[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                       AN EXAMINATION OF THE IRANIAN REGIME'S 
                             THREATS TO HOMELAND SECURITY

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                            OCTOBER 25, 2023

                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-35

                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
       
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        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

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                     COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

                 Mark E. Green, MD, Tennessee, Chairman
Michael T. McCaul, Texas             Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, 
Clay Higgins, Louisiana                  Ranking Member
Michael Guest, Mississippi           Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas
Dan Bishop, North Carolina           Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey
Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida           Eric Swalwell, California
August Pfluger, Texas                J. Luis Correa, California
Andrew R. Garbarino, New York        Troy A. Carter, Louisiana
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia      Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Tony Gonzales, Texas                 Seth Magaziner, Rhode Island
Nick LaLota, New York                Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Mike Ezell, Mississippi              Daniel S. Goldman, New York
Anthony D'Esposito, New York         Robert Garcia, California
Laurel M. Lee, Florida               Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Morgan Luttrell, Texas               Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Dale W. Strong, Alabama              Yvette D. Clarke, New York
Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma              Dina Titus, Nevada
Elijah Crane, Arizona
                      Stephen Siao, Staff Director
                  Hope Goins, Minority Staff Director
                       Sean Corcoran, Chief Clerk
                            
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               Statements

The Honorable Mark E. Green, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Tennessee, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland 
  Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     1
  Prepared Statement.............................................     4
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress 
  From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on 
  Homeland Security:
  Oral Statement.................................................     5
  Prepared Statement.............................................     7
The Honorable August Pfluger, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Texas.............................................     8
The Honorable Seth Magaziner, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of Rhode Island......................................    11

                               Witnesses

Hon. Nathan A. Sales, Private Citizen:
  Oral Statement.................................................    15
  Prepared Statement.............................................    17
Ms. Masih Alinejad, Private Citizen:
  Oral Statement.................................................    24
  Prepared Statement.............................................    26
Mr. Robert Greenway, Director, Heritage Foundation, Center for 
  National Defense:
  Oral Statement.................................................    28
  Prepared Statement.............................................    29
Mr. Thomas S. Warrick, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic 
  Council, Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative:
  Oral Statement.................................................    37
  Prepared Statement.............................................    39

                             For the Record

The Honorable Eric Swalwell, a Representative in Congress From 
  the State of California:
  Deleted Tweets, Heritage Foundation............................    76

 
  AN EXAMINATION OF THE IRANIAN REGIME'S THREATS TO HOMELAND SECURITY

                              ----------                              


                      Wednesday, October 25, 2023

             U.S. House of Representatives,
                    Committee on Homeland Security,
                                            Washington, DC.
    The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:02 a.m., in 
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Mark E. Green 
(Chairman of the committee) presiding.
    Present: Representatives Green, Guest, Bishop, Gimenez, 
Pfluger, Garbarino, Greene, Gonzales, Ezell, D'Esposito, Lee, 
Strong, Brecheen, Crane, Thompson, Jackson Lee, Swalwell, 
Carter, Thanedar, Magaziner, Ivey, Goldman, Ramirez, Menendez, 
Clarke, and Titus.
    Chairman Green. The Committee on Homeland Security will 
come to order. Without objection, the Chair may declare the 
committee in recess at any point.
    Without objection, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, Mr. 
Pfluger, and the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, Mr. 
Magaziner, will be afforded 5 minutes each to make opening 
statements.
    The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the 
threats posed by the Iranian regime to the homeland. I now 
recognize myself for an opening statement.
    There is no doubt that the Iranian regime poses a 
significant threat to the United States homeland and to our 
allies. This threat is real, and it is growing. Tehran 
continues to furnish weapons, funding, and training to its 
surrogates across the globe who engage in heinous acts of 
terror.
    On October 7 of this year, which coincided with the 50th 
anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the world witnessed the 
horrific and grotesque atrocities that occurred in Israel.
    Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, backed by the 
Iranian regime, launched this deadly, multipronged land, air, 
and sea attack inside Israel, with terrorists infiltrating 
Israel's southern border and firing thousands of rockets from 
Gaza.
    Over 1,400 Israelis were killed with a significant number 
being innocent civilians, women, children, and the elderly. 
More than 2,800 Israelis have been wounded, including some in 
critical condition.
    At least 32 Americans were killed in Israel and an unknown 
number of Americans are also being held as hostages by Hamas.
    The sheer brutality of these acts of terror is horrific. 
It's hard to watch the videos. Hamas terrorists hunted down 
hundreds of young people innocently celebrating at a music 
festival to murder and rape them.
    They killed a grandmother and then used her phone to post 
her murder on her own Facebook page. They murdered a young man 
and his girlfriend, filmed the murder on the man's phone, and 
texted the barbaric video to his mother.
    They raped and murdered women and then paraded their bodies 
in the streets. These monsters murdered and burned helpless 
babies. They massacred whole families. These innocent people 
were killed for merely living in the State of Israel and being 
Jewish.
    Let me be clear to anyone who is listening, Hamas isn't 
motivated by some territorial dispute. Much like Nazi Germany, 
these terrorists are driven by a deep hatred of the Jewish 
people.
    Their stated goal, as mentioned in their charter, is the 
annihilation of the State of Israel and the extinction of the 
Jewish people, as we are currently seeing, Hamas routinely uses 
civilians, women and children, as human shields.
    The whole world must see and hear exactly what happened.
    It is disgusting and appalling that so many apologists have 
not condemned these barbaric acts of terror. I've been shocked 
at the horrifying antisemitism being displayed in some of our 
cities, on our college campuses, and even in the halls of 
Congress.
    Anything but a complete condemnation of Hamas and their 
brutal atrocities is unacceptable.
    We must stand with the State of Israel and give our 
unwavering support as Israel defends itself against the heinous 
attacks by Hamas.
    We also must condemn the forces behind Hamas--the Iranian 
regime. The Iranian regime is the muscle and the money 
empowering this reign of terror. For years the Iranian regime 
has provided financial, military, political, and diplomatic 
support to varies proxies including Hamas.
    They use these terrorist groups to attack Israel and 
Americans and our interests across the globe, even in our own 
backyard.
    The Iranian regime and its surrogates maintain a presence 
in the Western Hemisphere.
    Just this year the Iranian Navy docked warships in Rio de 
Janeiro, and the regime held high-level meetings in the 
capitals of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
    Iranian-backed Hezbollah also maintains a presence in the 
region. The terror group has operated throughout South America 
for decades and has carried out attacks on Israeli targets in 
Argentina.
    Hezbollah has also worked closely with the drug cartels in 
Latin America to traffic drugs across the globe and launder 
money for these transnational criminal organizations.
    These threats are closer than most Americans realize, and 
that's because of our porous Southwest Border.
    Under President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, the volume of 
known gotaways crossing our border has skyrocketed and so has 
the number of individuals who appear on the known or suspected 
terrorist watchlist, and the number of special interest aliens 
which are people from countries identified as having conditions 
that promote and protect terrorism or possibly present a 
national security threat to this country.
    I'm extremely concerned that terrorists will exploit these 
glaring vulnerabilities at our Southwest Border to attempt 
attacks inside the United States.
    Just a few weeks ago, one human smuggling group, with 
significant ties to ISIS moved Uzbeki nationals into the United 
States, and some of these individuals smuggled into our country 
still remain at large. This should concern every single one of 
us.
    This administration's policies and its misguided decisions 
have appeased tyrants and created significant national security 
vulnerabilities.
    The Biden administration's display of weakness on the world 
stage, from the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, weak 
posture toward Russia before the invasion of Ukraine, to 
reckless negotiations with Iran, threatens our homeland 
security and our national interests.
    History is clear. Appeasement doesn't work. While the Biden 
administration was busy cutting deals with the Iranian regimes, 
Hamas was preparing for its attacks.
    Kowtowing to tyrants and their proxies is always a mistake. 
This administration is continuing to repeat the same mistakes 
of the past.
    The Trump administration was right to remove the United 
States from the flawed Iran nuclear deal and to reimpose 
sanctions. It was also right to eliminate Qasim Soleimani, who 
is responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds 
of U.S. troops in Iraq--my friends.
    These decisive actions told the Iranian regime that real 
consequences come when you threaten the United States. That 
message has been lost under this administration, and our 
adversaries know it.
    As I indicated at the onset, the Iranian regime's threats 
to the homeland are real and are growing. They have sought to 
conduct cyber attacks on our State and local governments and 
private industry.
    The regime continues to pursue an opportunistic approach to 
cyber warfare, which makes the United States' and our allies' 
critical infrastructure susceptible to that attack.
    They've plotted to target and assassinate individuals 
inside the United States, including former Trump officials. 
They've also sought to abduct or assassinate Iranians living in 
the United States who are critical of their regime such as 
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian American journalist testifying 
before the committee today.
    The Iranian regime is becoming more determined and more 
adept in its malicious activity. We must remain vigilant.
    Now I'd like to deviate for a second from my script and 
just say to the Iranian people who are freedom-loving: we know 
of your suffering, and you are in our prayers.
    Thank you all and I want to thank our witnesses for being 
here this morning. I look forward to your unvarnished 
testimony, your objective perspective about the threats of 
Iranian regime poses, and what actions we need to take to 
counter these threats.
    [The statement of Chairman Green follows:]
                    Statement of Chairman Mark Green
                            October 25, 2023
    There is no doubt that the Iranian regime poses a significant 
threat to the United States homeland and our allies.
    This threat is real and growing.
    Tehran continues to furnish weapons, funding, and training to its 
surrogates across the globe who engage in heinous acts of terror.
    On October 7 of this year, which coincided with the 50th 
anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the world witnessed the horrific and 
grotesque atrocities that occurred in Israel.
    Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization backed by the Iranian 
regime, launched this deadly multi-pronged land, air, and sea attack 
inside Israel, with terrorists infiltrating Israel's southern border 
and firing thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip.
    Over 1,400 Israelis were killed, with a significant number being 
innocent civilians--women, children, and the elderly.
    More than 2,800 Israelis have been wounded, including some in 
critical condition.
    At least 32 Americans were killed in Israel. An unknown number of 
Americans are also being held hostage by Hamas terrorists as we speak.
    The sheer brutality of these acts of terror is horrific.
    Hamas terrorists hunted down hundreds of young people innocently 
celebrating at a music festival to murder and rape them.
    They killed a grandmother and then used her phone to post her 
murder on her Facebook page.
    They murdered a young man and his girlfriend, filmed the murder on 
the man's phone, and texted the barbaric video to his mother.
    They raped and murdered women and then paraded their bodies in the 
streets.
    These monsters murdered and burned helpless babies.
    They massacred whole families.
    These innocent people were killed for merely living in the State of 
Israel and being Jewish.
    Let me be clear to anyone who is listening: Hamas isn't motivated 
by a territorial dispute. Much like Nazi Germany, these terrorists are 
driven by a deep hatred for the Jewish people. Their stated goal, as 
mentioned in their charter, is the annihilation of the State of Israel 
and the extinction of the Jewish people.
    As we are currently seeing, Hamas routinely uses civilians--women 
and children--as human shields.
    The whole world must see and hear exactly what happened.
    It is disgusting and appalling that so many apologists have not 
condemned these barbaric acts of terror.
    I have been shocked at the horrifying antisemitism being displayed 
in some of our cities, on our college campuses, and even in the halls 
of Congress.
    Anything but a complete condemnation of Hamas' brutal atrocities is 
unacceptable.
    We must stand with the State of Israel and give our unwavering 
support as Israel defends itself against the heinous attacks by Hamas.
    We also must condemn the force behind Hamas--the Iranian regime.
    The Iranian regime is the muscle and the money empowering this 
reign of terror.
    For years, the Iranian regime has provided financial, military, 
political, and diplomatic support to various proxies, including Hamas.
    They use these terrorist groups to attack Israeli and American 
citizens and interests across the globe, including in our own backyard.
    The Iranian regime and its surrogates maintain a presence in the 
Western Hemisphere. Just this year, the Iranian navy docked warships in 
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the regime held high-level meetings in the 
capitals of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
    Iranian-backed Hezbollah also maintains a presence in the region. 
The terror group has operated throughout South America for decades and 
has carried out attacks on Israeli targets in Argentina.
    Hezbollah has also worked closely with drug cartels in Latin 
America to traffic drugs across the globe and launder money for these 
transnational criminal organizations.
    These threats are closer than most Americans realize. And that's 
because of our porous Southwest Border.
    Under President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, the volume of known 
gotaways crossing our border has skyrocketed. So has the number of 
individuals who appear on the known or suspected terrorist watch list 
and the number of Special Interest Aliens, which are people from 
countries identified as having conditions that promote or protect 
terrorism or possibly present a national security threat to our 
country.
    I am extremely concerned that terrorists will exploit these glaring 
vulnerabilities at our Southwest Border to attempt attacks inside the 
homeland.
    Just a few weeks ago, one human smuggling group with significant 
ties to ISIS moved Uzbek nationals into the United States. Some of the 
individuals smuggled into the country are still at large.
    This should concern every single one of us.
    This administration's policies and its misguided decisions have 
appeased tyrants and created significant national security 
vulnerabilities.
    The Biden administration's display of weakness on the world stage--
from the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, weak posture toward 
Russia before the invasion of Ukraine, to reckless negotiations with 
Iran--threatens our homeland security and our national interests.
    History is clear; appeasement doesn't work. While the Biden 
administration was busy cutting deals with the Iranian regime, Hamas 
was preparing for its attack. Kowtowing to tyrants and their proxies is 
always a mistake.
    This administration is continuing to repeat the mistakes of the 
past.
    The Trump administration was right to remove the United States from 
the flawed Iran nuclear deal and to reimpose sanctions.
    It was also right to eliminate Qassem Soleimani, who was 
responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of U.S. 
troops in Iraq.
    These decisive actions told the Iranian regime that real 
consequences come when you threaten the United States and our allies.
    That message has been lost under the Biden administration, and our 
adversaries know it.
    As I indicated at the outset, the Iranian regime's threats to the 
homeland are real and growing.
    They have sought to conduct cyber attacks on our State and local 
governments and private industry.
    The regime continues to pursue an opportunistic approach to cyber 
warfare, which makes the United States and our allies' critical 
infrastructure susceptible to attack.
    They have plotted to target and assassinate individuals in the 
United States, including former Trump administration officials.
    They have also sought to abduct or assassinate Iranians living in 
the United States who are critical of their regime, such as Masih 
Alinejad, an Iranian American journalist testifying before the 
committee this morning.
    The Iranian regime is becoming more determined and more adept in 
its malicious activity.
    We must remain vigilant.
    Thank you to all our witnesses for being with us this morning.
    I look forward to your unvarnished and objective perspective about 
the threats the Iranian regime poses, and what actions we can take to 
counter those threats.

    Chairman Green. I now recognize the Ranking Member, the 
gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. Thompson, for his opening 
statement.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much. Good morning to our 
witnesses. We're glad to have you.
    As we begin today's hearing on Iran's threat to our 
homeland, I want to express my deepest condolences in the wake 
of the horrific terrorist attack in Israel.
    On October 7, Hamas, a proxy of the Iranian regime, 
tragically slaughtered more than 1,400 men, women, and 
children, including at least 30 Americans.
    We pray for them and their loved ones. We also pray for the 
innocent civilians who have died in Gaza and are mindful of the 
humanitarian crisis there.
    As I said, in the immediate aftermath of the heinous 
attacks, the United States condemns Hamas' actions and stand in 
total solidarity with Israel against terror.
    Since the attacks, President Biden and his administration 
have shown true leadership, not just words but action, 
demonstrating ironclad support for Israel.
    The President has deployed two aircraft carrier groups to 
the Eastern Mediterranean and sent Secretary of Defense Lloyd 
Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to the region to 
signal strong support for Israel's security and engage in 
critical diplomacy.
    The President himself traveled to Israel to reaffirm the 
United States' commitment to Israel's security. He's also made 
clear he has no higher priority than getting back the Americans 
who went missing in the attacks.
    Unfortunately, as the Biden administration has worked to 
support Israel, bring Americans home from the conflict zone, 
prevent a wider war in the region, and address the humanitarian 
crisis in Gaza, the House of Representatives has been AWOL. 
Because of their failure to elect a Speaker, for the last 22 
days, the House has been unable to conduct any legislative 
business.
    I thank our witnesses for coming back to this hearing. I 
know you were here last week. Some flew in from California, but 
such as it is, maybe we'll have that issue resolved today. I 
hope so. We need to get on with the business.
    We haven't even been able to pass a bipartisan resolution 
in support of Israel, of which I am a cosponsor, authored by 
Mr. McCaul and the Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, Mr. Meeks.
    Some of my colleagues on the other side have acknowledged 
this extraordinary, troubling situation. The former Chairman of 
this committee, Mr. McCaul, who currently chairs the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs recently said, and I quote: ``I look at the 
world and all the threats that are out there and what kind of a 
message are we sending to our adversaries when we can't govern, 
when we are dysfunctional, when we don't even have a Speaker of 
the House.''
    I agree with Mr. McCaul. He is correct about Republican 
dysfunction and the message it sends to our adversaries around 
the world.
    Unfortunately, Republicans are trying to deflect attention 
from their own in-fighting by criticizing the Biden 
administration. For example, we've heard misleading statements 
about the administration giving Iran access to $6 billion in 
Iranian assets currently held in Qatari accounts.
    The truth is not a penny of that money has been released, 
and the Biden administration and the Qatari government have 
agreed to block Iran from accessing it.
    Republicans are also engaging in fearmongering about Hamas-
affiliated individuals at our Southwest Border.
    The truth is CBP has confirmed that no indication of Hamas-
directed foreign fighters trying to enter the United States.
    I hope that Congressional Republicans will stop their 
politically-motivated criticism of the administration and 
instead focus their energy on electing a Speaker so the House 
can pass legislation to help the people of Israel and 
strengthen the U.S. national security.
    There is much to be done, as Iran and other adversaries 
like Russia, North Korea, and China continue to pose serious 
threats to the United States.
    As we examine Iran's threat to the homeland today, I'm 
concerned about targeted terror attacks from Iran and its 
proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. Terrorism-related concerns 
about Iran are well-founded.
    According to the U.S. State Department, Iran is the largest 
state sponsor of terrorism. The Iranian regime is implicated in 
assassinations, terrorist plots, and terrorist attacks in more 
than 40 countries since 1979, including several plots or 
attempted attacks in the United States against Americans.
    I'm also concerned about the Iranian regime's cyber threats 
to the homeland. According to the U.S. intelligence community's 
2023 Annual Threat Assessment, and I quote, ``Iran's growing 
expertise and willingness to conduct aggressive cyber 
operations make it a major threat to the security of the U.S. 
and to allied networks and data.''
    I'm particularly concerned about Iran's opportunistic 
approach to cyber attacks and whether U.S. critical 
infrastructure is susceptible for targeting by this regime.
    To discuss these issues today, I'm grateful we have Mr. 
Thomas Warrick on our witness panel. Mr. Warrick has 40 years 
of experience addressing threats from Iran, including more than 
a decade at the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to 
counterterrorism efforts.
    I look forward to hearing his assessment of the most 
significant threats to the homeland from Iran and steps 
Congress should take to address these threats.
    I thank the entire panel for joining us today.
    Mr. Chairman, in closing, I want to say that I hope 
Republicans can overcome their chaos and dysfunction so that we 
can return to regular order and resume the work the American 
people sent us here to do. It's long overdue.
    With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Thompson follows:]
             Statement of Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson
                            October 25, 2023
    As we begin today's hearing on Iran's threats to our homeland, I 
want to express my deepest condolences in the wake of the horrific 
terrorist attacks in Israel.
    On October 7, Hamas, a proxy of the Iranian regime, tragically 
slaughtered more than 1,400 men, women, and children--including at 
least 30 Americans. We pray for them and their loved ones. We also pray 
for the innocent civilians who have died in Gaza and are mindful of the 
humanitarian crisis there. As I said in the immediate aftermath of the 
heinous attacks, the United States condemns Hamas' actions and stands 
in total solidarity with Israel against terror.
    Since the attacks, President Biden and his administration have 
shown true leadership, not just with words but with action, 
demonstrating ironclad support for Israel. The President has deployed 
two aircraft carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean and sent 
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
to the region to signal strong support for Israel's security and engage 
in critical diplomacy. The President, himself, traveled to Israel to 
reaffirm the United States' commitment to Israel's security. He has 
also made clear he has no higher priority than getting back the 
Americans who went missing in the attacks.
    Unfortunately, as the Biden administration has worked to support 
Israel, bring Americans home from the conflict zone, prevent a wider 
war in the region, and address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, House 
Republicans have been AWOL. Because of their failure to elect a Speaker 
for the last 22 days, the House has been unable to conduct any 
legislative business. We haven't even been able to pass a bipartisan 
resolution support of Israel--of which I am a cosponsor--authored by 
Mr. McCaul and the Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
Mr. Meeks.
    Some of my colleagues on the other side have acknowledged this 
extraordinarily troubling situation. The former Chairman of this 
Committee, Mr. McCaul, who currently chairs the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, recently said, and I quote:

``I look at the world and all the threats that are out there, and what 
kind of message are we sending to our adversaries when we can't govern, 
when we're dysfunctional, when we don't even have a Speaker of the 
House.''

