Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Remaining Vigilant Against Terrorist Attacks
Delivered Thursday, November 19, 2015
Madam President, because of what happened in Paris last week, many speeches are going to be given on the floor of the Senate about terrorism. But it's too bad that we only seem to talk about the dangers of terrorism when an attack occurs - either here in the United States, or elsewhere - that brings the issue to our attention. Even though we may not see the effects of terrorism on a daily basis, we should remember that terrorism poses a constant danger. Because somewhere right now, there are people thinking about killing Americans simply because of who we are and what we believe.
So I rise today, first to again express my sympathies to the people of Paris and all those affected by Friday's (Nov. 13) terrible attacks by radical Islamic terrorists there. On behalf of the people of Iowa, I continue to stand with the people of France.
Unfortunately, the attacks last Friday (Nov. 13) should not have been a surprise. Radical Islamic terrorists have been waging war against the United States and our allies for years. In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes were massacred during the Munich Olympics. In 1983, 241 U.S. Marines and other service personnel were killed in Beirut by a truck bomb. In 1985, an American was murdered on a hijacked TWA plane there as well. That same year, an American in a wheelchair was thrown overboard into the Mediterranean by terrorists who had hijacked a cruise ship, the Achille Lauro. Not long afterward, in 1993, Al-Qaeda made its first attempt to bring down the Twin Towers with another truck bomb. In 1996, an attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia killed 19 American soldiers. In 1998, attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed over 200 people, including 12 Americans. And in 2000, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole killed 17 American sailors.
Now, all of those attacks happened before 9/11. And since 9/11, attacks have continued to occur all around the world - from the train bombings in Madrid in 2004, to the suicide bombings in London in 2005, to the senseless slaughter in the streets of Mumbai in 2008. My focus today, however, is on the United States homeland.
Terrorists have continued to try to attack us here on many occasions since 9/11. Some of these attacks have succeeded. Most of them have failed. Some of them have involved direct coordination with terrorist leaders abroad. And some have been committed by "lone wolves," inspired by terrorists overseas or the views. But these threats are ongoing, and we must be vigilant to guard against them. We know we will face them again.
Several prominent terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11 come to mind. We all remember the carnage at the Boston Marathon in April 2013, where two brothers detonated bombs at the finish line that killed an eight-year old boy and two others and injured hundreds more. Although the brothers did not appear to have direct ties with terrorist organizations, they were motivated by radical Islamic beliefs.
We also remember the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, where 13 people were killed and several dozen others were wounded. Incredibly, the Obama administration refused to categorize this as a terrorist attack. This was in spite of the fact that the shooter had traded emails with then-senior Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki. The shooter also later identified his extremist beliefs as the basis for his attack.
But these tragedies only continued the pattern followed by radical Islamic terrorists since Al-Qaeda hijacked and crashed airplanes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that fateful day in 2001. Soon after 9/11, for example, British citizen Richard Reid attempted to detonate explosives packed in his shoes while on a flight to Miami in December 2001. He had previously trained at Al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Thankfully he failed, but this attempted attack put us on notice that these terrorists were not finished after 9/11.
More attacks and plots followed, perhaps less well remembered after the passage of time. But they still demonstrate the ongoing threat we face.
In July 2002, an Egyptian shot and killed two Israelis and wounded four others at the Los Angeles International Airport. Although the FBI did not find evidence linking the shooter to a terrorist group, the agency concluded the shooting was an act of terrorism.
In March 2006, another radical Islamic terrorist injured six people when he drove his vehicle into a group of pedestrians at the University of North Carolina. The attacker claimed to have conducted the attack in order to avenge the killing of Muslims around the world by the U.S. government.
Another example is the "Fort Dix Six" plot in May 2007. In that case, six men planned to kill American soldiers at a military base in New Jersey, but were arrested before they could do so. The men were inspired by Jihadi videos.
In June 2009, a terrorist shot two recruiters at a military center in Little Rock, Arkansas. One of the recruiters was killed and the other was seriously wounded. The shooter told the judge in his case that he was a soldier of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Later in 2009, three radical Islamic terrorists were arrested just before they were able to conduct suicide attacks in New York City. One of these terrorists drove all the way from his home in Colorado to strike the New York City subway system with homemade explosives hidden inside of backpacks. He later admitted in court that he was trained by Al-Qaeda to be part of a "martyrdom operation." He further confessed that Al-Qaeda officials ordered these suicide attacks from Pakistan.
Also in 2009, on Christmas Day, a terrorist often referred to as the "underwear bomber" attempted to blow up a bomb concealed in his underclothes while on a flight over Detroit. Several days later, Al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Saudi Arabia claimed responsibility for the attack.
