Last December, FBI Director Wray told Congress he’d never in his career seen so many threats against the United States as he did then. There were "blinking lights everywhere," he said, a reference to a chapter in the 9/11 Commission Report’s titled "The System Was Blinking Red."
Nine months later, as we mark the 23rd anniversary of the horrific terrorist strike that left 2,977 American dead, the chances of a repeat attack are just as high—if not higher.
This is a direct result of the Biden-Harris administration’s actions and inactions, which have left America less secure at home and at grave risk abroad.
For example, as the president and vice president took office in 2021, Iran-backed actors found they could launch attacks with near impunity. According to U.S. Central Command, from 2021 until March 2023, Iran-backed proxies launched "about 78" attacks on U.S. force in Iraq and Syria, and faced a response only three times.
Since then, attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces have only escalated further, with more than 230 attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq, Syria and Jordan in 2023 alone, more than any year during the Trump administration.
Similar policy results are evident in the Red Sea, where the oil tanker Sounion is currently leaking oil as a result of undeterred Houthi attacks, constituting a grave environmental disaster and raising global energy prices. And it could get worse—the Houthi attack on the Sounion may cause the largest-ever ship-sourced oil spill.
The policies of the Biden-Harris administration have provided unprecedented resources to terrorist organizations and to Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. Despite the collective counsel of military leaders and his Cabinet, President Biden and Vice President Harris directed the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The result: 13 American service members died and control of the country reverted to the Taliban, along with tens of billions of dollars of abandoned equipment and infrastructure. It was the first of 11 diplomatic facilities—a record—abandoned by the Biden-Harris administration.
On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we handed the world’s largest terrorist sanctuary back to those we wrested it from. Worse, the Biden-Harris administration continues to fund the terrorist Taliban regime to whom al Qaeda has pledged its fealty. As one of the many who participated in the initial response to 9/11, it is especially grievous, knowing the price paid and appreciating that others may be called to respond against an adversary we equipped.
Today, ISIS is resurgent in Afghanistan and Africa and has claimed external attacks in Russia and France. Taylor Swift’s European concert tour was abruptly curtailed as a result of credible threats. Al Qaeda’s leader, Saif al-Adl, who fled Kabul after our invasion in October 2001, now resides in Iran as a guest of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.
Iran itself has been the greatest beneficiary of Biden-Harris largesse. The administration has provided the regime unprecedented access to resources, nearly $100 billion since 2021. This has fueled its nuclear program, regional terrorism, and assassination attempts against former President Trump and former administration officials responsible for bankrupting them and confronting the threats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. And it has accelerated Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs.
In April 2021, the Biden-Harris administration reversed Trump’s decision to cease funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, ignoring the evidence that UNWRA provided support to Hamas.
The Biden-Harris policies of appeasement have led Iran and its Axis of Resistance to engage in non-stop attacks against U.S., Israeli and partners interests, which spiked beginning in 2021 and accelerated after the horrific attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, when 32 Americans were killed—the deadliest terrorist attacks against the U.S. since 9/11.
Three U.S. soldiers were killed in Jordan by Iranian-sponsored proxies in January 2024. After the death of Hamas leader Ismail Hanieyah in Tehran, U.S. forces were attacked in Iraq and Syria, resulting in seven casualties without a response. American Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s body was recovered on Aug. 31 after his brutal execution by Hamas. Seven Americans remain Hamas hostages.
That’s not all, sadly. The Biden-Harris administration has also systemically dismantled our border security, resulting in the entry of some 12 million illegal immigrants, 1,800 individuals listed on the terrorist watchlist (that we know of), and 70,000 to 80,000 Special Interest Aliens each year from dangerous countries.
In May, two were arrested after attempting to breach the Marine Corps Base in Quantico. In June, eight Tajiks affiliated with ISIS were detained in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City. In August, the FBI indicted a Pakistani man attempting to assassinate the former president and other former American officials.
Decades of neglect and the current administration’s dismantling of global deterrence invites aggression and courts disaster. The recent Congressional Commission on the National Defense Strategy reaffirmed the conclusions of Heritage’s 10th Annual Index of U.S. Military Strength, concluding our military’s capability and capacity is insufficient to deter and respond to the growing threats arrayed against us.
Twenty-three years ago, systemic structural issues, along with the fact that we ignored abundant warning signs, led to the worst terrorist attack in our history. Today it’s clear that we’re at greater risk at home and abroad. Yet the threats we face have been appeased, ignored, resourced, and allowed unprecedented access to our homeland via an open border under the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump’s administration confronted the threat of ISIS by defeating its caliphate and killing its leader. He stood up to Tehran, bankrupting its military and eliminating its most capable leader, Qassem Soleimani. He also closed our border and prevented terrorist infiltration.
The contrast between the two administrations’ records could not be more clear.