    I agree with Mr. McCaul--he is correct about Republican dysfunction 
and the message it sends to our adversaries around the world.
    Unfortunately, Republicans are trying to deflect attention from 
their own infighting by criticizing the Biden administration. For 
example, we have heard misleading statements about the administration 
giving Iran access to $6 billion in Iranian assets currently held in 
Qatari accounts.
    The truth is, not a penny of that money has been released, and the 
Biden administration and the Qatari government have agreed to block 
Iran from accessing it. Republicans are also engaging in fearmongering 
about Hamas-affiliated individuals at our Southwest Border. The truth 
is, CBP has confirmed it has no indication of Hamas-directed foreign 
fighters trying to enter the United States.
    I hope that Congressional Republicans will stop their politically-
motivated criticism of the administration and instead focus their 
energy on electing a Speaker, so the House can pass legislation to help 
the people of Israel and strengthen U.S. national security. There is 
much to be done, as Iran and other adversaries like Russia, North 
Korea, and China continue to pose serious threats to the United States.
    As we examine Iran's threats to the homeland today, I am concerned 
about targeted terror attacks from Iran and its proxies, like Hamas and 
Hizballah. Terrorism-related concerns about Iran are well-founded. 
According to the U.S. State Department, Iran is the largest state 
sponsor of terrorism. The Iranian regime has been implicated in 
assassinations, terrorist plots, and terrorist attacks in more than 40 
countries since 1979--including several plots or attempted attacks in 
the United States against Americans.
    I am also concerned about the Iranian regime's cyber threat to the 
homeland. According to the U.S. Intelligence Community's 2023 Annual 
Threat Assessment, and I quote:

``Iran's growing expertise and willingness to conduct aggressive cyber 
operations make it a major threat to the security of U.S. and allied 
networks and data.''

    I am particularly concerned about Iran's opportunistic approach to 
cyber attacks and whether U.S. critical infrastructure is susceptible 
for targeting by the regime.
    To discuss these issues today, I am grateful we have Mr. Thomas 
Warrick on the witness panel. Mr. Warrick has 40 years of experience 
addressing threats from Iran, including more than a decade at the 
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to counterterrorism efforts. 
I look forward to hearing his assessment of the most significant 
threats to the homeland from Iran and the steps Congress should take to 
address those threats. I thank the entire panel for joining us today.
    In closing, I want to say that I hope Republicans can overcome 
their chaos and dysfunction so we can return to regular order and 
resume the work the American people sent us here to do. It's long 
overdue.

    Chairman Green. I thank the Ranking Member for his 
statement.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Pfluger, for 
his opening statement.
    Mr. Pfluger. Well, thank you, Chairman Green, for holding 
this important hearing, for bringing us together with experts 
that have long advocated for strength and have long advocated 
for a policy of deterrence and not appeasement.
    This hearing, unfortunately, is occurring in the aftermath, 
after a heinous terrorist attack on our ally, our strongest 
ally, in the Middle East--Israel.
    What we witnessed on the tragic morning of October 7, was 
nothing short of barbaric and horrible. It was the deadliest 
day since the creation of the State of Israel 75 years ago, and 
it was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.
    Israelis, Americans, and other foreign nationals died. Many 
were injured, and others continue to be held hostage and their 
whereabouts are unknown.
    At least 32 Americans were killed in this attack. Let me 
repeat that: At least 32 Americans were killed in this attack, 
which makes October 7 the worst attack on Americans by 
international terrorism since 9/11.
    More Americans were killed on October 7 than in the attacks 
on Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the USS Cole in 2000, 
the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983, or the embassies in East 
Africa in 1998.
    What happened on October 7 was sickening. These evil and 
twisted Hamas terrorists, a foreign terrorist organization 
supported by the Iranian regime, who carried out this cruel and 
indiscriminate attack that targeted innocent women, babies, 
children, the elderly, and the entire Jewish population.
    These attacks should be universally and unequivocally 
condemned by all, and unfortunately that has not happened.
    It's absolutely appalling to see mass gatherings 
celebrating the loss of life that took place that heartbreaking 
morning. These gatherings are nothing more than an attempt to 
not only whitewash the gruesome attacks but also to deny what 
transpired on that morning and to push a narrative that could 
not be further from the truth.
    New York Mayor Eric Adams recently said: We are not all 
right when Hamas believes that they are fighting on behalf of 
something and their destructive despicable action that carried 
out. We are not all right when we still have hostages who have 
not come home to their family. We are not all right, and we're 
not going to say we have a stiff upper lip and act like 
everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Israel has a right 
to defend itself, and that's the right that we know.
    I applaud him for saying those words. The hateful rhetoric 
spewed at these gatherings have created an environment that has 
left Jewish communities isolated and concerned about their 
sense of safety and security. We must make it clear that every 
American has a right to live peacefully and securely in this 
Nation.
    In addition to horrific images from Israel that we have 
seen should invoke the raw emotions that many Americans felt in 
the fight against terrorism. It's a solemn reminder and 
especially on this committee that was formed and created to 
help ensure that another attack like 9/11 never occurs again on 
our homeland.
    As I reflect on the recent tragedy that has unfolded in 
Israel, I cannot help but remember how the 9/11 Commission 
report explained that a contributing factor as to why we missed 
the threat indicators to foresee an attack on our Nation was 
due to a lack of imagination from our intelligence agencies and 
national security experts.
    No one in our Government could even remotely think that 
someone would use a commercial airliner as a missile. Yet we 
saw four commercial jets utilized on that morning of 9/11. When 
you think you've seen it all, violent extremists are there to 
prove you wrong.
    Like before 9/11, none of us could imagine that terrorists 
would fly across the southern border on paragliders and 
slaughter innocent civilians celebrating life at a music 
festival.
    Yet these terrorists bulldozed and blew holes through 
concrete barriers, and thousands of terrorists ran through with 
little to no effort to begin their brutal assault.
    These attacks, unfortunately, have taught the world that 
violent Islamic terrorists are continuing to exploit 
vulnerabilities in the most ingenious ways. We must not lose 
sight of this reality, and we have to acknowledge the threats 
posed by these groups.
    We must also recognize that these threats pose a 
significant danger to the United States as well. Our border is 
far less secure than Israel's. I know this because I personally 
led efforts to help promote the development of border 
technology between our two nations.
    The fact that even the most advanced technology could not 
stop these atrocities from taking place in Israel should keep 
us up at night here. Our Nation has seen a record number of 
individuals encountered who have either appeared on the known 
or suspected terrorist watchlist or individuals designated as 
special interest aliens.
    Just this year, over 150 people, that we know about, have 
been encountered at the Southern Border that match the terror 
watchlist. President Biden must reverse course on his failed 
Iran policy. Appeasement does not work. We do not negotiate 
with terrorists.
    We know first-hand that the Iranian regime has tried to 
exploit weaknesses in our Southwest Border. Surely there is a 
risk that terrorists, including those backed by the Iranian 
regime, could take advantage of the glaring vulnerabilities and 
conduct attacks right here in our homeland.
    If we continue to remain naive about the security posture 
at our Southwest Border, then we are bound to suffer the 
catastrophic consequences that we just saw in Israel.
    The threat warnings and indicators from terrorist attacks 
in Israel should serve as a wake-up call to our Nation and make 
us realize that these dangers are present, that they are real. 
We must secure our Southwest Border immediately.
    I would also be remiss if I did not highlight the fact that 
the Iranian regime is actively targeting Americans here on our 
soil. They have the desire, and I think they have proven, 
through the green-lighting of Hamas, that they have the 
capacity.
    The regime has attempted multiple times to silence or exact 
revenge on government officials and private citizens who speak 
out against the regime's brutality, and I think we'll hear 
about that today.
    Multiple witnesses today have experienced this 
transnational repression first-hand, and I look forward to 
hearing that.
    Last, we must also recognize that authoritarian regimes 
like China, like the Chinese Communist Party, and like Russia 
are working to advance their strategic goals throughout the 
Middle East.
    The Biden administration has failed to lead on the global 
stage time and time again, and we have demonstrated time and 
time again, through the administration's failed policies, to 
malign actors that talk is cheap, and that we will not----
    Mr. Ivey. Mr. Chairman, point of order?
    Voice. It's an opening statement----
    Chairman Green. Sure. He's making an opening statement. 
There's no time limit on an opening statement.
    Mr. Pfluger. If you read the conference rules----
    Mr. Ivey. Very well.
    Mr. Pfluger [continuing]. If you read our committee rules, 
then you'd know that opening statements can go over 5 minutes.
    Voice. Go ahead----
    Mr. Ivey. Very well.
    Mr. Pfluger. Time and time again, we have demonstrated to 
malign actors that our talk is cheap and that we will not take 
the hard work necessary to deter evil influences.
    We must use our leadership to reject these narratives and 
put on notice those who would rather sympathize with terrorists 
and refuse to condemn the worst attack against the Jewish 
people since the Holocaust.
    I hope that our Nation comes together and supports our 
indispensable ally, Israel, and the Jewish communities across 
the globe grieving during these trying times.
    We must also continue to work to rid the world of hateful 
and antisemitic ideology, and I'm calling on my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle to do just that, because there are 
9 people in this Congress who have refused to do that, 9 people 
who wouldn't go to the floor to vote on a resolution supporting 
our greatest ally, Israel, that intend to vote against that 
resolution supporting Israel, that voted against a resolution 
earlier this summer, saying that Israel was not an apartheid 
nation, that Israel was not a racist nation, and that, in fact, 
Israel was our greatest ally.
    I'm calling on you all to help bring us together to condemn 
terrorist attacks regardless of who commits them. The security 
and safety for Jewish people and the State of Israel are 
nonnegotiable.
    Mr. Chairman, the only strategy that works is peace through 
strength. The failed policies of the Obama administration, with 
a weak nuclear deal, the failed policies of appeasement, 
delivering cash, allowing oil sanctions and other sanctions to 
expire, have set the stage for where we are today.
    The Biden administration must reverse course, and it starts 
with rhetoric, and it's followed by policy. I hope that this 
committee and this hearing today can let the American people 
know that we do not and will not allow terrorists to control 
the narrative, and that we will use peace through strength.
    I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields, and I thank him for 
his opening statement.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. 
Magaziner, for his opening statement.
    Mr. Magaziner. Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Thompson, I 
want to thank you for convening today's hearing.
    The topic, the Iranian regime's threats to Homeland 
Security, is both timely and important. The Iranian regime is a 
danger to global stability and our own homeland security. It is 
the world's most prolific supporter of terrorism and determined 
to harm the United States and our allies.
    Today we have an opportunity to explore exactly how Iran 
and its proxies seek to carry out their destructive ambitions 
and to move toward meaningful bipartisan actions to counter and 
contain them.
    This hearing comes at an important moment. Earlier this 
month, on October 7, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, Hamas, 
launched a gruesome attack against civilians in Israel.
    These brutal terrorists murdered innocent civilians. They 
slaughtered hundreds of young people at a music festival. They 
kidnapped Holocaust survivors and children and U.S. citizens.
    Make no mistake, as President Biden said, the United States 
of America stands firmly and unequivocally with Israel and 
against the evil that is Hamas.
    This terrorist organization is a threat not just to Israel 
but also to the United States and our allies across the world.
    Iran and its proxies present a clear and present danger to 
our homeland security, and we must identify ways that the 
United States can ensure the safety of our citizens abroad and 
here at home.
    Iran has attempted to conduct multiple assassinations on 
U.S. soil, including of U.S. persons. Multiple plots 
orchestrated by Iran have been dismantled in recent years, 
including an attempted bombing of a restaurant right here in 
Washington, DC.
    Perhaps the most commonly-used tactic by the Iranian regime 
is cyber warfare, as they seek to target U.S. businesses and 
infrastructure and government agencies with disruptive attacks.
    They and their proxies, like Hamas, are adept at using the 
internet to incite people to violence in Israel, in the United 
States, and elsewhere. We know that individuals on-line 
supporting violence against both the Jewish community and the 
Muslim community here in the United States are being 
manipulated by Iran and its proxies to conduct acts of violence 
here in the United States.
    This is reprehensible, and we must redouble our efforts to 
combat terrorist organizations' ability to radicalize 
individuals here at home in the United States through the 
internet.
    I'll just say on a personal note, as a person of Jewish 
heritage, as someone who has experienced antisemitism and who 
just a few weeks ago, we had a bomb threat at the largest 
synagogue in my city that I live in, in Rhode Island. 
Thankfully the individual who called in that bomb threat was 
arrested.
    I get chills when I hear the rhetoric being used by those 
who are seeking to commit acts of violence against Jewish 
people in the United States and around the world, the same 
chills that I felt on that day when White supremacists marched 
in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting: Jews will not replace 
us.
    President Trump got up at the end of that day and said that 
there were fine people on both sides.
    So, if we are going to call out antisemitism, if we're 
going to call out domestic violent extremism and the incitement 
of violence, yes, let's be prepared to do it everywhere. Let's 
not make this a partisan exercise but an American one.
    We must also work to prevent the targeting of American 
dissidents here in the United States.
    Ms. Alinejad, thank you for being here today. I know that, 
each time you speak out, and particularly in Congress, you put 
yourself at great risk. But your story is one that the American 
people need to hear.
    I am deeply troubled that the Iranian regime has the 
audacity to continue to try to reach inside the United States 
to harm you and other people, including a former Secretary of 
State, who live freely in this country.
    But your presence here today demonstrates that their 
efforts will only redouble ours in resisting any acts of 
political assassination or violence on U.S. soil. We owe it to 
you and all the victims of the Iranian regime, including in 
Israel and Gaza, to set aside politics and work together in a 
bipartisan manner to contain and counter the Iranian regime and 
its proxies.
    Congress must also work to ensure the Iranian regime's 
reach never reaches our homeland to bring harm to our own 
people.
    The U.S. and Israel's intelligence and counterintelligence 
efforts failed to detect and prevent the attack that ensued on 
October 7. As a country, we need assurances that there will not 
be another intelligence failure that has the capacity to harm 
Americans either abroad or in our own homeland.
    That means empowering the Department of Homeland Security's 
intelligence enterprise, as Mr. Warrick notes in his written 
testimony, and ensuring that DHS has the full capacity 
necessary, with appropriate privacy and civil rights and civil 
liberties checks, to gather intelligence on Iranian activities 
and other security threats here in the United States homeland.
    It means ensuring that fusion centers are equipped to share 
intelligence with State, local, Tribal, and territorial law 
enforcement who are on the ground protecting American 
communities, and it means making sure that no one in this 
country is harmed simply because they dare to speak out against 
the Iranian regime.
    I know my Democratic colleagues and I are prepared to work 
with anyone who is serious about making our country safer, 
freer, and more open. I look forward to hearing from our 
witnesses, and I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields, and I thank him for 
his statement, and I thank him for his heart. That was obvious.
    Other Members of the committee are reminded that opening 
statements may be submitted for the record. I'm pleased to have 
an important panel of witnesses before us today, and I ask that 
our witnesses please rise and raise their right hand.
    [Witnesses sworn.]
    Chairman Green. Let the record reflect that the witnesses 
have answered in the affirmative. Thank you. You may be seated.
    I would now like to formally introduce our witnesses. 
Ambassador Nathan Sales is the founder and principal of 
Fillmore Global Strategies, a consultancy firm that provides 
legal and strategic advisory services on matters surrounding 
law, policy, and diplomacy. He is also a nonresident fellow at 
the Atlantic Council, a member of the advisory board at the 
Vandenberg Coalition, and a senior adviser at The Soufan Group.
    Ambassador Sales is a former Government official who served 
in various senior positions at the U.S. Department of State. He 
was the coordinator for counterterrorism and special envoy to 
the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, in charge for leading and 
coordinating U.S. efforts to counter terrorism and violent 
extremism worldwide.
    He also served as the acting under secretary for the 
civilian security, democracy, and human rights, managing nine 
bureaus and offices that advance U.S. interests on issues such 
as human rights, rule of law, conflict prevention, and 
countering transnational threats.
    Prior to joining the State Department, Ambassador Sales was 
a tenured law professor at Syracuse University College of Law, 
where he taught and wrote on national security law, 
counterterrorism law, constitutional law, and administrative 
law.
    He also worked as a lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis and as a 
deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of 
Homeland Security.
    Ms. Masih Alinejad is an Iranian American journalist and 
women's rights activist, known for her tireless promotion of 
freedom and democracy in her native country.
    Her work focuses on the status of human rights in Iran 
especially women's rights. Time Magazine named her among its 
2023 honorees for Woman of the Year.
    Ms. Alinejad was born and raised in a small village in Iran 
and was politically active from a young age. She began her 
career as a journalist within her country for various Iranian 
newspapers.
    She fled Iran in 2009 and, in 2014, launched My Stealthy 
Freedom, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to 
the promotion of Iranian women's actions to secure their 
rights.
    Despite the Iranian regime's multiple attempts to silence 
her, Ms. Alinejad continues to speak out for freedom and 
liberty for all Iranians, women and men.
    Mr. Robert Greenway currently serves as the director of the 
Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation. Mr. 
Greenway has over 30 years in public service culminating as the 
senior U.S. Government official responsible for developing, 
coordinating, and implementing U.S. Government policy for all 
the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security 
Council.
    Prior to service on the National Security Council, he 
served as a senior intelligence officer at the Defense 
Intelligence Agency and a veteran of the United States Army 
Special Forces with six combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
    While deputy assistant to the President and senior director 
of the National Security Council's Middle Eastern and North 
African Affairs Directorate, he planned and executed the United 
States' most significant economic sanctions since the Cold War 
as part of a broad strategy for Iran.
    He was a principal architect of the historic Abraham 
Accords, the most significant diplomatic breakthrough in the 
Middle East since 1994.
    Mr. Greenway also personally supervised development of a 
first ever Presidentially-approved strategies for Iran, Syria, 
Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, and Israel, and established the first 
National-level efficacy and assessment process to quantify 
outcomes and measure progress toward strategic objectives.
    Mr. Thomas Warrick is the director of the Future of DHS 
Project at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security's 
Forward Defense Practice, and a nonresident senior fellow in 
the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic 
Council.
    Previously he was the acting director of the Atlantic 
Council's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative in the 
Atlantic Council's Middle East programs.
    Prior to joining the Atlantic Council from August 2008 to 
2019, he was the deputy assistant secretary for 
counterterrorism at DHS. From 1997 to 2007, he served in the 
U.S. Department of State on Middle East and international 
justice issues.
    In 2001, he became special adviser, then senior adviser to 
the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, 
working on Iraq, Iran, and other issues.
    From July 2006 to 2007, he was director for Iraq political 
affairs. He was briefly senior political adviser on the Iran 
Desk in 2007.
    Mr. Warrick joined DHS in August 2007 as director for the 
Middle East, Africa, and South Asia in the Office of Policy. He 
became deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy 
in the Office of Policy.
    In August 2008 and February 2015, Mr. Warrick was named 
deputy counterterrorism coordinator for policy by the DHS 
counterterrorism coordinator and under secretary for 
intelligence and analysis.
    I thank all the witnesses. It's very clear we have some 
very talented individuals here today, and I look forward to 
your testimony.
    I now recognize Ambassador Sales for 5 minutes to summarize 
his opening statement.

