Biden’s deadly Afghanistan withdrawal has made the US less secure on 9/11 anniversary | Opinion
As we commemorate and honor the victims and heroes of Sept. 11, may we never forget our renewed commitment to protecting homeland and the constant struggle for preserving the values of freedom and liberty both at home and abroad.
Since that traumatic day, there is much that we have accomplished to strengthen our homeland security. We ensured that information sharing and situational awareness among the federal government and our state, local, tribal and territorial partners occur more effectively and are prioritized.
We reformed the Intelligence Community and established a director of national intelligence to better coordinate intelligence and “connect the dots.” We integrated 22 disparate agencies to create the Department of Homeland Security to lead the U.S. government’s efforts in protecting the homeland. We created the Homeland Security Committees in Congress, on which I serve in the House, to conduct critical oversight.
Taliban control
Unfortunately, we now face some of the same threats today as we did on Sept. 11, 2001. Because of the Biden administration’s deadly withdrawal in Afghanistan, that country is again controlled by the Taliban and is proving to be a renewed breeding ground for terrorism. Al Qaeda, ISIS and other bad actors operate there — now absent a U.S. presence — and are targeting Americans and our allies.
The threat to our homeland is real.
I am working to ensure that we never again let a tragedy like 9/11 occur on U.S. soil. That is why the Biden administration’s failure in Afghanistan is so infuriating. The chaotic withdrawal there and the continuing crisis at the U.S. southern border has made our nation less secure. Terrorist groups will undoubtedly seek to leverage our failure in Afghanistan and the back door that exists on our southern border to try and attack us in the homeland. In the next 20 years, threats to the homeland are likely to morph even more quickly than we have seen in the past twenty years.
As ranking member of the Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee, I am focused on protecting the traveling public from terrorist attacks in aviation, surface transportation and maritime modes.
Keeping up with threats
I am leading efforts to ensure that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has the resources and technology it needs to keep up with new and emerging threats. We need to provide our transportation sector with updated equipment that can detect evolving threats and not be bogged down by bureaucratic processes and the old ways of doing things. And we need to harness the creativity and the ingenuity of the private sector, especially in the realm of biometrics.
As a former firefighter, I am proud of what our first responders did in the aftermath of 9/11 in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. Their training and courage were reflected in the impressive response and recovery efforts that day and over and over again in the weeks and months that followed. We thank them for their commitment and dedication.
In my role on the Committee on Homeland Security, I will continue to force the Biden administration to prove how they will protect the American people in the wake of the Taliban’s take-over of Afghanistan and the chaos at our southern border. I will do all in my power to ensure that the homeland is secure from terrorist attack.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez represents Florida’s 26th congressional district. He was previously mayor of Miami-Dade County.