete King (Photo: YouTube)

Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives saw an amendment reach the floor designed to stop all federal funds from flowing to any law enforcement entity that the Department of Justice has identified as engaging in any racial or religious profiling. The amendment, which was obviously intended to address the recent controversy about the NYPD's surveillance of Muslims, was supported by every Democrat in New York City, but ultimately failed to pass largely on Republican-led opposition.

"In September of last year, I asked the Department of Justice to investigate what we now know was a pattern of surveillance and infiltration by the New York Police Department against innocent American Muslims in the absence of a valid investigative reason," the amendment's sponsor, New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt, said, launching into a lengthy criticism of the NYPD but finally declaring the legislation had broader aims. "Profiling is wrong. Profiling on the basis of the race, ethnicity, and religion is a violation of core constitutional principles."

Congressman Pete King, an outspoken defender of all things related to homeland security, took to the floor to blast the amendment.

"So I cannot be more emphatic or stronger in my denunciation of this amendment, calling for its defeat and urging people to stand by the NYPD, which has kept New York safe for 10 1/2 years," Mr. King said after thoroughly defending the notion of gathering intelligence focused on particular communities.

"I went to too many funerals. I attended too many wakes. I lost too many constituents," he added. "I'm not going to allow it to happen so long as I'm in this Congress."

Asked about the vote this afternoon, Mr. King said it wasn't the measure itself that was the problem, as it would only bar funding in cases where the Department of Justice has ruled there to be discriminatory practices, but rather the whole speech that took place introducing it, which he felt would have emboldened the NYPD's critics.

"If that amendment had been introduced by itself without any commentary, fine, let it pass," he told The Politicker.  "It was introduced the speaker, who used his entire speaking time to attack the NYPD ... It would have been played up by special interest groups like The Associated Press, like The New York Times, [and] weaken the NYPD."

"I was surprised," he said of the strong support the measure received from House Democrats. "I could understand why ultra-liberals who are against the police would vote for it, but I couldn't understand why everybody else did."

Watch the debate on the House floor below:

Congressman Israel (Photo: NY1)

New York Congressman Steve Israel, who heads up the House Democrats' campaign efforts, made an interesting pitch to NY1's Errol Louis on Inside City Hall last Friday. He argued the most New York is now in play with the judge's new congressional redistricting plan.

"Right in New York, as a result of the map the courts have approved, we have races all over the state that will be competitive," he said, before ticking down a laundry list of newly competitive seats.

"Congressman Gibson now has a district that is much more Democratic, [with] the map on Long Island, Congressman King goes from safe Republican seat to a 49.5% Democratic seat," he continued. "Congressman Reed has a more Democratic district. Congresswoman Buerkle, in the Syracuse area, is so out of touch ... with her district that I believe we're going to pick that one up."

Mr. Israel is correct that a number of Republicans have more competitive districts, but he may need some luck and extraordinary candidates to turn the entire state blue, although it isn't completely out of question. For example, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice might need to enter the race against veteran GOP  Congressman Pete King to truly make that race competitive.

(Of course, every single House seat in New York State except Mr. King's has been held by a Democratic incumbent within the last two election cycles, so perhaps Democratic competitiveness across the state isn't especially new.)

On the flip side of the coin, Republicans have their own reasons to be optimistic with redistricting. Democratic Congresswomen Louise Slaughter, Kathy Hochul, and Nita Lowey have seen potentially strong Republican challengers mull races against them in recent days.