         STATEMENT OF NATHAN A. SALES, PRIVATE CITIZEN

    Mr. Sales. Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and 
Members of the committee, it's an honor to speak with you today 
about the threat posed by the Iranian regime, an issue even 
more urgent after the diabolical attack on Israel.
    On October 7, Iran's proxy, Hamas, massacred more than 
1,400 people and took some 200 hostages. As we've heard, it was 
the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
    It was also a dark day for America with now 33--at least 
33--of our citizens killed. October 7 was the deadliest attack 
on Americans by foreign terrorists since 9/11 and the fourth-
deadliest such attack in our history.
    Make no mistake, Iran's fingerprints are all over it.
    The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world's worst state 
sponsor of terrorism. The threat it poses reaches from the 
Middle East to the entire world, including the United States.
    Right now, as we speak, Iran is plotting to assassinate a 
number of former officials here on American soil, including 
John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, and as we've heard, last year 
Tehran tried to murder one of today's witnesses, the heroic 
Masih Alinejad.
    A decade earlier, Iran tried to assassinate the Saudi 
Ambassador by bombing a restaurant in Georgetown. If 
successful, the attack would've killed countless Americans. 
Tehran didn't care.
    One of the plotters said, quote, they want that guy done; 
if the hundred go with him, eff them.
    Note that Iran is trying to exploit vulnerabilities in our 
Southern Border. In the Bolton plot, they planned to use a 
Mexican national with ties to drug cartels. It also attempted 
to use a Mexican cartel in the plot against the Saudi 
Ambassador.
    Other terrorists could target these vulnerabilities too. 
CBP has reported a dramatic strike in watchlisted individuals 
caught crossing the Southern Border: zero in 2019, 3 in 2020, 
then 15 in 2021, 98 in 2022, and 169 this year.
    Those are just the ones we know about. How many others were 
able to enter the country undetected?
    Then there's Hezbollah, Iran's top terror proxy. Between 
1997 and 2020, 128 suspected Hezbollah operatives were arrested 
in our country. Others are probably here too, hiding in plain 
sight, and awaiting activation orders from their masters in 
Tehran, which brings us to the horror in Israel.
    Iran is encircling the Jewish state with an army of 
terrorist proxies. In Lebanon, it has spent decades bankrolling 
Hezbollah with some $700 million a year. In Gaza, Iranian help 
has dramatically improved Hamas' capabilities.
    This year, its support to Hamas reportedly topped $350 
million. Why does this matter to the United States? Well, 
first, we have a vital interest in ensuring that our ally 
Israel is secure against enemies that seek its extermination.
    When Hamas and its supporters say they want a Palestinian 
state from the river to the sea, what they're really saying is 
Israel has no right to exist at all. They're saying they want 
the region to be cleansed of Jews, or, as you might put it in 
German, a Palestine that is judenrein.
    Second, we have common enemies. The Iranian proxies that 
want to slaughter Israelis want to slaughter us too. In all, 
Hamas has killed at least 79 Americans in at last 30 attacks 
stretching back to the 1990's.
    So what should we do? First, the administration needs to 
deter Iran from plotting assassinations on our soil.
    In 1993, Saddam Hussein tried to assassinate former 
President Bush. President Clinton retaliated by launching 23 
Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraq's intelligence service.
    As President Clinton explained, quote: From the first days 
of our Revolution, America's security has depended on the 
clarity of this message: Don't tread on us.
    Saddam got the message.
    Now, no one is saying we should bomb Tehran, but the regime 
should have more to fear from us than a stern press release.
    Second, the administration should use sanctions to stanch 
the flow of money to terrorism. The Iranian regime is richer 
today than it has been in years. In 2021, its accessible 
foreign currency reserves were down to $4-6 billion, roughly 
the same as Haiti. Now the IMF estimates that its reserves will 
hit $43 billion this year.
    In August 2020, Tehran was exploiting an average of 749,000 
barrels of August a day. This August, nearly 2 million a day.
    In all, it's estimated that Iran has sold $80 billion worth 
of oil since January 2021, much of it going to Communist China. 
Eighty billion dollars can buy a lot of bombs.
    Sanctions work. After the previous administration squeezed 
Iran's economy, money for terrorism dried up. In 2019, 
Hezbollah's leader was reduced to going on TV and pleading for 
donations.
    I'll end where I began. Let's be clear. The Islamic 
Republic is responsible for the attack in Israel. Its exact 
role may not be clear at the moment, but that doesn't really 
matter. It certainly enabled the attack, providing Hamas with 
money and weapons and training precisely so it could commit 
terrorism like this.
    Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, and Members of the 
committee, thank you again, and I look forward to your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Hon. Sales follows:]
                 Prepared Statement of Nathan A. Sales
                            October 25, 2023
    Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, and Members of the 
committee, it is a pleasure to be here today.
    My name is Nathan Sales. I am the founder and principal of Fillmore 
Global Strategies LLC, a consultancy that provides legal and strategic 
advisory services on matters at the intersection of law, policy, and 
diplomacy. I am also a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic 
Council, a member of the advisory board at the Vandenberg Coalition, 
and a senior advisor at the Soufan Group.
    From 2017 to 2021, I served at the U.S. Department of State as the 
ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism. Concurrently, 
I was the acting under secretary of state for civilian security, 
democracy, and human rights, as well as the special Presidential envoy 
to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. I previously served at the U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security as deputy assistant secretary for 
policy, and at the U.S. Department of Justice as senior counsel in the 
Office of Legal Policy, where I worked on counterterrorism policy. I am 
here as a private citizen, but my testimony is informed by my 
experiences working on national security and counterterrorism for the 
U.S. Government over the course of two decades.
    Today I will begin by describing the Iranian terrorist threat to 
the U.S. homeland; then discuss Tehran's campaign of terrorism against 
Israel, including Americans in Israel; and conclude with suggestions on 
what more can be done to better protect Americans from the specter of 
Iran-backed terrorism.
    This hearing is taking place in the aftermath of a horrific 
terrorist attack on our ally Israel--an attack that has Iran's 
fingerprints all over it. On October 7, hordes of gunmen from Hamas--a 
Palestinian terrorist group that the Islamic Republic provides with 
money, weapons, and training--invaded southern Israel from the Gaza 
Strip, perpetrating horrors seemingly taken from the pages of a Cormac 
McCarthy novel. More than 1,400 men, women, and children were 
mercilessly slaughtered, and around 200 hostages were carried off into 
captivity, including infants and toddlers.\1\ October 7 was the 
deadliest day in Israel's 75-year history. More than that, it was the 
deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It was also a dark day for 
America, with 32 U.S. citizens killed and an estimated 11 missing, some 
of whom are being held hostage in Gaza, as of this writing.\2\ That 
makes October 7 the deadliest attack on Americans by international 
terrorists since 9/11 and the fourth deadliest such attack in history. 
I look forward to discussing with the committee what the United States 
should do to prevent future atrocities like these.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Abbas Al Lawati et al., Israel Is at War with Hamas. Here's 
What to Know, CNN, Oct. 16, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/16/
middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-war-explained-week-2-mime-intl/index.html.
    \2\ 32 Americans Killed in Israel-Hamas Conflict, State Department 
Says, CBS News, Oct. 19, 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/
israel-hamas-war-palestinians-biden-speech-after-gaza-hospital-blast/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   i.
    The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world's worst state sponsor of 
terrorism. Acting through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 
and numerous terrorist proxies, the regime has murdered countless 
innocent civilians, taken hostages remorselessly, and shed blood on an 
industrial scale. The threat it poses is not confined to the Middle 
East but extends across the entire world--including the United States.
    Let me share just a few examples of the Iranian threat to the 
homeland.
    Right now, as we speak, the Islamic Republic is actively plotting 
to assassinate a number of former senior U.S. officials here on 
American soil. Last year, the Justice Department announced charges 
against an IRGC member believed to be the ringleader of a plot to 
murder John Bolton, the former National Security Advisor. The would-be 
assassin reportedly also was targeting former Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo. These former officials and others like them now live under 
constant, 24-hour Government protection because of the Iranian threat 
to their lives.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Jennifer Hansler, US Sanctions Iranian Officials Accused of 
Plotting Assassinations Abroad Including Against Bolton and Pompeo, 
CNN, June 1, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/politics/us-iran-
sanctions-assassination-plots/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Meanwhile, in July 2022, the Islamic Republic tried to assassinate 
one of the witnesses at today's hearing: Masih Alinejad, the celebrated 
Iranian-American human-rights activist. This brazen attempt on her 
life--the regime sent a gunman armed with an AK-47 to her Brooklyn home 
in broad daylight--came on the heels of a plot in 2021 to kidnap her in 
New York and render her back to Iran to face torture or execution.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ Benjamin Weiser & Glenn Thrush, Justice Dept. Announces More 
Arrests in Plot to Kill Iranian Writer, N.Y. Times, Jan. 27, 2023, 
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/us/politics/masih-alinejad-doj-
assassination-plot.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In August 2022, an IRGC supporter tried to murder acclaimed author 
Salman Rushdie at a book festival in New York State, stabbing him 
multiple times on stage. In a grotesque irony, Rushdie, who has been 
under an Iranian death sentence since the publication of his novel The 
Satanic Verses in the 1980's, was set to speak on the subject of 
America's role as an ``asylum for writers and other artists in exile 
and as a home for freedom of creative expression.''\5\ The assailant 
reportedly was in contact with IRGC officials before the attack.\6\ 
Whether or not Tehran formally tasked him with the assault is beside 
the point. The regime put a multi-million dollar bounty on Rushdie's 
head--which was reaffirmed and even increased as recently as 2016 \7\--
so it is fully responsible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Ginger Adams Otis, Author Salman Rushdie Stabbed Onstage at New 
York Event, Wall St. J., Aug 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/
salman-rushdie-attacked-at-new-york-event-11660320109.
    \6\ Mitchell Prothero, Salman Rushdie Stabbing Suspect ``Had 
Contact With Iran's Revolutionary Guard'', Vice News, Aug. 14, 2022, 
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88qxvz/salman-rushdie-hadi-matar-
revolutionary-guard.
    \7\ Thomas Erdbrink, Iran's Hard-Line Press Adds to Bounty on 
Salman Rushdie, N.Y. Times, Feb. 22, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/
2016/02/23/world/middleeast/irans-hard-line-press-adds-to-bounty-on-
salman-rushdie.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A decade earlier, in 2011, the Iranian regime attempted to 
assassinate Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States by bombing a 
popular restaurant in Washington, DC's Georgetown neighborhood. Had the 
plot succeeded, it could have resulted in mass casualties--not just the 
intended target, but countless innocent Americans who happened to be at 
the wrong place at the wrong time. For Tehran, that was a feature of 
the operation, not a bug. Discussing the possibility of other deaths, 
one of the plotters reportedly stated: ``They want that guy done, if 
the hundred go with him f**k 'em.''\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ U.S. Dep't of Justice, Two Men Charged in Alleged Plot to 
Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, Oct. 11, 
2011, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-charged-alleged-plot-
assassinate-saudi-arabian-ambassador-united-states.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Critically, Iran has attempted to carry out several of these plots 
by exploiting vulnerabilities in our Southern Border. In the attempted 
assassination of John Bolton, Tehran planned to use a Mexican national 
with ties to drug cartels.\9\ It likewise attempted to use a Mexican 
drug cartel in the plot against the Saudi Ambassador.\10\ There is a 
significant risk that Iran-backed and other terrorists might take 
advantage of these vulnerabilities again in the future. The U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection field office in San Diego recently warned 
that Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorists ``may attempt travel to or 
from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit 
across the Southwest border.''\11\ More broadly, CBP has reported a 
dramatic spike in the number of individuals on its Terrorist Screening 
Dataset watchlist who were apprehended crossing the Southern Border: 
zero in fiscal year 2019, 3 in fiscal year 2020, 15 in fiscal year 
2021, 98 in fiscal year 2022, and 169 in fiscal year 2023.\12\ Those 
are just the ones we know about. It is not implausible that other 
watchlisted individuals have been able to enter the country undetected.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ Nick Schifrin, Iranian Man Charged for Trying to Assassinate 
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, PBS, Aug. 10, 2022, 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/iranian-man-charged-for-trying-to-
assassinate-former-national-security-adviser-john-bolton.
    \10\ Charlie Savage & Scott Shane, Iranians Accused of a Plot to 
Kill Saudis' U.S. Envoy, N.Y. Times, Oct. 11, 2011, https://
www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/us/us-accuses-iranians-of-plotting-to-kill-
saudi-envoy.html.
    \11\ Adam Shaw & Bill Melugin, CBP Memo Sounds Alarm on Hamas, 
Hezbollah Fighters Potentially Using Southern Border to Enter US, Fox 
News, Oct. 23, 2023, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cbp-memo-sounds-
alarm-hamas-hezbollah-fighters-potentially-using-southern-border-enter-
us.
    \12\ U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP Enforcement Statistics 
Fiscal Year 2023, Oct. 23, 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/
cbp-enforcement-statistics. The Terrorist Screening Dataset ``is the 
U.S. government's database that contains sensitive information on 
terrorist identities.'' It ``originated as the consolidated terrorist 
watchlist to house information on known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) 
but has evolved over the last decade to include additional individuals 
who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known 
affiliates of watchlisted individuals.'' Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Of course, the Iranian regime targets Americans abroad as well as 
at home. The IRGC was responsible for killing 603 American soldiers in 
Iraq, in part due to the advanced explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) 
it provided to its terror proxies in the country. That is one-sixth of 
all U.S. fatalities during the war in Iraq.\13\ In Afghanistan, the 
Islamic Republic reportedly paid Taliban fighters a $1,000 bounty for 
every American soldier they killed.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Alex Horton, Soleimani's Legacy: The Gruesome, Advanced IEDs 
that Haunted U.S. Troops in Iraq, Wash. Post, Jan 3, 2020, https://
www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/01/03/soleimanis-legacy-
gruesome-high-tech-ieds-that-haunted-us-troops-iraq/.
    \14\ Report: Iran Pays $1,000 for Each U.S. Soldier Killed by the 
Taliban, NBC News, Sept. 5, 2010, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/
wbna39014669.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Perhaps the most potent tool in Tehran's global terror campaign is 
Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist group responsible for the 1983 
attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, 
Lebanon, which killed 63 and 305, respectively.\15\ Today, Hezbollah is 
the Islamic Republic's proxy of choice for terrorist attacks on 
Israelis and Jews around the world. In Argentina, in March 1992, 
Hezbollah bombed the Israeli embassy, killing 29; 2 years later, in 
July 1994, it bombed a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 
85.\16\ In Bulgaria, in July 2012, a Hezbollah suicide bomber killed 5 
Israeli tourists and their bus driver.\17\ In the past several years, 
the group has been caught planning attacks or stockpiling explosives in 
Western Europe, Latin America, the Gulf, Southeast Asia, and 
elsewhere.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ Matthew Levitt, The Origins of Hezbollah, The Atlantic, Oct. 
23, 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/10/
the-origins-of-hezbollah/280809/.
    \16\ Ronen Bergman, Mossad Sheds New Light on Argentina Terrorist 
Attacks in 1990's, N.Y. Times, July 22, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/
2022/07/22/world/middleeast/argentina-mossad-hezbollah-bombings.html.
    \17\ Benjamin Weinthal, Hezbollah Terrorists Who Killed Israelis in 
Bulgaria Bus Blast Get Life in Prison, Jerusalem Post, Mar. 21, 2023, 
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-734936.
    \18\ U.S. Dep't of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2020, Dec. 
2021, at 266 [hereinafter 2020 Country Reports], https://www.state.gov/
reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2020/; US Accuses Hezbollah of 
Storing Explosive Chemical in Europe, AP, Sept. 17, 2020, https://
apnews.com/article/italy-militant-groups-greece-terrorism-europe-
8e559f3e5a2696ba8cda679c5cc- cb0c0.
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    Hezbollah is also active here at home. Between 1997 and 2020, 128 
suspected Hezbollah members were arrested in the United States.\19\ In 
recent years the FBI arrested three suspected Hezbollah operatives who 
were conducting surveillance on the Panama Canal and casing potential 
targets in New York City, including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State 
Building, Times Square, and Rockefeller Center. Two have been convicted 
of various terrorism-related crimes and sentenced to lengthy prison 
terms, while the third case remains pending.\20\ We have to assume that 
other Hezbollah operatives are here as well, hiding in plain sight and 
awaiting activation orders in the event of open conflict between Iran 
and the United States or Iran and Israel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \19\ Anyssia S. Kokinos et al., Hezbollah's Operations and Networks 
in the United States, June 2022, at 4, https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/
g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/Hezbollah's_Opera- 
tions_and_Networks_in_the_United_States_June30_2022.pdf. See also Colin 
P. Clarke, Hezbollah Has Been Active in America for Decades, The 
National Interest, Aug. 26, 2017, https://nationalinterest.org/feature/
hezbollah-has-been-active-america-decades-22051.
    \20\ U.S. Dep't of Justice, New Jersey Man Sentenced To 12 Years in 
Prison for Receiving Military-Type Training From Hezbollah, Marriage 
Fraud and Making False Statements, May 23, 2023, https://
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-sentenced-12-years-prison-
receiving-military-type-training-hezbollah-marriage; U.S. Dep't of 
Justice, Hizballah Operative Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for Covert 
Terrorist Activities on Behalf of Hizballah's Islamic Jihad 
Organization, Dec. 3, 2019, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hizballah-
operative-sentenced-40-years-prison-covert-terrorist-activities-behalf-
hizballah-s; U.S. Dep't of Justice, Two Men Arrested for Terrorist 
Activities on Behalf of Hizballah's Islamic Jihad Organization, June 8, 
2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-arrested-terrorist-
activities-behalf-hizballahs-islamic-jihad-organization.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  ii.
    Which brings us to the horror in Israel.
    Iran is pursuing an encirclement strategy with respect to the 
Jewish state--surrounding it with a range of terrorist proxies to 
threaten its citizens and apply pressure. Hamas is just the tip of the 
iceberg.
    To the north, in Lebanon, Iran has spent decades lavishly 
bankrolling Hezbollah, building a corrupt state within a state that 
serves Tehran's interests and impoverishes the Lebanese people. 
According to the U.S. State Department, the Islamic Republic has 
provided Hezbollah with some $700 million a year.\21\ Hezbollah now 
sits on a massive arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, and with 
Iran's help it is developing the capability to build its own precision 
guided munitions that could reach all of Israel's territory.\22\ In the 
northeast, in Syria, the IRGC is hard at work propping up the brutal 
Assad dictatorship, greatly adding to the misery of the long-suffering 
Syrian people. Hezbollah fighters are there, too, of course.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\ 2020 Country Reports at 267.
    \22\ 2020 Country Reports at 122, 131.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In the south, in Gaza, Iran-backed Hamas runs a terror statelet 
whose priority is not providing basic services to the Palestinian 
people, but devoting enormous resources to terrorism--tunnels, rockets, 
even incendiary kites and balloons. Extensive Iranian support in the 
past several years has enabled Hamas to dramatically improve its 
capabilities. Hamas has never wavered from the goals it announced in 
its founding covenant in 1988: killing Jews and destroying Israel.
    ``Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious . . 
. The Day of Judgement will not come about,'' [the covenant] proclaims, 
``until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will 
hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, 
O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him . . . There is 
no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.''\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \23\ Quoted in Bruce Hoffman, Understanding Hamas's Genocidal 
Ideology, The Atlantic, Oct. 10, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/
international/archive/2023/10/hamas-covenant-israel-attack-war-
genocide/675602/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hamas's neighbors in Gaza, Palestine Islamic Jihad, are also on 
Tehran's payroll. All told, Tehran has provided various Palestinian 
terrorist groups in Gaza and the West Bank with upwards of $100 million 
annually, according to the State Department.\24\ This year, Iran's 
support to Hamas alone has ballooned to $350 million a year, according 
to Israeli security sources.\25\ It might come as a surprise that 
Shiite Iran would bankroll Sunni terrorists like Hamas, but their 
shared hatred of Jews and of Israel allows them to overlook their 
theological differences to form an alliance of convenience.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\ 2020 Country Reports at 272-73.
    \25\ Samia Nakhoul, How Hamas Secretly Built a ``Mini-Army'' to 
Fight Israel, Reuters, Oct. 13, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/
middle-east/how-hamas-secretly-built-mini-army-fight-israel-2023-10-
13/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Farther afield, in Yemen, the Iranian regime provides the Houthis 
with precision weapons they use to attack airports, energy 
infrastructure, and other civilian targets across the region while 
bringing the Yemeni people to the brink of famine. Lately, the Houthis 
have signaled that they might start targeting Israel with Iranian 
drones.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \26\ Tom O'Connor, Iran-Backed Houthis Ready to Join War on Israel 
with Drones and Missiles, Newsweek, Oct. 9, 2023, https://
www.newsweek.com/iran-backed-houthis-ready-join-war-israel-drones-
missiles-1833221.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Why does this all matter to the United States? For several reasons. 
First, we have a vital national interest in ensuring that Israel, our 
closest ally in the region and the only democracy in the region, is 
secure against its many enemies--enemies that seek its extermination. 
When Hamas and its supporters say they want a Palestinian state ``from 
the river to the sea''--i.e., from the Jordan River to the 
Mediterranean Sea--what they are really saying is that they reject the 
right of Israel to exist at all. They are saying they want the region 
to be cleansed of Jews. Or, as you might put it in German, a Palestine 
that is judenrein.
    Second, the United States and Israel have common enemies. For the 
Islamic Republic, Israel may be the Little Satan, but America is the 
Great Satan, and the Iranian terror proxies that want to slaughter 
Israelis want to slaughter Americans as well. Consider Hamas. The 
October 7 attack killed at least 32 U.S. citizens, making it the 
deadliest attack on Americans by international terrorists since 9/11 
and the fourth deadliest such attack in history.\27\ More Americans 
were killed on October 7 than in the attacks on Khobar Towers in Saudi 
Arabia in 1996 (19 Americans killed), the USS Cole in 2000 (17 
Americans killed), our embassy in Beirut in 1983 (17 Americans killed), 
or our embassies in East Africa in 1998 (12 Americans killed).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 Americans, followed by 
the 1983 bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut (241 Americans 
killed), and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, 
Scotland (190 Americans killed).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In all, Hamas has killed at least 78 Americans in at least 30 
terrorist attacks stretching back to the 1990's, according to research 
by the Soufan Group. For example, in August 2001, Hamas terrorists 
bombed a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, killing 16 people, including 
three Americans: Malki Roth, who was just 15; Judith Shoshana 
Greenbaum, who was pregnant and whose unborn child also died; and Chana 
Nachenberg, who succumbed to her injuries this year after 22 years in a 
coma. The mastermind of the bombing, Ahlam Ahmad Al-Tamimi, is now 
living freely in Jordan, where she hosts a show on a Hamas-affiliated 
television channel. Tamimi is on the FBI's list of most wanted 
terrorists and the U.S. Justice Department unsealed criminal charges 
against her in 2017 for her role in the attack.\28\ Despite the 
existence of a valid extradition treaty between Washington and Amman, 
the government of Jordan has refused to extradite her to the United 
States to face justice for her crimes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \28\ Raffi Berg, Jerusalem Sbarro Pizza Bombing Victim Dies After 
22 Years in Coma, BBC News, June 1, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/
world-middle-east-65754102; Spencer S. Hsu, U.S. Unseals Charge Against 
Jordanian Woman in 2001 Jerusalem Sbarro Bombing, Wash. Post, Mar. 15, 
2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/us-unseals-
charge-against-jordanian-woman-in-2001-jerusalem-sbarro-bombing/2017/
03/14/6b5a51f8-08f9-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In July 2002, Hamas bombed a busy cafeteria at the Hebrew 
University of Jerusalem around lunchtime. Nine people, including 5 
Americans--all students--were killed. Hamas claimed responsibility for 
the atrocity at a rally in Gaza City that was attended by 10,000 
supporters.\29\ The next year, in August 2003, a Hamas suicide bomber 
detonated a bomb aboard a bus in Jerusalem, killing 20, including 5 
U.S. citizens. Three of the American victims were young children: 
Yitzhak Reinitz (9 years old), Tehilla Nathanson (3 years old), and 
Shmuel Taubenfeld (3 months old).\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\ Israel Arrests Suspects in University Bombing, CNN, Aug. 21, 
2002, https://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/08/21/mideast/; Seven 
Killed, Dozens Wounded in Bomb Blast at Israel University, AP, Aug. 1, 
2002, https://www.poconorecord.com/story/news/2002/08/01/seven-killed-
dozens-wounded-in/51073881007/.
    \30\ Mideast Awaits Israeli Response, CBS News, Aug. 20, 2003, 
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mideast-awaits-israeli-response/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Let's be clear: The Islamic Republic manifestly bears 
responsibility for the October 7 Hamas attack. It has enlisted Hamas as 
a proxy in its broader terror campaign against Israel, and it has spent 
years providing the group with tens of millions of dollars' worth of 
cash, weapons, and training to enable precisely the sort of bloodshed 
unleashed on October 7. To be sure, Tehran's exact role in the attack 
remains somewhat opaque at the moment.\31\ Yet in a broader sense it 
doesn't matter. Whether or not Tehran ``planned'' or ``directed'' or 
``ordered'' or ``approved'' the Hamas attack is hairsplitting. Tehran 
certainly enabled the attack, providing weapons and training in recent 
years that vastly improved Hamas's lethality, and it has celebrated the 
attack as advancing its strategic objectives. We are therefore entirely 
justified in holding the regime accountable for the innocent lives 
lost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \31\ According to Wall Street Journal reporting, Iran helped plan 
the attack and gave the final go-ahead on October 2. Summer Said et 
al., Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks, Wall St. J., 
Oct. 8, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-israel-hamas-
strike-planning-bbe07b25. Some New York Times sources likewise recount 
that ``a tight circle of leaders from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas helped 
plan the attack starting over a year ago, trained militants and had 
advanced knowledge of it,'' while in September the Times reported that 
Israel ``had intelligence suggesting . . . Iran's supreme leader had 
ordered a wide campaign against Israel including targeting its citizens 
abroad, conducting sabotage inside its borders, and smuggling 
sophisticated weapons to the Palestinians to ignite a civil war in the 
West Bank.'' Farnaz Fassihi & Ronen Bergman, Hamas Attack on Israel 
Brings New Scrutiny of Group's Ties to Iran, N.Y. Times, Oct. 13, 2023, 
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/world/middleeast/hamas-iran-israel-
attack.html. On the other hand, administration officials have pointed 
to a preliminary intelligence assessment suggesting that certain 
elements of the Iranian regime were surprised by the timing and scope 
of the attack, though they likely knew Hamas was planning attacks on 
Israel. Adam Entous et al., Early Intelligence Shows Hamas Attack 
Surprised Iranian Leaders, U.S. Says, N.Y. Times, Oct. 11, 2023, 
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/us/politics/iran-israel-gaza-hamas-
us-intelligence.html; Warren P. Strobel & Michael R. Gordon, Iran Knew 
Hamas Was Planning Attacks, but Not Timing or Scale, U.S. Says, Wall 
St. J., Oct. 11, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-knew-
hamas-was-planning-attacks-but-not-timing-or-scale-u-s-says-d8c669f1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  iii.
    What then should the United States do about October 7, and about 
the wider terrorist threat the Islamic Republic of Iran poses to the 
homeland and to Americans abroad? At a minimum, we must impose real 
costs on Tehran to deter terrorism, enforce sanctions to deny the 
regime resources for terrorism, and back Israel to the hilt.
    First, the Biden administration must do more to deter Iran from 
plotting assassinations in our country. One might have expected the 
administration to insist, as a precondition for nuclear or other talks, 
that the regime abandon its efforts to assassinate former U.S. 
officials and activists. It did not. At a minimum, one might have 
expected the administration to obtain, as an element of the recent 
agreement with Tehran to exchange prisoners, an Iranian commitment to 
abandon its assassination plots. Again, it did not. Instead, Iran's 
president--Ebrahim Raisi, who has been under U.S. human rights 
sanctions since 2019 for his role in the regime's 1988 ``death 
commission'' that slaughtered thousands of political prisoners--has 
reaffirmed (on American soil, no less) the regime's intent to 
assassinate Americans. Here is what he said at the United Nations last 
month, referencing the 2020 operation to eliminate U.S.-sanctioned 
terrorist Qasem Soleimani:

