th is recognized 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 2977 innocent people before the dust had settled 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 the 11 2001 I've counselled administrations of both parties not the short Change hamstring or abandon our fight against the terrorists or let up on the adversaries who support them I've urge colleagues in congress not to make the job of the warf fighter Harder by taking essential counterterrorism authorities off the table and I'll continue to do so as our colleag consider our recent vote on Section 702 and the one will take in less than two 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 quote there's not one member of the United States military who's in active duty in a combat zone for the first time this Century well Mr President this would of course be news to US service members who conducted operations against Isis in Iraq last week and to the sailors intercepting houie rockets in the Red Sea and to the families of service members killed and injured in the attack on Tower 22 near Jordan border with Syria earlier this year our current commanderin-chief and the Biden hars Administration are not the first to chase the tail of shutting down terrorist detention at Guantanamo Bay they're not the first to indulge in the idea of a pivot away from a regional region full of important us interests and they're 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 a disastrous Retreat that torched American credibility and left 13 service members dead the administration p his hopes on a mistaken idea that because the us-led Coalition had made tremendous progress in keeping terrorist threats under control we could continue to do so from Over the Horizon so how's 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 US withdrawal the administration hasn't conducted a single strike not one against Isis K the terrorists responsible for the Abate bombing among other atrocities since 2001 of course that's not because the terrorists have been quiet in fact by one analysis this year Isis K planned 21 external plots or attacks in nine countries in the previous 12 months alone compared to just three between 2018 and the spring of 2022 the OD and I annual threat assessment was forced to acknowledge that quote terrorists will maintain an interest in conducting attacks against us persons allies and worldwide and 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-Qaeda Affiliates across the so and then there's Shas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and his Bala and the houthis and Iraq terrorist groups all of whom have been trained and equipped aided and eded by the world's most active State sponsor of of Terror Iran I'm off talk on October 7th is described as Israel's September the 11th relative to population it was actually September the 11th 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 Teran the chaos stremming from this genocidal assault and the violent choreography by the irgc of attacks on Israel and US interest across the region is evidence of the failure of this administration's passive accommodating approach to Iran and the terrorist proxies America's weakness and hesitation will not deter our adversary iies withholding critical assistance from Partners on the front lines will not defeat them this is true in Israel just as it's true in Ukraine and there is doubt that allies partners and adversaries in Asia and elsewhere are watching a tentative America pull its punches they're questioning our resolve and our commitment to our friends if we're unwilling to change Iran calculus and compel an end to attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria or International vessels on the high seas and if we're unwilling to stand with Partners like Israel or Ukraine can we be trusted to stand up to the PRC 23 years ago a dangerous World struck America here at home we must not wait for today's threats to do the same