In May 2010, a terrorist tried to set off a car bomb in the middle of Times Square in New York City. He was arrested while attempting to flee the country on a flight to the Middle East. This bomber was trained and financed by the Pakistani Taliban.
More recently, the threat from radical Islamic extremism has sprung from the chaos in Syria. By now, we are all familiar with ISIS, or the Islamic State. Last year, we witnessed the horror of ISIS's brutal and barbaric beheading of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig in Syria.
But as FBI Director Comey explained to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year, ISIS presents a new type of Islamic extremist organization. For one thing, ISIS exploits social media to promote its terrorist agenda and encourage people within the United States to commit terrorist attacks. As Director Comey explained, ISIS's propaganda machine is like a devil on someone's shoulder, saying "'kill, kill, kill," and "if you can't come to Syria, kill somebody where you are. Kill somebody in uniform. Kill anybody."
ISIS's deadly message of terror is having a profound effect here in our country. Over the last year, the government has stopped numerous individuals in the United States who tried to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS. According to Director Comey, over 200 Americans have traveled, or attempted to travel, to Syria for this purpose. I fear that such individuals who successfully return home could re-create the Paris attacks here in our country, given the training, indoctrination, and battlefield experience they have received abroad. The Washington Post reported on November 16th that 66 men and women in the United States have been charged with crimes associated with ISIS, including both attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS and planning attacks here.
But beyond ISIS's recruitment of Americans to fight in Syria, the Paris attacks demonstrate the extreme danger the group now poses here in North America. Look what's occurred just over the past year or so. In October 2014, a radical Islamic terrorist who could not obtain a passport to travel to Syria shot up the Parliament in Canada, killing a Canadian soldier on duty at the Canadian National War Memorial. The next day, a self-radicalized Muslim convert attacked four police officers on the streets of New York City with a hatchet after watching ISIS internet propaganda.
In January of this year, the FBI arrested a man in Ohio for plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol with pipe bombs and guns. The man also allegedly expressed a desire to support ISIS, and he had posted videos and messages on social media supporting violent attacks by radical Islamic terrorists.
Later, in May of this year, two Islamic terrorists drove from Arizona to Garland, Texas to attack a conference center during an art exhibit. The center was hosting an exhibition of cartoons depicting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. The pair shot and injured a security guard before being killed by a police officer. ISIS subsequently claimed responsibility for that attack.
In June 2015, law enforcement officers in Massachusetts shot and killed a knife-wielding member of a group of ISIS supporters who were plotting attacks here in the United States. Two other alleged terrorists were arrested and are being prosecuted.
Just this month, an American was arrested in Ohio for supporting ISIS. He allegedly posted online detailed personal information - including their addresses - of 100 U.S. military members. He had then allegedly called on fellow terrorists to kill these military personnel in their homes and communities.
Most chilling of all is the video released earlier this week. On Monday, ISIS released a video warning countries against participating in air strikes in Syria. The video claimed that ISIS would attack these countries just as it attacked France last Friday (Nov. 13). The video specifically threatened to attack Washington, D.C.
According to the New York Times just this morning, "at least three dozen people in the United States suspected of ties to the Islamic State were under heavy electronic or physical surveillance even before the Paris attacks."
So it is all too obvious that we will continue to face attacks from radical Islamic terrorists in the future. To help remind us both of that certainty and that we must prepare for it, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a long list of terrorist attacks on the United States that I prepared from public sources. The list may not include each and every attack by these terrorists here, but it does include a wide variety of attempted and planned attacks against our citizens. Because of space limitations on materials submitted for the Record, a more complete and annotated list can be found on my website. That list also includes a separate list of individuals prosecuted in the United States for attempting to leave the country to fight for ISIS.
These lists include successful attacks that harmed Americans, as well as unsuccessful attacks that did not - often thanks to law enforcement's efforts. What is common to all the attacks is that they were undertaken by terrorists who coordinated with radical Islamist extremists, were inspired by them, or who shared their views. The listed attacks should serve as a reminder that we must always be vigilant. We must never forget that radical Islamic extremists are waging war against us. And so we must always be prepared to fight this battle and to defend against their attacks.
I am grateful this Thanksgiving season for the people in this country who do the difficult work of protecting us from terrorists every day. We must continually strengthen our country's ability to win this war. We must ensure that our military and Special Forces have the ability to take the fight to the terrorists overseas, wherever they are lurking. We must ensure that our intelligence agencies have the tools needed to identify terrorists and their plots, while preserving the civil liberties that make our country special. And we must ensure that law enforcement is able to use the lawful tools provided by Congress, consistent with the Constitution and approved by the courts, to help stop terrorist attacks.
I yield the floor.