``The Islamic Republic of Iran, through all tools and capacities in 
order to bring to justice the perpetrators and all those who had a hand 
in this government sanctioned act of terror, will not sit until that is 
done. The blood of the oppressed will not be forgotten.''\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\ Quoted in Farnaz Fassihi, Iran's President Threatens U.S. 
Officials From the U.N. Podium, Dimming Hopes for a Rapprochement, 
Seattle Times, Sept. 19, 2023, https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-
world/irans-president-threatens-u-s-officials-from-the-u-n-podium-
dimming-hopes-for-a-rapprochement/.

    The Justice Department certainly deserves credit for prosecuting 
some of those involved in the Bolton plot. And I imagine the targets of 
Iran's assassination campaign appreciate the White House's promise 
that, ``[s]hould Iran attack any of our citizens, . . . Iran will face 
severe consequences.''\33\ (Of course, they might prefer for some of 
those consequences to be imposed now, while they are still alive, as a 
deterrent.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \33\ The White House, Statement by National Security Advisor Jake 
Sullivan on Iran's Continued Targeting of U.S. Citizens, Aug. 10, 2022, 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/
10/statement-by-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-irans-
continued-targeting-of-u-s-citizens/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    But these efforts pale in comparison to how we responded to past 
attempts to kill American officials. In 1993, the United States 
uncovered a plot by Saddam Hussein's Iraq to assassinate former 
president George H.W. Bush during a trip to Kuwait. President Clinton 
retaliated by launching 23 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the headquarters 
of the Iraqi intelligence service in Baghdad. As President Clinton 
explained, a firm and decisive response was essential because the plot, 
which was ``directed against a former President of the United States 
because of actions he took as President,'' was ultimately ``an attack 
against our country and against all Americans.'' He continued: ``We 
could not and have not let such action against our Nation go 
unanswered. From the first days of our revolution, America's security 
has depended on the clarity of this message: Don't tread on us.''\34\ 
Saddam got the message, and the scheme was abandoned. No one is calling 
for a military strike on Tehran, but indictments and statements are 
plainly inadequate to establish deterrence. Tehran should have more to 
fear than a sternly-worded press release.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \34\ David Von Drehle & R. Jeffrey Smith, U.S. Strikes Iraq for 
Plot to Kill Bush, Wash. Post, June 27, 1993, https://
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/timeline/062793.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Second, the administration should resume robust sanctions 
enforcement to deny the Islamic Republic resources to fund terrorism 
around the globe. The Iranian regime is richer today than it has been 
in years. A great deal of attention has been paid to the $6 billion 
held in South Korea that the White House agreed to unfreeze as part of 
a deal to release some of the American hostages held in Iran. The 
administration deserves credit for announcing that, in the wake of the 
Hamas attack on Israel, it will deny the regime access to those funds 
``for the foreseeable future''\35\--though it would be preferable to 
freeze the $6 billion indefinitely, along with $10 billion that was 
unfrozen in the summer of 2023 to cover energy payments from Iraq to 
Iran.\36\ The bigger problem, in my view, is the fact that the regime 
has been able to dramatically increase its energy exports, and thus 
dramatically improve its economic strength, over the past several 
years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \35\ Michael Crowley & Alan Rappeport, U.S. and Qatar Deny Iran 
Access to $6 Billion From Prisoner Deal, N.Y. Times, Oct. 12, 2023, 
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/middleeast/us-qatar-iran-
prisoner-deal.html. While the hostages deal provides that the $6 
billion may only be released for ``humanitarian purposes,'' id., Iran's 
president has stated that the regime will spend the money ``wherever we 
need it.'' Dan De Luce, Iranian President Says Tehran Will Spend the $6 
Billion Released in Prisoner Exchange ``Wherever We Need It'', NBC 
News, Sept. 12, 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iranian-
president-says-tehran-will-spend-6-billion-released-prisoner-e-
rcna104475. Moreover, money is fungible, and if Iran now has $6 billion 
to spend on food and medicine, that will free up $6 billion to spend on 
guns and bombs.
    \36\ David S. Cloud & Ghassan Adnan, Iraq Tests U.S. Sanctions with 
Oil-for-Gas Deal with Iran, Wall St. J., July 14, 2023, https://
www.wsj.com/articles/iraq-tests-u-s-sanctions-with-oil-for-gas-deal-
with-iran-c318b917.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As a result of crippling sanctions, by the end of the previous 
administration, Iran's economy was hobbled, its coffers were drained, 
and its ability to project power abroad was reduced. Tehran is in a 
substantially stronger position today. By 2021, the regime's accessible 
foreign currency reserves were down to $4-6 billion--roughly the same 
as Haiti. Now, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Iran's 
reserves will hit $43 billion this year, and that was before the $6 
billion and $10 billion were unfrozen over the summer.\37\ Energy 
analysts assess that, since 2020, Iran's oil exports have increased by 
a factor of four or five, with the lion's share of sales going to 
China.\38\ According to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a 
nonpartisan group that tracks Iranian energy sales, in August 2020, 
Iran was exporting an average of 749,000 barrels of oil per day. In 
August 2023, its exports were up to an average of 1,932,000 barrels per 
day.\39\ In 2020, Iran sold $12.5 billion of oil. That number jumped to 
$43 billion in 2022.\40\ Between January 2021 and September 2022, the 
regime's oil sales to China alone totaled $38 billion.\41\ In all, UANI 
estimates that Iran has been able to sell $80 billion of oil since 
January 2021.\42\ Eighty billion dollars can buy a lot of bombs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \37\ Washington Unlocks Frozen Iranian Funds, Jewish Inst. for 
Nat'l Sec. of Am., June 14, 2023, at 3, https://jinsa.org/wp-content/
uploads/2023/06/20230614_FrozenIranianFunds- _v2-1.pdf.
    \38\ Manuel Quinones & Bob King, Biden's Choice: Let Iranian Oil 
Flow or Watch Prices Rise, Politico, Oct. 12, 2023, https://
www.politico.com/news/2023/10/12/biden-iran-oil-gas-prices-00120924.
    \39\ United Against Nuclear Iran, Iran Tanker Tracking, https://
www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/tanker-tracker.
    \40\ United Against Nuclear Iran, Analysis of Iranian Oil Sales 
Under President Trump vs. President Biden, Oct. 6, 2022, https://
www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/blog/analysis-of-iranian-oil-sales-
under-president-trump-vs-president-biden.
    \41\ Michael Crowley, U.S. Penalizes Chinese Companies for Aiding 
Iran's Oil Exports, N.Y. Times, Sept. 29, 2022, https://
www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/us/politics/iran-sanctions-china-oil.html.
    \42\ Nassim Khadem, As Israel's War Against Hamas Escalates, US 
Sends a Warning to Iran, Raising Fears of a Recession, ABC News 
(Australia), Oct. 12, 2023, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-13/
israel-war-against-hamas-iran-oil-price-economy-global-recession/
102968608.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tehran will certainly use this windfall to support terrorism across 
the region, against Israel, and against the United States, and the 
White House should restore the economic pressure that brought Iran's 
economy to its knees. Terrorism sanctions work. Sanctions deny 
terrorists the money they need to plan and carry out attacks. As I've 
mentioned, for years Hezbollah could count on its patrons in Tehran to 
provide it with upwards of $700 million annually, and Hamas and other 
Palestinian terrorists received $100 million a year. But after the 
United States used sanctions to squeeze Iran's economy, the money dried 
up. By 2019, both groups had to adopt ``austerity plans'' to cope with 
the shortfall. Hezbollah's leader was reduced to going on TV and 
pleading for donations.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \43\ Special Representative Brian H. Hook, Testimony Before the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 116th Cong., Oct. 16, 2019, at 3, 
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/download/hook-testimony-101619.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Third, the United States must support Israel until it achieves its 
goals in the war with Hamas. This is not a war that Israel sought, but 
it is one that it cannot afford to lose. President Biden has spoken 
powerfully about Israel's right to self-defense, a marked improvement 
over the confused messaging we initially saw from his administration. 
The day of the attack, the State Department's Office of Palestinian 
Affairs tweeted a call for ``all sides to refrain from violence and 
retaliatory attacks'' (it was quickly deleted), which was followed the 
next day by a tweet reporting that Secretary of State Blinken urged a 
``cease-fire'' in a call with his Turkish counterpart (it too was 
quickly deleted).\44\ Presumably these posts were scrubbed because 
higher-ups realized that standing in the way of Israeli retaliation and 
demanding a cease-fire would only reward Hamas and cripple Israel's 
ability to prevent future attacks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \44\ Katelyn Caralle, State Department Slammed for Deleting 
MULTIPLE Tweets Urging Israel to Stand Down on Retaliating Against 
Hamas, Daily Mail (UK), Oct. 9, 2023, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/
article-12611231/State-Department-slammed-deleting-MULTIPLE-tweets-
urging-Israel-stand-retaliating-against-Hamas.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Now the White House will need to put the diplomatic heft of the 
United States behind the President's words. Israel has articulated 
expansive goals for the war in Gaza--degrading Hamas to the point it is 
no longer capable of threatening Israel or functioning as a quasi-
governmental entity, an ambitious goal that is comparable to the United 
States's aim of destroying al-Qaeda in the aftermath of 9/11, and 
defeating ISIS's so-called ``caliphate'' in Iraq and Syria during the 
Obama and Trump administrations. The United States will need to ensure 
that Israel has the time and space it needs to accomplish its mission, 
pushing back against its critics at the United Nations and elsewhere 
when they inevitably begin to demand that Jerusalem stand down 
prematurely before its objectives are met.
    At the same time, United States must use its influence to ensure 
that Israel prosecutes the war in a way that causes as little harm as 
possible to civilians in Gaza. Heartbreaking images of human suffering 
have begun to emerge from the war zone and Israel--neither more nor 
less than any other combatant--should fully comply with law-of-war 
requirements designed to prevent civilian harm, as it has done in the 
past and has pledged to do now. We should also be clear about who bears 
responsibility for this suffering: Hamas, which has a long and sordid 
history of using Palestinian civilians as human shields; of storing 
weapons in and around schools, mosques, and other protected civilian 
infrastructure; and even of preventing Palestinian civilians from 
evacuating conflict zones. Hamas puts its own population at risk to 
further its murderous terror campaign. Its atrocities against Israelis 
and Jews and its cruelties to Palestinians are two sides of the same 
coin.
    * * *
    Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, and Members of the committee, 
thank you again. I look forward to your questions.

