Pfluger Responds to Day’s Events
Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) on August 26th, issued the following statement:
“As a veteran, it is shameful to see the chaos President Biden has caused in Afghanistan.
“President Biden, Americans demand to know your plan to protect lives and prevent further casualties. You must establish dominance by any and all means necessary to ensure the safety of every American life.
“There will be a time for accountability, but right now, I implore my fellow Americans to come together and show our troops that we support them. Their efforts are not in vain.”
Pfluger Introduces Bill to Assess Threat of Freed Terrorists
Tuesday, August 31st, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11), the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, introduced the Afghanistan Withdrawal Threat Assessment Act to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct a threat assessment to the Homeland posed by the prisoners that were released from the Pul-e-Charkhi Prison and the Parwan Detention Facility in Afghanistan. These facilities housed thousands of jailed ISIS and Al Qeada fighters.
“President Biden’s reckless and chaotic Afghanistan evacuation led to the Taliban releasing thousands of known and jailed terrorists from prisons in Afghanistan,” said Congressman Pfluger. “There is no doubt in my mind that this failure by the Biden Administration has emboldened ISIS and Al Qaeda, who are sure to be plotting the next attack on American soil. My legislation delivers critical answers on who these prisoners are and who they are associated with to help understand the threat they pose, as well as our ability to respond. The chaotic evacuation and continuing crisis at the southern border has made our country less safe and less secure. As the Ranking Member on the Intelligence and Counterterrorism subcommittee, I am committed to holding the Biden Administration’s feet to the fire to provide a clear picture of any and all future threats to the Homeland.”
Pfluger & Katko Raise Alarm of Increased Terrorist Threats from Taliban-Appointed Leader
Rep. August Pfluger, Ranking Member of the Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee and Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, warned of the serious threats to our homeland security posed by the Taliban’s recently announced extremist cabinet appointees, including Sirajuddin Haqqani as acting interior minister in Afghanistan.
As a leader of the Haqqani Network, a U.S. Governmentdesignated Foreign Terrorist Organization, Haqqani has known ties to terrorism, including al Qaeda operatives and suicide bombings. Now, he’s in control of the Taliban regime’s interior ministry, leading to serious concerns around his ability to control who enters and leaves Afghanistan, as well as the threat posed by Afghanistan becoming a terrorist safe haven just before the 20th anniversary of September 11th.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Katko and Pfluger wrote, “With American citizens and our Afghan allies awaiting permission from the Taliban to leave the country on chartered flights—a previously unthinkable scenario that is wholly unacceptable to the American People—we are urgently concerned about the Taliban’s naming of one of the FBI’s most-wanted terrorist operatives, Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of a terrorist group known as the Haqqani Network, as the country’s acting interior minister.”
The members continued, “With interior ministers often holding authorities related to policies governing security, border enforcement, and transportation, we are concerned that the safety of American citizens may now be directly in the hands of a known terrorist operative. We are concerned that this newfound power in the hands of the Haqqani Network may further exacerbate circumstances leading to Afghanistan becoming a terrorist safe haven, accelerating external plotting against the United States emanating from Afghanistan.”