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Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 23 years ago today, forces of evil brought their war on the United States to American soil. They filled a clear blue sky with smoke, fire, and the shattered lives of 2,977 innocent people.

Before the dust had settled, the world witnessed the extraordinary heroism of first responders, the compassion of neighbors and volunteers, and the will of a proud nation not to let this savagery go unanswered.

The terrorists had started this war, but America resolved to finish it. At times, that resolve has wavered. Over the years since September 11, 2001, I have counseled administrations of both parties not to shortchange, hamstring, or abandon our fight against the terrorists or let up on the adversaries who support them. I have urged colleagues in Congress not to make the job of the warfighter harder by taking essential counterterrorism authorities off the table, and I will continue to do so as our colleagues consider our recent vote on section 702 and the one we will take in less than 2 years to further extend this vital intelligence collection authority.

The Biden-Harris administration pretends the War on Terrorism is over. The Vice President herself claimed last night that ``there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone . . . [for] the first time this century.''

Well, this, of course, would be news to U.S. servicemembers who conducted operations against ISIS in Iraq last week and to the sailors intercepting Houthi rockets in the Red Sea and to the families of servicemembers killed and injured in the attack on Tower 22 near Jordan's border with Syria earlier this year.

Our current Commander in Chief and the Biden-Harris administration are not the first to chase the tail of shutting down terrorist detention at Guantanamo Bay. They are not the first to indulge in the idea of a pivot away from a region full of important U.S. interests. They are not the first to suggest that America gets to decide unilaterally when threats from Afghanistan end, but they were the ones who followed through with the disastrous retreat that torched American credibility and left 13 servicemembers dead.

The administration pinned its hopes on the mistaken idea that because the U.S.-led coalition had made tremendous progress in keeping terrorist threats under control, we could continue to do so from over the horizon. So how is that going? Despite assurances from the Secretary of Defense that over-the-horizon operations would not suffer from a lack of human intelligence after the U.S. withdrawal, the administration hasn't conducted a single strike--not one--against ISIS- K, the terrorists responsible for the Abbey Gate bombing, among other atrocities, since 2001. Of course, that is not because the terrorists have been quiet. In fact, by one analysis this year, ISIS-K planned 21 external plots or attacks in 9 countries in the previous 12 months alone, compared to just 3 between 2018 and the spring of 2022.

The ODNI annual threat assessment was forced to acknowledge that ``terrorists will maintain an interest in conducting attacks . . . against U.S. persons, allies, and interests worldwide.'' Indeed, America's retreat from Afghanistan has invited violence elsewhere, from the resurgence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, to the AQAP in Yemen, to al-Qaida affiliates across the Sahel. And then there is Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and the Houthis and Iraqi terrorist groups, all of whom have been trained and equipped, aided and abetted, by the world's most active state sponsor of terror--Iran.

Hamas's attack on October 7 is described as Israel's September 11. Relative to population, it was actually September 11 15 times over. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and it wouldn't have been possible without the involvement of Tehran.

The chaos stemming from this genocidal assault and the violent choreography by the IRGC of attacks on Israel and U.S. interests across the region are evidence of the failure of this administration's passive, accommodating approach to Iran and its terrorist proxies.

America's weakness and hesitation will not deter our adversaries. Withholding critical assistance from partners on the frontlines will not defeat them. This is true in Israel just as it is true in Ukraine.

There is no doubt that allies, partners, and adversaries in Asia and elsewhere are watching a tentative America pull its punches. They are questioning our resolve and our commitment to our friends.

If we are unwilling to change Iran's calculus and compel an end to attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria or international vessels on the high seas and if we are unwilling to stand with partners like Israel or Ukraine, can we be trusted to stand up to the PRC?

Twenty-three years ago, a dangerous world struck America here at home. We must not wait for today's threats to do the same.

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