    Chairman Green. Thank you, Ambassador Sales.
    I now recognize Ms. Alinejad for 5 minutes to summarize her 
opening statement.

          STATEMENT OF MASIH ALINEJAD, PRIVATE CITIZEN

    Ms. Alinejad. Thank you so much. Chairman Green, Ranking 
Member Thompson, and distinguished Members of the committee, 
I'm very honored to be here alongside all of you, talking about 
important issue: Iran's threats to the region and to the 
Homeland Security.
    By listening to all of you speakers, my heart is broken 
because I love Iran, and I heard that my beloved country, 
Iran's name, being mentioned in all of your talk regarding to 
terrorist act.
    On behalf of millions of Iranians, I'm here to tell you 
that it's not Iran backing the terrorists. The people of Iran 
are standing in solidarity with the people of Israel. We, the 
people of the Iran, are hostage in the hand of this terrorist 
regime.
    Islamic Republic, Hamas, do not talk for the people of Iran 
and people of Palestine.
    Last month, I had the privilege to testify before a 
subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the 
Iranian regime's oppression against people, and I emphasize the 
resilience of the people of Iran fighting the oppressive 
clerical regime.
    The murder of Mahsa ``Jina'' Amini, in the hand of morality 
police, for the crime of just showing a bit of her hair, 
sparked a revolution called Woman, Life, Freedom.
    Tragically, the regime's brutality continues. Another girl, 
Armita Geravand, only 16 years old, now is in a coma after 
being beaten up by morality police, again, for not covering her 
hair.
    After my testimony last month, yes, you're right, I 
received death threats just because of being vocal against the 
terrorist regime of Iran.
    But I'm not alone. Other Americans have also come under 
attacks from the Iranian regime. We received death threats from 
Revolutionary Guards, Hamas, Hezbollah, Taliban, on U.S. soil.
    The Islamic Republic funds groups like Hamas and Hezbollah 
to carry out its terrorist agenda. They pose substantial 
threats not only to its regional neighbors but also to the 
United States on U.S. soil.
    Let me share just a bit of my experience. Growing up in 
Iran, I, like thousands--no, millions of Iranian children--I 
was forced, brainwashed, to chant ``death to America, death to 
Israel.''
    Yes, Iran--cursing Israel and America, but now my people in 
Iran, they are saying ``death to Islamic Republic.''
    When I was a teenager, I got kicked out from schools. When 
I became a journalist, I got kicked out from Parliament just 
because of criticizing the Islamic Republic. I kicked out from 
my homeland Iran.
    I started my new life in America to be safe, to practice my 
freedom of speech here. But let's be honest with you. As an 
American citizen, I don't feel safe here at home anymore. My 
family doesn't feel safe anymore.
    Since 2021, I have been forced to relocate over a dozen 
times under the supervision of the FBI. Two years ago, Iranian 
regime were plotting to kidnap me and take me from Brooklyn by 
a speedboat to a cargo ship bound for Venezuela and then to 
Iran.
    To you maybe it's a scary movie, but to us, this is the 
reality. They did that to my colleague in France, and they 
executed him in Iran. I could've been one of them.
    This brought great hardship on myself, my husband, and my 
stepchildren. I thought, after the FBI stopped the kidnapping 
plot, I'm going to have a normal life. I was wrong.
    Just last July, a man with AK-47 came to my house, on my 
porch in Brooklyn, trying to kill me. The assassin, a member of 
an East European criminal gang. Yes, you heard me right. 
They're using criminal gangs to do their dirty job on U.S. 
soil.
    He was there stalking, monitoring my activities, the 
activities of my children, my neighbors, my friends. Imagine if 
he had opened fire how many of my neighbors would've been 
killed, American citizens on U.S. soil.
    Today the three assassins hired by the Islamic Republic are 
in jail thanks to the FBI. An Iranian American woman who 
financially helped the kidnapping plot received 4 years' prison 
sentence.
    The Iranian regime has even targeted individuals who work 
with me here in the United States, including my chief of staff, 
Saman Pashaei. He is sitting behind me.
    They arrested his brother for a crime of my chief of staff 
working with me on U.S. soil, and he was tortured for 90 days.
    As one agent told me, Iran regime is persistent and will 
try again and again. But, as you hear, I'm not going to keep 
silent. I have come to realize that, even on U.S. soil, being 
safe is true luxury for those of us who dare to criticize the 
terrorist regime in Iran.
    Iran's regime is threatening U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, 
but the administration's response has been very, very 
disappointing.
    In the aftermath of the assassination plot, no 
administration officials have ever reached out to me or other 
American--Iranian Americans facing the same threats.
    The White House warned me this year that there have been 
more than 31 credible threats against me on U.S. soil, but 
their advice for me was just go under witness protection. What 
witness protection means, it means I have to change my name, my 
Social Security number, my identity, and get lost, get 
disappear. That's not in my DNA.
    I understand that they want to protect me, but being silent 
is what the Islamic Republic wants.
    Here I appeal for your help. The administration has a 
responsibility to combat terror and protect me and other 
Americans to express ourselves freely on U.S. soil. It is 
important for the White House to acknowledge the threats posed 
by Iranian regime as national security threats.
    I ask that a dedicated office to be set up at the 
appropriate law enforcement agency to monitor Islamic 
Republic's threats on our homeland and protect Americans from 
the physical and cyber reach of Islamic regime. That would be a 
start for Americans to feel safe at home.
    Now Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel should serve as a 
wake-up call for all American allies. If the United States and 
its allies do not get united to end terrorism now, terrorists 
will get united and end democracy.
    Thank you for holding a hearing on this important topic, 
and I want you to see this as bipartisan issue and end Hamas 
Islamic Republic. Thank you so much, and I'm ready to answer 
any questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Alinejad follows:]
                  Prepared Statement of Masih Alinejad
    Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, distinguished Mmbers of 
the committee. Permit me to begin by thanking you for holding this 
hearing on Islamic Republic's threats to Homeland Security and for the 
opportunity to testify before you.
    Last month, I had the privilege to testify before a subcommittee of 
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on the Iranian regime's malignant 
actions and escalating threats. During that hearing, I emphasized the 
resilience of the Iranian people in resisting the oppressive clerical 
regime. The murder of Mahsa Amini, while in the custody for the crime 
of inappropriate hijab ignited massive protests. Tragically the regime 
brutality continues. Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old girl is in a coma 
and fighting for her life for refusing to wear the hijab in public.
    The regime's destructive nature extends beyond its own borders--
Islamic Republic funds, trains and equips groups like Hamas and 
Hezbollah to carry out its lethal agenda. At least 30 Americans have 
been killed in the war started by Hamas. At least 200 are held as 
hostage, including at least 20 Americans. The Islamic Republic poses a 
substantial threat, not only to its regional neighbors but also to the 
United States, threatening Americans on our soil.
    Appearing here today comes with its own perils. After my testimony 
last month, my organization endured a severe cyber attack from sources 
linked with the Islamic Republic. I have received death and kidnap 
threats. I am not alone, other Americans have also come under attack 
from the Iranian regime. This is not new; I have endured death threats 
from the Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah, and Taliban. And more 
recently, you can now add Hamas to the list after I publicly condemned 
the brutal attack on Israel.
    Let me share just a bit about my personal experience. I was born in 
a traditional and religious family in northern Iran. My parents were 
poor farmers. Growing up, I was brainwashed at a young age, like 
thousands of other young children, to chant slogans like death to 
Israel and death to America. As a teenager, my political activism 
landed me in jail. Much later on as a journalist, I was often critical 
of the government, and was forced to leave my birth country in 2009, 
during the Green protests. I started my second life in my adopted 
country, the United States which allowed me to flourish as a 
journalist, an author, a women's rights activist, and a vocal critic of 
the Islamic Republic.
    As an American citizen I don't feel safe in my home. My family 
doesn't feel safe. Since 2021, I have been forced to relocate over a 
dozen times, under the supervision of the FBI. Two years ago, Iranian 
intelligence operatives were plotting to kidnap me and take me from 
Brooklyn via a speedboat to a cargo ship bound for Venezuela and then 
to Iran. The constant need to move without knowing the exact nature of 
the dangers, brought great hardships on myself, my husband, and my 
step-children. We all had to pretend to live a normal life while 
constantly on the move.
    I have come to realize that ``being safe'' is a luxury. Even after 
the Department of Justice exposed the kidnap plot, my life didn't 
return to normal. On two separate occasions, special FBI units whisked 
my family back into safe locations after receiving notice of credible 
and serious threats. There is no escaping the fact that the Iranian 
regime had put a target on my back and I had to accept my new 
circumstances. As one agent told me, Iranian regime is persistent and 
will try again and again.
    This reality again struck home last July when a man armed with AK-
47 came to my house in Brooklyn to kill me on direct orders from the 
Islamic Republic. The assassin, a member of an East European criminal 
gang had been stalking me for days, waiting outside my home and 
monitoring my activities and those of my family, neighbors, and 
friends.
    The incident marked the second serious attempt on my life in 
America, precisely 12 months after the kidnap plot.
    Again, I was forced to abandon my Brooklyn home and leave behind my 
friends and neighbors in exchange for a series of temporary locations. 
Today, the three assassins are behind bars awaiting trial but I am 
forced to take elaborate precautions whenever I'm in public. But I am 
not alone in not feeling safe. Other Iranian American dissidents, and 
former officials, also feel unsafe. I'm still shocked that the Iranian 
regime is threatening us in our own homes with impunity.
    It is not just physical threat. The Iranian regime has engaged in 
election interfering in the past and will exploit the war in Gaza to 
spread disinformation and hate speech on our campuses and on social 
media.
    I am grateful to Members of Congress who passed the Masih Alinejad 
Hunt Law in response to the kidnapping plot.
    However, the administration's response has been inadequate. By not 
holding the regime accountable, the administration appears weak in the 
face of Iranian aggression. The White House is treating these plots on 
our soil as criminal matters, to be treated by the Justice Department. 
I beg to differ. These plots against Americans are national security 
threats. This issue extends beyond me and other dissidents; the 
Revolutionary Guards have threatened former Government officials, 
including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former National 
Security Advisor John Bolton. These threats against Americans on U.S. 
soil are nothing short of a declaration of war.
    Instead of holding the Iranian regime accountable, the 
administration prefers my silence. In the aftermath of the 
assassination plot, no senior administration official has ever reached 
out to meet me, or other Iranian-Americans facing these threats. The 
White House warned me earlier this year that there have been more than 
31 credible threats against me on U.S. soil, but their advice was to 
strongly suggest that I enter into witness protection.
    Witness protection would entail changing my name, social security 
number, identity, and be silent and disappear. This is precisely what 
the Islamic Republic wants. To be silenced is not an option for me.
    The administration has a responsibility to combat terror and 
protect American lives. The administration should never have approved 
to release $6 billion in exchange for five hostages wrongfully held. We 
should permanently stop Islamic Republic from accessing those funds, 
which will be used to bring more terror to people of Israel and here in 
the United States.
    It is time to confront the reality that after more than four 
decades in power, the character of the Islamic Republic is unlikely to 
change. Hamas's attack on Israel should serve as a wake-up call. It is 
important for the White House to acknowledge the threats posed by 
Iranian regime as national security threats.
    We need to find ways to stop Iranian agents from spreading 
disinformation, and from turning our freedoms against us. Family 
members of regime officials work and travel freely in the United States 
but their loyalty is with the Islamic Republic.
    Finally, I ask that a dedicated office to be set up at the 
appropriate law enforcement agency to monitor Iranian threats on our 
homeland and protect Americans from the physical and cyber reach of 
Iranian regime. That would be a start for Americans to feel safe at 
home. We need to find ways to help Americans who are not Government 
officials but are targeted by the Iranian regime.
    Thank you for holding a hearing on this important topic, and your 
bipartisan commitment to safeguarding our country. I look forward to 
answering your questions.

    Chairman Green. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Alinejad.
    I now recognize Mr. Greenway for his 5 minutes to summarize 
his opening statement.

 STATEMENT OF ROBERT GREENWAY, DIRECTOR, HERITAGE FOUNDATION, 
                  CENTER FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE

