Chairman Mccaul Releases January "Terror Threat Snapshot'

Statement

The January Terror Threat Snapshot was released today by Homeland Security Committee (HSC) Chairman Michael McCaul. The "snapshot" is a monthly Committee assessment of the growing threat America, the West, and the world face from ISIS and other Islamist terrorists.

Chairman McCaul: "The heinous ISIS-linked attack on a policeman in Philadelphia is a grim reminder of the Islamist terror threat we face today. ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists are expanding their networks and carving out sanctuaries abroad, while their supporters and operatives have been plotting terror attacks in the West. President Obama has another opportunity tomorrow to level with the American people and present a viable strategy to defeat ISIS and other Islamist extremists. Unfortunately, what he will provide is an assessment that is out of touch with reality and a response that sees "messaging' as the biggest shortcoming in the failing war against ISIS."

Key takeaways in this month's Terror Threat Snapshot include:

ISIS' global terror campaign in 2015 resulted in the deadliest Islamist terror attacks in America since 9/11 and in Europe since 2004. The attacks in San Bernardino, California, where 14 people were killed, and Paris, France, where at least 130 people were killed, are among the 72 ISIS-linked attack plots against Western targets. Most recently, an ISIS supporter attempted to murder a Philadelphia policeman in a close-range shooting attack on January 7.

Islamist terrorists have been attempting to infiltrate the United States as authorities have uncovered jihadists who were resettled in America through the refugee resettlement program. Two refugees from Iraq resettled in the U.S. were recently arrested on terror-related charges linked to ISIS. In November 2015, the House passed the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act of 2015, with a bipartisan, veto-proof majority. The bill, sponsored by Homeland Security Committee (HSC) Chairman Michael McCaul, would overhaul the security vetting of Iraqi and Syrian refugees being resettled in the United States.

The United States faces an unprecedented terror threat level at home due to the continued failure to destroy ISIS. Law enforcement authorities have arrested nearly 80 individuals in ISIS-related cases in the United States since 2014 -- 62 in 2015 alone. There have been 21 ISIS-linked plots to launch attacks in the homeland. Over 80 percent of the post-9/11 homegrown Islamist extremist cases in the United States have occurred or been disrupted since 2009.

Foreign fighters are returning from jihadist battlefields in Syria and plotting attacks in the West. Islamist terrorists returning to the West from Syria, like those involved in the November 2015 Paris attacks, are a surging threat. Legislation sponsored by HSC Border and Maritime Subcommittee Chairman Candice Miller and recently signed into law will enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program in order to prevent terrorists from entering the United States. HSC Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman John Katko recently introduced legislation, passed unanimously out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, to help address overseas security screening gaps.

Terror detainees released from Guantanamo are continuing to rejoin the fight. An al Qaeda member released by the Obama Administration in 2012 reportedly resurfaced recently as a member of al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen and called for attacks against the West.

The Iranian regime's unchecked aggression has escalated as it prepares to reap the windfall from impending sanctions relief. Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terror, has recently launched rockets near an American aircraft carrier, directed a terror cell in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and conducted illicit ballistic missile tests without facing significant repercussions. On January 7, legislation to address Iran's continued missile and terror programs passed through the Foreign Affairs Committee.

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