    Mr. Greenway. Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, 
distinguished Members of the committee, thank you for the 
opportunity and privilege to testify before you today.
    The risk from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and those 
acting on their behalf, has expanded as the scope and scale of 
terrorism it has long sponsored.
    Though present since the 1979 revolution, the risk has 
increased dramatically in response to the dismantling of U.S. 
deterrence as the Biden administration initiated its policy of 
appeasement beginning in January 2021.
    Tehran's escalation reached a deadly peak 2 weeks ago, at 
least 33 Americans and 1,400 Israelis were killed, 13 American 
and 199 Israeli hostages taken as Hamas terrorists carried out 
an unprecedented terrorist attack in Israel on October 7.
    According to multiple sources, the Islamic Republic of Iran 
helped plan and coordinate the operation executed by their 
surrogate Hamas, an organization they fund, train, equip, and 
control.
    This is likely only the beginning. Former Hamas Leader 
Khaled Mashal published an announcement on October 10, calling 
on the global Muslim community to join the battle.
    Hamas itself has published a formal announcement, calling 
Arab and Muslim communities world-wide to mount a wide-scale 
uprising and advance toward the borders of Israel.
    We are not immune. The U.S. Border Patrol has encountered 
72,000 special interest aliens on America's border over the 
past 2 years, many from the Middle East.
    Multiple Customs and Border Protection reports of 
apprehensions between ports of entry from October 21 to October 
23, encountered 659 from Iran, 538 from Syria, 139 from Yemen, 
123 from Iraq, and 164 from Lebanon.
    The ease with which Iran can exploit our open borders 
should not be underestimated, but we also should not forget 
that they were already here and expanding an already-
established operational presence.
    In fact, the first external assassination plot, carried out 
by agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, took place outside 
our Nation's capital in July 1980.
    The Islamic Republic is responsible for an estimated 52 
attempted assassination attempts world-wide, resulting in at 
least 20 opponents abroad and hundreds killed in bombings of 
foreign military, diplomatic, and cultural facilities world-
wide since 1979.
    Iran is clearly undeterred. It is pursuing assassination, 
abduction, terrorist, cyber, and surveillance plots in 
increasingly aggressive fashion. They are not paying a price 
for their conduct.
    As Secretary of Defense Austin testified before Congress in 
March, the United States has been attacked at that time by its 
surrogates 83 times since January 2021, resulting in only 4 
responses.
    In just the last week, Iranian surrogates have conducted 13 
attacks against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq without response.
    As a matter of fact, they're being rewarded. Iran has 
received a total of $90 billion in previously-sanctioned 
exports and ransom payments since 2021.
    The ultimate measure of any policy are the results--Hamas 
abhorrent terrorist attack on Israel resulted in the deadliest 
day of history and the deadliest terrorist attack on American 
citizens since 9/11.
    The failure of the administration around appeasement 
policies resulted in Israel's only declaration of war since 
1973.
    We now stand on the precipice of a regional conflict which 
radically increases the threat to Americans abroad and here at 
home.
    As a result, I recommend the following: Disrupt active 
operational cells and supporting cyber assets; degrade command, 
control, and communications infrastructure here and abroad; 
deny their funds and reinstate any statutory sanctions imposed 
with respect to Iran that were waived, suspended, reduced, or 
otherwise relieved; increase assets required to identify 
existing infrastructure within the United States; protect all 
former government officials and dissidents targeted by the 
Islamic Republic; leverage existing counterintelligence 
authorities to accelerate operational activity and disrupt 
hostile intelligence threats, especially in the cyber domain; 
preserve the capabilities of FISA's section 702 with the 
necessary reforms to protect the liberties of Americans; last, 
secure our border by enacting H.R. 2.
    I thank you and look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Greenway follows:]
                 Prepared Statement of Robert Greenway
                            October 25, 2023
    Chairman Green, Ranking Member Thompson, Members of the committee: 
My name is Robert Greenway. I am the director of the Center for 
National Defense at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in 
this testimony are my own and should not be construed as representing 
any official position of The Heritage Foundation, the Department of 
Defense, the United States Army, or any other organization.
    The risk from the Islamic Republic of Iran--and those acting on 
their behalf--has expanded as has the scope and scale of the terrorism 
it has long sponsored. This risk has increased dramatically in response 
to the dismantling of U.S. deterrence since the Biden administration 
initiated its policy of appeasement beginning in January 2021.\1\ 
Despite Iran's escalation and warnings from policy experts that 
pursuing a return to a flawed and already expiring nuclear deal would 
prove disastrous, President Biden shifted American policy from pressure 
to accommodation in hopes of facilitating the restoration of the Joint 
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ President Joe Biden, ``There's a smarter way to be tough on 
Iran,'' CNN, updated September 13, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/
13/opinions/smarter-way-to-be-tough-on-iran-joe-biden/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tehran's escalation reached its apogee last week. At least 1,300 
Israelis were killed, 3,000 wounded, and approximately 200 hostages 
taken as Hamas terrorists carried out an unprecedented, multi-front 
attack on Israel at daybreak on October 7. Covered by over 2,500 
rockets, dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily-fortified 
border in several locations by air, land, and sea, catching Israel and 
the United States off-guard a day after the 50th anniversary of the 
1973 Yom Kippur War and during a religious holiday. Israelis were not 
the only victims, 31 Americans were killed and a dozen held hostage 
making it the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history since September 
11, 2001. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force 
helped plan and finally approved the operation by Hamas, an 
organization funded, trained, equipped, and supported by the Islamic 
Republic of Iran.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Summer Said, Benoit Faucon, and Stephen Kalin, ``Iran Helped 
Plot Attack on Israel over Several Weeks,'' The Wall Street Journal, 
October 8, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As Israel mobilizes its reserves in preparation for a ground 
offensive, former Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mashal published an 
announcement on October 10 calling on the global Muslim community to 
join the battle for Al-Aqsa Mosque and provide economic aid to the Gaza 
Strip. Hamas published an announcement on October 12 calling on all 
those with weapons in the West Bank to join the war against Israel. 
Both statements echo Hamas's October 10 formal announcement calling on 
the Palestinians, Israel's Arabs, and the Arab and Muslim communities 
world-wide to mount a wide-scale uprising and to advance toward the 
borders of Israel this past Friday, October 13.\3\ During a visit to 
Beirut on October 12, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian 
publicly stated that the Islamic Republic's other proxies will respond 
to Israel's bombing of Gaza, escalating the conflict regionally.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Middle East Media Research Institute, ``Hamas Declares Friday, 
October 13, As General Mobilization Day for `Al-Aqsa Flood Operation,' 
Urges West Bank, Jerusalem Palestinians to Join Massive Rallies and 
Confront Israeli Soldiers,'' Special Dispatch No. 10849, October 10, 
2023.
    \4\ Jeremy Quinn, ``Iran's Foreign Minister Says Israel `Will 
Receive a Response' from Other Terror Groups over Gaza Strikes,'' 
National Review Online, October 12, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This has been a predictable trajectory. On March 28, Secretary of 
Defense Lloyd Austin and then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
General Mark Milley testified before Congress that U.S. forces had been 
attacked by Iranian-backed surrogates 83 times since 2021 and had 
responded on only 4 occasions, reflecting the erosion of deterrence in 
the region.\5\ In just the last week, there have been 9 attacks 
perpetrated by Iranian-backed surrogates against U.S. Military forces 
in Iraq in Syria.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Marc Rod, ``Biden administration has only launched four `major 
responses' to Iranian-backed attacks on U.S. forces, Austin says.'' 
Jewish Insider, March 29, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    We have directly funded the world's largest state sponsor of 
terrorism. Since 2021, the Biden administration has provided 
unprecedented resources to the Islamic Republic.\6\ As of September 4, 
2023, Iranian crude exports flowed between 1.4 million and 1.9 million 
barrels per day.\7\ The Trump administration's maximum pressure 
campaign, by contrast, dramatically reduced Tehran's oil exports to a 
few hundred thousand barrels per day.\8\ This is also a violation not 
only of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), but also 
of other U.S. sanctions law requiring the imposition of sanctions on 
entities involved in the transactions. In exchange for the release of 
five U.S. hostages, the United States would release unnamed Iranian 
nationals imprisoned in the United States and authorize the transfer of 
$6 billion in funds from South Korea to Qatar. In addition, the Biden 
administration has permitted Iraq to pay for Iranian electricity it 
doesn't need, providing some $10 billion to cash-strapped Tehran.\9\ 
The Islamic Republic of Iran's total revenue derived during Biden's 
tenure is estimated to be from $81 billion to $90.7 billion, compared 
to less than $8 billion in 2020.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Alaric Nightingale, ``Iran's Booming Oil Flows Surge Above 2 
Million Barrels a Day,'' Bloomberg, August 21, 2023, https://
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-21/iran-s-booming-oil-flows-
surge-above-2-million-barrels-a-day?sref=3OIZCXOE.
    \7\ Sharon Cho, Serene Cheong, and Anthony Di Paola, ``Iran's 
Booming Oil Exports Are Poised to Slow for Rest of Year,'' Bloomberg, 
September 4, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-04/
iran-s-booming-oil-exports-are-poised-to-slow-for-rest-of-
year?embedded-checkout=true.
    \8\ Alex Lawler, ``As Trump's sanctions bite, Iran's oil exports 
slide further in June,'' Reuters, June 24, 2019, https://
www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-iran-exports-idUSKCN1TP1F0, and Grant 
Smith, Anthony Di Paola, and Ben Bartenstein, ``For Global Oil Markets, 
a US-Iran Deal Is Already Happening,'' Bloomberg, August 25, 2023. 
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-25/for-global-oil-
markets-a-us-iran-deal-is-already-happening.
    \9\ Agence France Presse, ``Iraq Says in Touch with US Over Paying 
for Iranian Gas,'' August 1, 2023.
    \10\ Saeed Ghasseminejad, ``The Monetary Value of Relaxed Oil 
Sanctions Enforcement by the Biden Administration,'' Foundation for the 
Defense of Democracies, September 28, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The threat is not limited to the Middle East. The U.S. Border 
Patrol has encountered 72,823 ``special interest aliens'' on America's 
borders over the past 2 years, many from the Middle East. Multiple 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports of apprehensions between 
ports of entry between October 2021 and October 2023 shows that agents 
encountered 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan in that period, 3,153 from 
Egypt, 659 from Iran, 538 from Syria, 139 from Yemen, 123 from Iraq, 
164 from Lebanon, 1,613 from Pakistan, 15,594 from Mauritania, 13,624 
from Uzbekistan, and 30,830 from Turkey.\11\ The ease with which Iran 
can exploit our open borders should not be underestimated, but we also 
should not forget that they were already here and are expanding but not 
establishing an operational presence.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\ Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin, and Griff Jenkins, ``Thousands of 
`special interest aliens' from Middle East countries stopped at 
southern border since 2021: data,'' Fox News, October 10, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Islamic Republic has also succeeded in obtaining unprecedented 
access to and influence over the U.S. administration's policy toward 
Tehran. At least three of the people selected by the Islamic Republic's 
Foreign Ministry were top aides to Robert Malley, the Biden 
administration's special envoy on Iran, who has been on leave following 
the suspension of his security clearance. Another remains employed by 
the Defense Department.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\ Jay Solomon, ``Inside Iran's Influence Operations,'' SEMAFOR, 
September 29, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As of August 2022, the Islamic Republic had assassinated at least 
20 opponents abroad and killed hundreds in bombings of foreign 
military, diplomatic, and cultural facilities. It targeted \13\ 
Americans, Europeans, Latin Americans, Israelis, and Arabs as well as 
Iranian opposition members \14\ living abroad, according to U.S.,\15\ 
Canadian,\16\ European,\17\ Israeli,\18\ and other government 
reports.\19\ Research indicates there have been at least 52 attacks or 
plots.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Ioan Pop and Mitchell D. Silber, ``Iran and Hezbollah's Pre-
Operational Modus Operandi in the West,'' Studies in Conflict and 
Terrorism, Vol. 44, No. 2 (2021).
    \14\ Saeid Golkar, ``Iran's Intelligence Organizations and 
Transnational Suppression,'' Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 
Policy Watch No. 3517, August 5, 2021.
    \15\ Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Annual Threat 
Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, February 7, 2022; 
``Escalating Tensions Between the United States and Iran Pose Potential 
Threats to the Homeland,'' Joint Intelligence Bulletin, January 8, 
2020; Judith Yaphe, ``Iranian Support for Terrorism in 1987,'' U.S. 
Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate for Intelligence, Terrorism 
Review, February 25, 1988, declassified and approved for release June 
1999; U.S. Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for 
Counterterrorism, Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1991, April 1992; U.S. 
Central Intelligence Agency, Director of Central Intelligence, ``Iran's 
Use of Terrorism,'' Interagency Intelligence Assessment, September 
1987, declassified in part, sanitized copy approved for release 
December 4, 2013; and testimony of James R. Clapper, director of 
national intelligence, in hearing, Current and Projected National 
Security Threats to the United States, Select Committee on 
Intelligence, U.S. Senate, 112th Congress, 2d Session, January 31, 
2012.
    \16\ Shane Harris, Souad Mekhennet, and Yeganeh Torbati, ``Rise in 
Iranian assassination, kidnapping plots alarms Western officials,'' The 
Washington Post, December 1, 2022.
    \17\ Press release, ``Iran: EU sanctions perpetrators of serious 
human rights violations,'' Council of the European Union, October 17, 
2022, and press release, ``Fight against terrorism: Council renews the 
designations on the EU terrorist list and adds two Iranian individuals 
and one Iranian entity in response to recent foiled attacks on European 
soil,'' Council of the European Union, January 9, 2019.
    \18\ Yoram Schweitzer, Anat Shapira, and Sima Shione, ``Increased 
Iranian Terrorist Activities: Emphasis on Israeli and Jewish Targets,'' 
Institute for National Security Studies Insight No. 1672, December 19, 
2022.
    \19\ Matthew Levitt, ``Iran's Deadly Diplomats,'' Combating 
Terrorism Center at West Point, CTC Sentinel, Vol. 11, No. 7 (August 
2018), and Andrew Hanna and Garrett Nada, ``Timeline: Iran's 
Assassinations and Plots,'' U.S. Institute of Peace, updated August 17, 
2022.
    \20\ Freedom House, ``Iran: Transnational Repression Case Study,'' 
Special Report, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Iranian plots have forced U.S. and European governments to 
reconsider long-held assumptions \21\ regarding the constraints 
governing Iranian external operations.\22\ Following the 2011 Arbabsiar 
plot to bomb the Cafe Milano in Washington, DC,\23\ to kill the Saudi 
Ambassador without regard for collateral deaths, then-Director of 
National Intelligence James Clapper testified before Congress that the 
plot ``shows that some Iranian officials--probably including Supreme 
Leader Ali Khamenei--have changed their calculus and are now more 
willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real 
or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime.''\24\
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    \21\ U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism, ``Select 
Iran-Sponsored Operational Activity in Europe, 1979-2018,'' July 5, 
2018.
    \22\ Matthew Levitt, `` `Fighters Without Borders'--Forecasting New 
Trends in Iran Threat Network Foreign Operations Tradecraft,'' 
Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, CTC Sentinel, Vol. 13, No. 2 
(February 2020).
    \23\ Press release, ``Manssor Arbabsiar Sentenced in New York City 
Federal Court to 25 Years in Prison for Conspiring with Iranian 
Military Officials to Assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the 
United States,'' U.S. Department of Justice, May 30, 2013.
    \24\ Greg Miller, ``Iran, perceiving threat from West, willing to 
attack on U.S. soil, U.S. intelligence report finds,'' The Washington 
Post, January 21, 2012, and Clapper testimony, January 31, 2012.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In November 2022, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned lawmakers of 
increasing threats to Americans from Iran, suggesting that ``the 
Iranian regime across multiple vectors has become more aggressive, more 
brazen and more dangerous'' over the preceding 18 months.\25\ National 
Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid reinforced Director 
Wray's warnings, telling Congress that the regime ``raises significant 
concerns from a security perspective'' both at home and in the Middle 
East.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \25\ Marc Rod, ``FBI's Wray Warns That Iran `Has Become More 
Aggressive, More Brazen, More Dangerous' '' Jewish Insider, November 
16, 2022, and ``Statement of Christopher A. Wray, Director, Federal 
Bureau of Investigation Before the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, at a hearing entitled ``Threats to 
the Homeland, presented November 17, 2022.''
    \26\ ``U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government 
Affairs, Annual Threat Assessment to the Homeland, Statement for the 
Record, Ms. Christine Abizaid, Director, National Counterterrorism 
Center, November 17, 2022.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In fact, the first external assassination plot carried out by 
agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran took place outside our Nation's 
capital. In July 1980, Iranian agents recruited David Belfield (aka 
Dawud Salahuddin), an American convert to Shiite Islam, to assassinate 
former Iranian diplomat Ali Akbar Tabatabai in Bethesda, Maryland.\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ Hearing, Iranian Terror Operations on American Soil, 
Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management and 
Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Committee on 
Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives, 112th Congress, 1st 
Session, October 26, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The most recent and explicit threats to us and other current and 
former U.S. officials followed the January 3, 2020, strike that 
resulted in the death of IRGC Major General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad 
International Airport while he was planning imminent operations against 
U.S. forces and diplomatic facilities. Soleimani was commander of the 
Quds Force, one of five branches of the IRGC subordinate to Supreme 
Leader Ali Khamenei. While this strike was used specifically as 
justification for retaliation against U.S. officials judged by Iran to 
have been responsible for the operation, it was hardly the first time 
that threats have been made against current and former U.S. officials 
that Iran has perceived as advocating or pursuing policies that it 
views as hostile.\28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \28\ Udit Banerjea, ``Revolutionary Intelligence: The Expanding 
Intelligence Role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps,'' Journal 
of Strategic Security, Vol. 8, No. 3 (2015); Matthew Levitt, ``Iranian 
State Sponsorship of Terror: Threatening U.S. Security, Global 
Stability, and Regional Peace,'' Testimony before the Subcommittee on 
Middle East and Central Asia and Subcommittee on International 
Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Committee on International Relations, 
U.S. House of Representatives, February 16, 2005, and Daniel Coats, 
director of national intelligence, ``Statement for the Record, 
Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community,'' 
January 29, 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed ``harsh revenge'' in the 
immediate aftermath of the strike against Soleimani. On December 6, 
2020, Khamenei posted on Twitter that ``[t]hose who ordered the murder 
of General Soleimani as well as those who carried this out should be 
punished. This revenge will certainly happen at the right time.''\29\ 
How he and other Iranian officials maintain U.S. social media accounts 
in violation of Twitter's policies \30\ and U.S. law \31\ is difficult 
to understand.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\ Tweet from @khamenei_ir, December 16, 2020.
    \30\ Twitter violent threats policy, https://help.twitter.com/en/
rules-and-policies/violent-threats-glorification.
    \31\ 18 U.S.C.  875.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Other Iranian officials have followed suit. IRGC chief General 
Hossein Salami publicly stated, ``We will target those who were 
directly or indirectly involved in the martyrdom of [Soleimani].'' 
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, speaking on the second anniversary of 
Soleimani's assassination, stated that former President Donald Trump 
must face trial for the killing or Tehran would take revenge. On 
November 15, 2021, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh 
stated, ``The basic principle in the foreign policy of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran was formed after the cowardly assassination of 
(Soleimani): The action taken by the perpetrators and advisers of this 
cowardly act will not go unpunished.''\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\ Reuters, ``Iran vows revenge for Soleimani killing if Trump 
not put on trial,'' January 3, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Specific threats against U.S. officials deemed by Iran to be 
responsible for Soleimani's death have been increasingly specific, 
credible, and imminent. The threats include efforts by Iran to inspire 
and celebrate ``lone wolf'' actors whose activities, by their nature, 
are hard to detect and preempt.\33\
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    \33\ Jana Winter, ``U.S. Government warns that Iran may try to kill 
American officials as revenge for killing top general,'' Yahoo News, 
updated July 13, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   January 2023.--An IRGC video was posted to social media \34\ 
        associated with the IRGC. It explicitly threatens former U.S. 
        officials (including myself) with imminent assassination by 
        drone, sniper fire, bomb, lethal injection, or stabbing in 
        retaliation for the strike against Qassem Soleimani.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \34\ Tweet from @Terror_Alarm, ``#Breaking: Iranian IRGC threatens 
to assassinate Trump, other former US officials, using #Shahid drones 
and Russian#Novichok agent, in a new video published on social media 
today,'' posted January 8, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   January 2023.--A social media account located in Iran and 
        presumably affiliated with the regime posted mug shots \35\ of 
        26 current and former officials (including myself) as ``most 
        wanted fugitives'' and stating, ``There is no night that we 
        sleep without thinking about you . . . Revenge is near Very 
        near!''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \35\ Tweet from @hadis_rah, ``There is no night that we sleep 
without thinking about you . . . Revenge is near Very near!'' posted 
January 3, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   March 2022.--Police body camera footage obtained by local 
        news outlet KLAS showed Nika Nikoubin, 22, confessing that she 
        stabbed her date in the neck in a Las Vegas-area hotel room 
        because she wanted to ``spill American blood.'' Asked by the 
        officer why she attacked her date, Nikoubin, then a student at 
        UCLA, said it was to avenge the death of Islamic Revolutionary 
        Guard Corps commander Qassem Soleimani.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \36\ David Charns, `` `Somebody on American soil should die,' Woman 
admits to `revenge' stabbing in Las Vegas-area hotel for death of 
Iranian leader,'' KLAS, posted December 15, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   August 2022.--Stockholm police destroyed a bag containing 
        explosives that was found in a park in the Swedish capital 
        threatening a 5-day Culture Festival featuring Iranian pop 
        singer Ebi, whose real name is Ebrahim Hamedi and who is a 
        known Iranian dissident.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \37\ Reuters and Associated Press, ``Bomb Found Outside Swedish 
Festival Where Iranian Dissident Played,'' Haaretz, August 22, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   August 2022.--Hadi Matar stabbed novelist Salman Rushdie 
        multiple times as Rushdie was about to give a public lecture at 
        the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. The 24-
        year-old Iranian American suspect was arrested at the scene and 
        was charged the following day with assault and attempted 
        murder.\38\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \38\ Scott Wilson, ``Grand jury indicts Salman Rushdie's alleged 
attacker,'' The Washington Post, August 18, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   August 2022.--Khalid Mehdiyev was pulled over a block from 
        Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad's home the same day after 
        failing to stop at a stop sign. Mehdiyev was earlier caught on 
        camera outside the home of Alinejad, who believes the man was 
        there to kill her. Police found an AK-47 in his car. Mehdiyev 
        is now facing multiple Federal charges, including criminal 
        possession of a machine gun.\39\
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    \39\ Complaint, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New 
York, 22 MAG 6185, Case 1:22-mj-06185-UA, filed July 29, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   April 2022.--Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein said 
        the Government wanted Haider Ali and Arian Taherzadeh--who were 
        arrested on charges of impersonating Federal law enforcement, 
        specifically with the Department of Homeland Security--held in 
        jail while they await trial. Taherzadeh, 40, and Ali, 35, were 
        charged in what prosecutors described as a ruse that started in 
        February 2020 and ended only after a postal inspector came 
        across the pair while investigating an unrelated case. Federal 
        law enforcement officials remain uncertain about what motivated 
        the men or what they wanted in return as they, according to 
        prosecutors, ``ingratiated themselves with and infiltrated'' 
        Secret Service agents and DHS personnel who lived in their D.C. 
        apartment building. The men were in possession of a weapons 
        cache, a high-powered telescope, surveillance equipment, 
        documents pointing to false names and other fake identities, 
        access to significant financial resources, and, in Ali's case, 
        visas for travel to Iran according to media accounts of the 
        case.\40\ The men pleaded guilty to Federal conspiracy and 
        other charges later in 2022 and are awaiting sentencing.\41\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \40\ Complaint, The United States District Court for the District 
of Columbia, Crim No.: 22-cr-133 (CKK), April 6, 2022.
    \41\ Press release, ``D.C. Man Pleads Guilty to Carrying Out 
Conspiracy to Impersonate Federal Law Enforcement Officer,'' U.S. 
Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, 
August 1, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   January 2022.--Iran imposed sanctions on dozens more 
        Americans over the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani in 
        a drone strike. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the 51 \42\ 
        Americans had been targeted for what it called ``terrorism'' 
        and human rights violations. An additional 61 were sanctioned 
        in July.\43\
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    \42\ Reuters, ``Iran sanctions 51 Americans over the 2020 killing 
of top general Qassem Soleimani,'' January 8, 2022.
    \43\ Reuters, ``Iran sanctions 61 more Americans as nuclear talks 
hit impasse,'' July 16, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   October 2021.--According to court documents, beginning in 
        October 2021, ``Shahram Poursafi, aka Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of 
        Tehran, Iran, attempted to arrange the murder of former 
        National Security Advisor John Bolton, likely in retaliation 
        for the January 2020 death of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary 
        Guard Corps--Qods Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani.'' 
        Working on behalf of the IRGC-QF, Poursafi tried to pay people 
        inside the United States $300,000 to carry out the 
        assassination in Washington, DC, or Maryland, according to the 
        U.S. Department of Justice.\44\
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    \44\ Press release, ``Member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard 
Corps (IRGC) Charged with Plot to Murder the Former National Security 
Advisor,'' U.S. Department of Justice, August 10, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   August 2021.--Hackers sponsored by the Iranian government 
        attempted a cyber attack against Boston Children's Hospital 
        that threatened to disrupt services to patients according to 
        FBI Director Christopher Wray.\45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \45\ Nate Raymond, ``Iranian-backed hackers targeted Boston 
Children's Hospital, FBI chief says,'' Reuters, June 1, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   July 2021.--The Department of Justice charged four Iranians 
        with conspiring to kidnap an Iranian American journalist and 
        dissident, Masih Alinejad, living in Brooklyn. The four men 
        were charged with conspiracy to kidnap, violating U.S. 
        sanctions on Iran, money laundering, and bank and wire fraud. 
        They faced a lifetime in prison if apprehended and convicted on 
        all charges. The indictment, unsealed in a New York Federal 
        court, identified the conspirators by name. Alireza Shavaroghi 
        was an intelligence official living in Iran who oversaw the 
        operation. Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi, and Omid Noori were 
        ``intelligence assets'' who worked under Farahani. The 
        indictment also named a female accomplice: Niloufar 
        Bahadorifar, age 46, who allegedly ``provided financial 
        services'' to the plotters while living in California. She was 
        arrested on July 1 and arraigned before a Federal judge on July 
        8. Bahadorifar was charged with violating U.S. sanctions on 
        Iran, money laundering, and bank and wire fraud. The four other 
        Iranians ``remain at large,'' the U.S. Attorney's Office for 
        the Southern District of New York said in a statement on July 
        13.\46\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \46\ Press release. ``Iranian Intelligence Officials Indicted on 
Kidnapping Conspiracy Charges,'' U.S. Department of Justice, July 13, 
2021, and press release, ``Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Kidnapping 
Conspiracy Charges Against an Iranian Intelligence Officer and Members 
of an Iranian Intelligence Network,'' U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. 
Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, July 13, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   March 2021.--Iran has made threats against Fort McNair and 
        against the Army's Vice Chief of Staff according to the 
        Associated Press, citing two senior U.S. intelligence 
        officials. Reportedly, communications intercepted by the 
        National Security Agency in January showed that Iran's 
        Revolutionary Guard discussed mounting ``USS Cole-style 
        attacks'' against the Army post, referring to the October 2000 
        suicide attack in which a small boat pulled up alongside the 
        Navy destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden and exploded, killing 
        17 sailors.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \47\ James LaPorta, ``AP sources: Iran threatens US Army post and 
top general,'' Associated Press, March 21, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   January 2021.--Iran requested Interpol to issue a ``red 
        notice'' for the arrest of President Trump and 47 other U.S. 
        officials (including myself), citing the targeted killing of 
        Qassem Soleimani, a powerful Iranian general. This was the 
        second time Iran asked for help in detaining the U.S. President 
        and other officials.\48\
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    \48\ Bill Chappell, ``Iran Renews Interpol Request to Arrest Trump, 
Other U.S. Officials,'' National Public Radio, January 5, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   September 2020.--U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks 
        was reportedly an Iranian assassination target. According to 
        news reports, the United States claimed Iran was considering 
        several options as retaliation for the U.S. killing of General 
        Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \49\ Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand, ``Officials: Iran weighing 
plot to kill U.S. Ambassador to South Africa,'' Politico, September 13, 
2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   June 2020.--Iran issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol 
        for help in detaining former President Trump and dozens of 
        other current and former U.S. officials that it believes 
        carried out the strike that killed a top Iranian general in 
        Baghdad according to Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr as 
        reported by the state-run IRNA news agency.\50\
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    \50\ Reuters, ``Iran issues warrant for Trump over killing of top 
general,'' June 29, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   November 2019.--Masoud Molavi Vardanjani, an Iranian 
        dissident, was shot dead in Istanbul. Turkish and U.S. 
        officials said that Iran appeared to be behind the 
        assassination. ``Given Iran's history of targeted 
        assassinations of Iranian dissidents and the methods used in 
        Turkey, the United States Government believes that Iran's 
        Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) was directly 
        involved in Vardanjani's killing,'' a senior administration 
        official told Reuters in April 2020.\51\
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    \51\ Humeyra Pamuk, ``U.S. believes Iran was `directly involved' in 
killing of Iranian dissident in Turkey,'' Reuters, April 1, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   October 2018.--Habib Jabor, the leader of an Iranian 
        dissident group (the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation 
        of Ahwaz, or ASMLA) based in Copenhagen, was reportedly the 
        target of an assassination plot according to Denmark's 
        intelligence agency. A Norwegian citizen of Iranian descent had 
        taken photographs and watched Jabor's home in Ringsted, a town 
        nearly 37 miles southwest of Copenhagen. The suspect was 
        arrested in Sweden on October 21 and extradited to Denmark.\52\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \52\ Emil Gjerding Nielson and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, ``Iranian 
spy service suspected of assassination plot in Denmark: security 
chief,'' Reuters, October 30, 2018.
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   June 2018.--An Iranian diplomat was convicted of a plot to 
        bomb a big French rally held by an exiled opposition group at 
        which Americans were present. Assadollah Assadi, 49, who worked 
        at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was given a 20-year jail term 
        by the court in Antwerp, Belgium. It was the first time an 
        Iranian official had faced such charges in the European Union 
        since the 1979 revolution. Three others were also convicted. 
        They were arrested during a joint operation by German, French, 
        and Belgian police. Tehran insists the plot was a fabrication. 
        Tens of thousands of people attended the June 2018 rally 
        outside Paris, including former New York City Mayor Rudy 
        Giuliani.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \53\ BBC News, ``France bomb plot: Iran diplomat Assadollah Assadi 
sentenced to 20 years,'' February 4, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   October 2011.--United States officials uncovered a plot tied 
        to the Iranian government to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel 
        al-Jubeir in the United States. The Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation named the case Operation Red Coalition. Iranian 
        nationals Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri were charged on 
        October 11, 2011, in Federal court in New York with plotting to 
        assassinate Al-Jubeir with the cooperation of narco-trafficking 
        criminal organizations. According to U.S. officials, the two 
        planned to kill Al-Jubeir at Washington's Cafe Milano 
        restaurant with a bomb and subsequently to bomb the Saudi 
        embassy and the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC. Arbabsiar 
        was arrested on September 29, 2011, at John F. Kennedy 
        International Airport in New York while Shakuri remained at 
        large. On October 24, 2011, Arbabsiar pleaded not guilty. In 
        May 2013, after pleading guilty, Arbabsiar was sentenced to 25 
        years imprisonment.\54\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \54\ Press release, ``Man Pleads Guilty in New York to Conspiring 
with Iranian Military Officials to Assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador 
to the United States,'' U.S. Department of Justice, October 17, 2012; 
Press release, ``Treasury Sanctions Five Individuals Tied to Iranian 
Plot to Assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United 
States,'' U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 11, 2011; ``General 
Notice: Renewal of Final Designations, Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. 
Act 2010,'' Her Majesty's Treasury Department, October 10, 2012; and 
``Two Men Charged in Alleged Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian 
ambassador to the United States,'' U.S. Department of Justice, October 
11, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    This list is illustrative but not exhaustive. Iran's increasingly 
and uninterrupted provocations reflect that it is undeterred--and even 
emboldened to take increasingly hostile actions.\55\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \55\ Hanna and Nada, ``Timeline: Iran's Assassinations and Plots.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the 
United States will ``protect and defend its citizens'' after Iran 
purported to impose sanctions on 52 Americans and that ``as Iran's 
proxy militias continue to attack American troops in the Middle East, 
and as Iranian officials threaten to carry out terror operations inside 
the United States and elsewhere around the world . . . [m]ake no 
mistake: the United States of America will protect and defend its 
citizens. This includes those serving the United States now and those 
who formerly served.''\56\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \56\ ``Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on 
Iranian Threats and Provocations Against American Citizens,'' The White 
House, January 9, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Former high-profile officials encompassed within Iran's specific 
threats have been provided personal security details. This includes 
former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and former Secretary of State 
Mike Pompeo, Former Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook, former National 
Security Advisors John Bolton and Robert O'Brien, and former U.S. 
Central Command General (Retired) Kenneth McKenzie.\57\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \57\ Matthew Lee, ``US extends protection for ex-Trump aides from 
Iran threats,'' Associated Press, January 10, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The State Department notified Congress that both Pompeo and Hook 
were still both subject to a ``serious and credible threat from a 
foreign power or agent of a foreign power'' stemming from their work 
while in Government. The State Department says it's paying more than $2 
million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of 
State Pompeo and former Special Envoy Hook, both of whom face ``serious 
and credible'' threats from Iran.\58\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \58\ Matthew Lee, ``US pays $2M a month to protect Pompeo, aide 
from Iran threat.'' Associated Press, March 12, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It is clear that there are specific, credible threats against 
former U.S. Government official and their families from Iran and those 
inspired to act on Iran's behalf. This necessitates urgent steps to 
improve their physical and cyber security. At the moment, Iran is 
clearly undeterred. It is pursuing assassination,\59\ abduction,\60\ 
terrorist,\61\ cyber,\62\ \63\ \64\ and surveillance \65\ plots in an 
increasingly aggressive fashion. Iran may choose to prioritize targets 
that lack the protection afforded to others on its hit list.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \59\ Vanguard News, ``How we saved Dasuki IBB, from assassins--
DSS,'' February 21, 2013.
    \60\ Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Iran's 
Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile, December 2012.
    \61\ Matthew Levitt, ``Hizballah and the Qods Force in Iran's 
Shadow War with the West,'' Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 
Policy Focus No. 123, January 29, 2013.
    \62\ Press release, ``Treasury Sanctions Iranian Organizations and 
Individuals Supporting Intelligence and Cyber Targeting of U.S. 
Persons,'' U.S. Department of the Treasury, February 13, 2019.
    \63\ Press release, ``Former U.S. Counterintelligence Agent Charged 
with Espionage on Behalf of Iran; Four Iranians Charged with a Cyber 
Campaign Targeting Her Former Colleagues,'' U.S. Department of Justice, 
February 13, 2019.
    \64\ Press release, ``Two Iranian Nationals Charged for Cyber-
Enabled Disinformation and Threat Campaign Designed to Influence the 
2020 U.S. Presidential Election,'' U.S. Department of Justice, November 
18, 2021.
    \65\ Press release, ``Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Kidnapping 
Conspiracy Charges Against an Iranian Intelligence Officer and Members 
of an Iranian Intelligence Network.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hamas' abhorrent terrorist attack on Israel resulting the deadliest 
day in their history and the second-most deadly terrorist attack on 
American citizens since September 11, 2001 reflect the failure of the 
administration's Iran appeasement policy and has resulted in Israel's 
only declaration of war since 1973 and we now stand on the precipice of 
a regional conflict.
    In August, I concluded that we have not faced a similar period of 
risk to U.S. interests in the Middle East since the turmoil following 
the Iranian Revolution, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and storming of 
the Grand Mosque in 1979.\66\ If we fail to restore deterrence and the 
conflict in Israel becomes regional or global, Americans at home and 
abroad will be at unprecedented risk. I appreciate all the efforts 
taken to protect U.S. citizens and former Government officials like me, 
but I also judge that the measures taken are no longer adequate. More 
must be done.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \66\ Robert Greenway, ``Strength in Unity: A Sustainable US-Led 
Regional Security Construct in the Middle East,'' Hudson Institute, 
August 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Recommendations:
   Increase assets required to identify existing infrastructure 
        within the United States.
   Provide protection to all former Government officials and 
        dissidents targeted by the Islamic Republic (including the 
        appropriations required).
   Disrupt active operational cells, physically and in the 
        cyber domain.
   Degrade their command, control, and communications 
        infrastructure.
   Establish a joint task force encompassing Justice, the FBI, 
        the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security 
        Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, State and local 
        law enforcement, our intelligence community, and our partners 
        and allies including Five Eyes Alliance (FVEY) partners and 
        Israel. This could be built upon the foundations of Joint 
        Terrorism Task Forces.
   Leverage existing counterintelligence authorities to 
        accelerate operational activity to disrupt hostile intelligence 
        threats, especially in the cyber domain.
   Preserve the capabilities of FISA Section 702 with necessary 
        reforms to protect the liberties of Americans.
   Enact H.R. 2 to secure our border and reestablish 
        territorial integrity.
   Reinstate any statutory sanctions imposed with respect to 
        Iran pursuant to section 1244(c)(1) or 1247(a) of the Iran 
        Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 
        8803(c)(1) and 8806(a)), or section 1245(d)(1) of the National 
        Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 
        8513a(d)(1)), that were waived, suspended, reduced, or 
        otherwise relieved pursuant to an agreement between the United 
        States and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    Chairman Green. Thank you, Mr. Greenway, for your 
testimony, and I now recognize Mr. Warrick for 5 minutes to 
summarize his opening statement.

  STATEMENT OF THOMAS S. WARRICK, NONRESIDENT SENIOR FELLOW, 
  ATLANTIC COUNCIL, SCOWCROFT MIDDLE EAST SECURITY INITIATIVE

    Mr. Warrick. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Thompson, Members 
of the committee, thank you for the honor to testify today. I 
would start, like my colleagues here, with condemning the 
October 7 Hamas terrorist attack which has been discussed at 
length.
    Last week, President Biden and other U.S. Government 
officials have been talking with the Israeli Prime Minister and 
others about the future of Gaza. It's important, I think we 
should all agree, that Iran should not determine the future of 
Gaza.
    Second, I want to salute the efforts by the Iranian people, 
women and men, to fight for life, freedom, and justice. The 
Iranian regime has chosen to make the United States an 
adversary. The Iranian people want to make different choices.
    Let me make four major points. First, Iran and its proxies 
are currently carrying out a campaign of hybrid warfare against 
the United States. The director of national intelligence said 
the same thing in the latest Annual Threat Assessment.
    Second, we need to address the threat from the Iranian 
regime on a sustained, bipartisan basis. This is how we won the 
Cold War and how we approach China today.
    For Iran, we need a sustainable, bipartisan strategy, both 
defending Americans at home and turning Iran away from its 
destabilizing ambitions.
    Third, after October 7, we need to recognize that strategic 
surprise is still possible. Even the State of Israel, with all 
of its measures in place, was surprised by Hamas' attack.
    The so-called ``Iron Wall'' between Israel and Gaza did not 
protect Israel's citizens from the October 7 attack. The Iron 
Wall was not enough. We should learn that lesson too.
    Fourth, we need to understand Iran's peculiar sense of 
symmetry. Iran is not incomprehensible. The Iranian regime is 
not 10 feet tall, and the IRGC Quds Force, while dangerous and 
committed, is not lurking behind every tree. There are numerous 
examples of this in my testimony. Let me just highlight a few 
in the way Iran approaches its terrorist actions against us and 
our allies.
    After the January 2020 strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, 
the Iranian Supreme Leader ordered his Security Council to, 
``strike America directly and in exact proportion to the 
attack.''
    In May 2018, after the United States started the maximum 
pressure campaign to reduce oil exports, Iran attacked tankers 
in May and June 2019, then a Saudi oil pipeline, then the Saudi 
Abqaiq facilities that cut Saudi oil exports in half. In cyber 
space, Stuxnet led to Iran targeting our industrial control 
systems. July 2012 sanctions on U.S. banks were followed by 
cyber attacks on U.S. banks. Wiper malware deleted data on 
Iranian oil industry computers, so Iran deleted data on Saudi 
computers.
    While the United States supports human rights and freedom 
in Iran--this is important--we can't be surprised and the 
Iranian regime thinks it can interfere in our democracy. There 
is, of course, absolutely no moral equivalency in these two 
situations, none. The way to defeat the Iranian regime is to 
raise our defenses so that the regime's plots fail.
    Mr. Chairman, in my written testimony I go through the 
three most important types of threats Iran poses:
    No. 1, targeted assassinations and terrorist attacks.
    No. 2, cyber attacks and cyber threats. Here is where Iran 
could pull off a strategic surprise, especially against our 
private sector.
    No. 3, Iranian disinformation operations. This is another 
area where I'm concerned Iran may pull off a strategic surprise 
as we move closer to the next U.S. election.
    Mr. Chairman, let me highlight seven steps I believe this 
committee can take to help address Iran's threats to the 
homeland:
    No. 1, work toward a bipartisan consensus to address the 
Iranian threat both at home and abroad.
    No. 2, focus on the most significant urgent threats, 
starting with increasing cybersecurity in the private sector. 
This committee should lead a national debate about whether we 
are devoting enough resources to cybersecurity, especially in 
the private sector.
    No. 3, renew the authorization of DHS's Countering Weapons 
of Mass Destruction Office. This office does vital work. Iran 
is one of the few countries in the world that has used chemical 
weapons in the 1980's. I know this committee has done its part, 
but I believe the bill is now held up in the Senate by a single 
Senator. I would urge you and other Members of this committee 
to engage with that Senator to break the logjam and send the 
bipartisan CWMD reauthorization to the President.
    No. 4, renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 
section 702, but with changes, as my colleague Mr. Greenway has 
just said. Section 702 is unequivocally the most timely, 
impactful, and cost-effective authority to obtain foreign 
intelligence on terrorists, spies, and weapons proliferators.
    No. 5, enact the House language in the Intelligence 
Authorization Act on DHS intelligence and analysis collection 
authority. I'm concerned that the comparable Senate language 
prohibits I&A from doing any collection whatsoever. I&A needs 
to ensure it does not infringe on Constitutional rights. That 
is essential. But to deny I&A any ability to collect 
information goes farther than it should. The House in this 
respect is correct and should stand by its provision.
    No. 5, Congress should extend DHS's and FAA's authorities 
to counter unmanned aerial systems. Hamas used drones to deadly 
effect against the Israeli iron wall in Gaza. Iranian 
operatives or its proxies might try to use UASes here in the 
United States. It's vital that Congress resolves the competing 
versions before these authorities expire at the end of this 
year.
    Finally, Congress should reauthorize the Chemical Facility 
Anti-Terrorism Standard, CFATS. This expired on July 28. This 
important program gives DHS the authority to enforce security 
standards for the Nation's chemical plants to make it harder 
for terrorists to get access to those facilities.
    Here again, Mr. Chairman, you and this committee have done 
your part. The bill is held up in the Senate by a single 
Senator. I would urge the committee to engage with that 
Senator, break this logjam, and send your bipartisan 
reauthorization bill to the President right away.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Warrick follows:]
                Prepared Statement of Thomas S. Warrick
                            October 25, 2023
    Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Thompson, Members of the House 
Committee on Homeland Security, thank you for the honor to testify 
today on the Iranian regime's threats to homeland security. I have 40 
years' experience addressing challenges from Iran, starting in the 
private sector in 1981 with the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal and the 
aftermath of the Iran hostage crisis. I served 10 years at the U.S. 
State Department, including working to counter Iranian influence. I 
served more than 11 years at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 
most of that as deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy, 
where countering the Iranian regime's actions as the leading state-
sponsor of terrorism was one of our foremost counterterrorism 
priorities. For a time, I was DHS's senior-most Iran expert. I am proud 
to have served under 4 Presidents of both parties. Today, I'm a senior 
fellow at the Atlantic Council and director of the Future of DHS 
Project, working on a number of initiatives to strengthen the 
Department of Homeland Security. I co-lead our Counterterrorism Study 
Group and am the convener of the Experts' Coalition on Borders, 
Immigration, and Trade. Our work supports the extraordinary efforts of 
the men and women of DHS and throughout the homeland security 
enterprise to keep our country safe.
        how we should address iran's threat to the united states
    I'm going to summarize the threats that the Iranian regime poses to 
the United States homeland, but first, I would make two short points. 
The Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 ranks among the world's worst 
terrorist attacks in modern history. In addition to the more than 1,400 
Israelis killed, at least 31 American citizen deaths make this one of 
the worst terrorist attacks against Americans since the Pulse nightclub 
attack in Orlando, Florida, in 2016. American resolve, as shown by the 
President's and the Congress's bipartisan support for Israel, and 
President Biden's deployment of two aircraft carrier battle groups to 
the eastern Mediterranean, are an essential response to this terrorist 
attack and a warning to Iran and Lebanese Hizballah. Americans have a 
stake in what will come after Hamas's military defeat. The United 
States is already in discussions with the Israelis and other allies 
over the future of Gaza, to ensure these terrorist attacks do not 
repeat in a few years--and to ensure that Iran does not determine the 
future of Gaza. There is a role for our homeland security agencies in 
supporting this. But Iran's role in funding, arming, equipping, and 
helping train Hamas terrorists is something that our Government must, 
and will, address.
    Second, today's hearing takes place against the background of 
unprecedented efforts by the Iranian people, women and men, to fight 
for greater freedoms and justice against the current Iranian regime. We 
should acknowledge the historic importance of this struggle, which is 
led by Iranians and should have the support of all Americans. The 
Iranian regime has chosen to make the United States an adversary. The 
Iranian people want to make different choices.
    Turning back to the subject of this hearing, I want to leave you 
with four important points.
    First, Iran poses a threat to the security of the United States, 
including here in the homeland. We should not think of Iran as a purely 
Middle Eastern security challenge. That's why today's hearing is 
important. The phrase ``great power competition'' is the organizing 
principle for our national security agencies, but it has its limits. 
While China and Russia are ``great powers,'' and they do pose the 
greatest challenges to American security, Iran is not a great power but 
is nevertheless a serious challenge, and not just because of its 
nuclear program and its threat to overseas American allies like Israel 
and our Arab partners. Iran and its proxies are currently carrying out 
a campaign of hybrid warfare against the United States and our allies. 
I'm not the only one saying this: the director of national intelligence 
likewise warned of Iran's hybrid approach to warfare in the 2023 Annual 
Threat Assessment.
    This requires vigilance here at home, including from the private 
sector. North Korea is a challenge, too, but Iran poses a unique, 
multi-dimensional threat that requires us to think in 3-D technicolor, 
not just two-dimensional black and white. Given that chess originated 
in Iran, I've often heard the criticism that the United States plays 
checkers while the Iranian regime plays chess. Now is the time for the 
United States and our allies to start playing three-dimensional chess.
    Second, we need to address the threat from the Iranian regime on a 
sustained, bipartisan basis. We will not succeed with a policy that 
changes radically if the White House or the Congress changes. A 
consistent, sustained, bipartisan response is how the United States won 
the Cold War. It took the United States decades of sustained, 
bipartisan effort, working with U.S. allies around the world, and 
including efforts both at home and abroad, to win the Cold War without 
a hot war with the Soviet Union. We are approaching the challenge from 
China today with a similar bipartisan approach, including some 
excellent work here in the Congress. We need to build a sustainable, 
bipartisan strategy to address the threat from the Iranian regime. We 
need to play defense by protecting the homeland, including American 
citizens and the private sector, from Iran's destabilizing actions. 
Both protecting Americans at home and turning Iran away from its 
destabilizing ambitions and its state-sponsorship of terrorism will 
require a sustained, bipartisan effort, working with U.S. allies, and 
with an eye toward strengthening security, including in the private 
sector.
    Third, one of the lessons the United States needs to embrace after 
October 7 is that strategic surprise is still possible. Even the State 
of Israel, with all its focus, technology, and capabilities, was 
surprised by Hamas's attack on October 7. The so-called ``Iron Wall'' 
between Israel and Gaza did not protect Israel's citizens from the 
October 7 attack. What happened on October 7 is well past any effort to 
analogize it to 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. The United States is 35 times the 
size of Israel. On a proportional basis, the number of Israelis killed 
on October 7 is more than half the number of Americans killed during 
the whole of the Vietnam War--and Israel suffered most of those deaths 
in a single day. The Iron Wall was not enough--we should learn that 
lesson, too. Today in the homeland security enterprise, every watch and 
warning officer, and every strategic planner in the U.S. Government, 
should be using red cells to look for vulnerabilities, including those 
we have not focused on. The Iranian regime is precisely the kind of 
threat that deserves this attention, especially in the areas of 
cybersecurity and countering Iranian disinformation. I will have more 
to say about these points below.
    Fourth, I urge this committee to understand Iran's peculiar sense 
of symmetry. Understanding Iran is a challenge, but Iran is far from 
incomprehensible. Eighty-four years ago this month, Winston Churchill 
famously described the Soviet Union as ``a riddle, wrapped in a 
mystery, inside an enigma.'' What everyone forgets are his next words: 
``Perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.'' 
Churchill was one of the most clear-eyed leaders in history about the 
Soviet Union. We need to be equally clear-eyed about the Iranian 
regime. The Iranian regime is not 10 feet tall, and the Iranian Islamic 
Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods Force, while dangerous and committed, 
is not lurking behind every tree.
    Instead, we need to understand Iran's peculiar sense of symmetry. 
Let me give several examples. The day after the January 2, 2020 strike 
that killed Qasim Soleimani, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i gave 
his Supreme National Security Council a written order to ``strike 
America directly and in exact proportion to the attack,'' two sources 
told the New York Times. Other Iranian military leaders made similar 
statements. In May 2018, when the United States started a ``maximum 
pressure'' campaign to reduce Iran's oil exports, which Iran considered 
economic warfare, Iran showed it could reduce U.S. allies' ability to 
export oil, first in May and June with attacks on tankers and a Saudi 
pipeline, then with the September 14, 2019 Abqaiq attack that halved 
Saudi oil exports.
    Iran's sense of symmetry is more pronounced in cyber space. After 
the ``Stuxnet'' malware that targeted Iran's Siemens industrial control 
systems came to light in June 2010, Iran developed its own cyber attack 
capability that it used in 2013, 3 years later, to target U.S. 
infrastructure. On July 30, 2012, new U.S. sanctions targeted Iranian 
banks. Two months later, Iran ramped up denial-of-service attacks, 
whose main targets were--U.S. banks. In August 2012, Iran's surprise 
``Shamoon'' attack deleted 35,000 hard drives at Saudi Aramco, 
described as ``the biggest hack in history.'' What got less publicity 
is that in early 2012, ``Wiper'' malware deleted data on Iranian Oil 
Ministry and National Iranian Oil Company computers.
    The symmetry can be positive and negative: When the Iran nuclear 
deal was in force, Iranian cyber attacks appeared to decrease. When the 
Trump administration began its 2018 ``maximum pressure'' campaign, 
Iranian cyber attacks increased within 24 hours. On June 20, 2018, 
after Iranian attacks on civilian tankers, President Trump retaliated 
by cyber attack. Private U.S. businesses noticed a further increase in 
Iranian cyber attacks.
    And while the United States supports the cause of human rights and 
freedom in Iran, we cannot be surprised when the Iranian regime thinks 
this gives it a license to try to interfere in democratic processes 
here in the United States. There is, of course, absolutely no moral 
equivalency in the two situations--none. But the Iranian regime does 
not think this way, so we need to be prepared. We should not be 
deterred from pursuing what is right. One essential part of the 
response to Iran's peculiar sense of symmetry is that we must raise our 
defenses to the level where the Iranian regime's efforts to target our 
security, and especially our democratic processes, all fail.
    This list could go on. But while Iran and its proxies are capable 
of tactical surprise, as Hamas achieved on October 7, it is possible 
for the United States and our allies to put in place defensive measures 
to protect the American people, and to help our allies, from the 
threats that Iran poses. Later I will discuss several specific steps 
Congress can take to help this.
       the iranian regime's threats to the united states homeland
    Let me briefly categorize the most significant threats from the 
Iranian regime toward the U.S. homeland.
    1. Targeted assassinations and terrorist attacks in the United 
        States homeland, and plots to kill or kidnap Americans here or 
        overseas.--The Iranian regime is responsible for plots to kill 
        or kidnap American citizens who are critics of the regime, and 
        against former American officials. There is every reason to 
        expect such plots to continue. Disrupting these plots will 
        require continued vigilance from the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigations (FBI), which has the lead in disrupting such 
        plots. Other parts of the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement 
        communities also play vital roles.
    Cooperation among U.S. law enforcement agencies has proven 
        extraordinarily effective in disrupting these plots. For 
        example, in 2011, an extremely small number of IRGC Qods Force 
        (IRGC-QF) officers tried to use Mansour Arbabsiar to 
        assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir in a 
        Washington restaurant. The plot was uncovered by agents of the 
        Drug Enforcement Administration. The advance passenger 
        information systems by which Arbabsiar's travel was tracked 
        were developed by the Department of Homeland Security's Customs 
        and Border Protection. Arbabsiar was arrested by the FBI when 
        his flight between Mexico City and Amsterdam landed at New 
        York's John F. Kennedy airport. Arbabsiar pled guilty and 
        cooperated with authorities in helping obtain evidence against 
        other IRGC officers involved in the plot. He is now serving a 
        25-year sentence in Federal prison in Marion, Illinois. 
        Cooperation among our law enforcement and homeland security 
        agencies has proved successful at uncovering plots by Iran and 
        its proxies.
    In a more recent example, a U.S. citizen in California, 4 Iranian 
        regime operatives, and an Eastern Europe criminal syndicate 
        were charged with attempts to kidnap and kill an American 
        citizen who was publicly critical of the regime's human rights 
        abuses. This resulted in a guilty plea on material support 
        charges for the one accused who was here in the United States 
        and the arrest of 3 members of the Eastern European crime 
        syndicate. Others are still wanted for their role in these 
        plots.
    Iran's proxies Hamas and Lebanese Hizballah are also trying to 
        build up a presence here in the United States. Here, again, 
        cooperation among U.S., State, and local law enforcement has 
        proved effective in uncovering and disrupting such plots. 
        Continued vigilance will be essential.
    2. Cyber threats from Iran are certain, and on-going.--The Office 
        of the Director of National Intelligence said in its 2023 
        threat assessment that ``Iran's growing expertise and 
        willingness to conduct aggressive cyber operations make it a 
        major threat to the security of U.S. and allied networks and 
        data. Iran's opportunistic approach to cyber attacks makes 
        critical infrastructure owners in the United States susceptible 
        to being targeted . . . ''. This is an area where Iran could 
        pull off a strategic surprise. Of particular concern is Iran's 
        willingness to target U.S. private-sector entities. Today, most 
        Government systems are better defended, as are the major firms 
        that form the backbone of America's digital economy. But the 
        companies that are the ``fingers'' and ``toes'' are not as well 
        protected. The March 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy will 
        help when it is fully implemented. However, since so much of 
        the Nation's critical cyber infrastructure is in the hands of 
        the private sector, we need, as a Nation, to ask if we are 
        adequately invested in cybersecurity.
    3. Iranian disinformation operations pose an increasing 
        challenge.--This is an area where Iran could pull off a 
        strategic surprise. Early Iranian disinformation efforts were 
        clumsy, but their attempt to exploit racial polarization in 
        Florida in the 2020 election showed a significantly greater 
        sophistication than before. I am not as concerned about actual 
        Iranian threats to voting infrastructure, but Iranian 
        disinformation efforts in the run-up to the 2024 election are 
        worth our attention in order to ensure that they get exposed 
        and disrupted.
                 seven steps the u.s. congress can take
    Let me close with seven ways in which Congress can help strengthen 
America's defenses against today's multi-dimensional threat from Iran.
    1. Work toward a bipartisan consensus to address the Iranian threat 
        both at home and abroad.
    2. Focus on the most significant urgent threats, starting with 
        increasing cybersecurity in the private sector.--The 
        governmental security partner for most private-sector firms in 
        the United States is the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 
        Security Agency (CISA). In 2021, John Katko, then the Ranking 
        Republican on this committee, said the Cybersecurity and 
        Infrastructure Security Agency should play quarterback for 
        cybersecurity, and should be funded like one. He called for 
        CISA to become a $5 billion agency in 5 years. CISA is now 
        funded at half that level. While we focus, rightly, on specific 
        cyber threats like ransomware and the potential for nation-
        states like China and Iran to carry out cyber attacks against 
        critical infrastructure, we are not engaging in the debate as 
        to whether we as a country are devoting the right level of 
        resources to cybersecurity, both the levels of private-sector 
        and Governmental spending. Governmental spending on 
        cybersecurity may be the purview of the appropriations 
        committees, but encouraging the private sector to do more to 
        protect computer systems from Iranian and other hostile attacks 
        is something that this committee should continue to urge as an 
        urgent matter.
    3. Renew the authorization of DHS's Countering Weapons of Mass 
        Destruction office.--This office does vital work in 
        coordinating training and the procurement of equipment to 
        prevent low-probability, high-impact attacks using weapons of 
        mass destruction. I do not need to remind this committee that 
        Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has actually 
        used chemical weapons, during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's. 
        Iran's nuclear ambitions are well past the level of technology 
        required to build dirty bombs--conventional explosives with 
        radiation enhancements. DHS needs the CWMD office re-
        authorized, and it also needs an authorized Office of Health 
        Security. I know this committee has done its job and the bill 
        is now held up in the Senate, I believe by a single Senator. I 
        urge this committee to engage to break the logjam and send a 
        bipartisan reauthorization bill to the President right away.
    4. Renew Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act section 702 with 
        changes.--As my former government colleague Jon Darby, former 
        director of operations at the National Security Agency, and I 
        wrote in The Hill in September, ``We can unequivocally state 
        that Section 702 is the most timely, impactful, and cost-
        effective authority to obtain foreign intelligence on 
        terrorists, spies, weapons proliferators, cyber attackers and 
        nation-states that pose threats to the United States and our 
        allies. History will judge us harshly if we unilaterally give 
        up an important intelligence advantage against those who are 
        trying to harm us.'' I understand some in Congress have 
        concerns, particularly over past FBI practices, and these do 
        need to be addressed, but without requiring a judge to be 
        sitting at the elbow of every Government analyst working on 
        national security cases. Given the threats we face from Iran 
        and elsewhere, we cannot let the vital authority of section 702 
        lapse at the end of this year. This is the wrong time for 
        Congress to be sending the message said in 1929, ``Gentlemen do 
        not read each other's mail.''
    5. Enact the House language in the Intelligence Authorization Act 
        on the collection authority of DHS's Office of Intelligence and 
        Analysis (I&A).--Section 435 of H.R. 3932 calls for an 
        assessment by the Inspector General of the intelligence 
        community on the collection authority of DHS I&A. It is 
        particularly concerning that the comparable Senate language 
        prohibits DHS I&A from doing any collection whatsoever. It is 
        true that DHS I&A needs to be particularly conscious about 
        respecting boundaries so that its actions do not infringe on 
        Americans' Constitutional rights to free speech and the right 
        to counsel, and I believe that Under Secretary Ken Wainstein 
        agrees with this principle. But to deny I&A any ability to 
        collect information relevant to border smuggling and 
        trafficking, for example, goes farther than it should. When 
        this language comes to conference between the House and the 
        Senate, the House should stand firm on this particular issue.
    6. Extend authorities to counter unmanned aerial systems (UAS).--
        Congress needs to ensure that Federal counter-UAS authorities, 
        which were extended in the continuing resolution, do not lapse 
        at the end of this year. Drones were precisely one of the 
        technologies that Hamas used to deadly effect against the 
        Israeli Iron Wall in Gaza. This committee should be concerned 
        about what Iranian operatives or Iranian proxies might try to 
        do with unmanned aerial systems here in the United States. It 
        is vital for the security of the homeland that Congress and the 
        administration resolve the competing versions of this bill 
        before counter-UAS authorities lapse at the end of the year.
    7. Renew the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) 
        program, which expired on July 28, 2023.--This important 
        program gives DHS the authority to enforce security standards 
        for the Nation's chemical plants, to make it harder for 
        terrorists to get access to those facilities. Here again, the 
        House has done its work in passing a bipartisan bill, and there 
        is a bipartisan bill in the Senate that is being held up, I 
        believe by a single Senator. I urge this committee to engage to 
        break the logjam and send a bipartisan reauthorization bill to 
        the President right away.
    Mr. Chairman, I thank you and the committee for your time and look 
forward to answering your questions.

    Chairman Green. Thank you, Mr. Warrick.
    Again, thank you to all of our witnesses. This has been 
very good, very much appreciate your wisdom and years of 
experience.
    Members will be recognized by order of seniority for their 
5 minutes of questioning, and an additional round of 
questioning may be called for by all Members once everybody has 
been recognized.
    I now recognize myself for 5 minutes of questioning.
    In 2013, Manssor Arbabsiar, an Iranian American with 
familial links to high-ranking members of the Quds Force was 
sentenced to 25 years in Federal Court for conspiring to 
assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. 
Mr. Arbabsiar and his Iranian conspirators attempted to contact 
an individual they believed to be a member of a Mexican drug 
cartel to coordinate the attack. This plot not only endangered 
Saudi Arabia's Ambassador but also innocent lives here in the 
United States.
    My question is for Ambassador Sales: Our Nation is 
experiencing a record number of illegal aliens attempting to 
cross our Southwest Border, including special interest aliens 
and known/suspected terrorists.
    Do you believe the Iranian regime or its proxies could 
utilize their relationships with Mexican cartels to exploit the 
vulnerabilities at our Southwest Border to commit nefarious 
acts here in the homeland?
    Mr. Sales. Mr. Chairman, thanks for the question. I do 
share that concern. The Iranian regime is persistent. They have 
already tried on multiple occasions to exploit vulnerabilities 
at our Southern Border to carry out acts of terrorism, the 
assassination plot that you mentioned, the assassination plot 
against former National Security Advisor John Bolton. They are 
going to keep trying until we stop them.
    Chairman Green. In the 1.7 million known gotaways--and 
these are the individuals that Customs and Border Patrol 
actually seize and can count. This isn't the unknown gotaways. 
But in those individuals, the known gotaways, the unknown 
gotaways, what guarantees do we have that Hamas hasn't already 
penetrated those?
    Mr. Sales. I don't think we have any guarantees, Mr. 
Chairman, and I think we have to assume the worst. We know that 
Iranian-linked terrorists have been found in the United States. 
I mentioned Hezbollah. One hundred twenty-eight Hezbollah 
operatives arrested over the years by the FBI.
    Within that population of however many millions or hundreds 
of thousands of known gotaways, we should not assume that they 
are all perfectly clean.
    Chairman Green. Take a minute, if you don't mind, and just 
can you explain the relationship between the Iranian regime and 
the drug cartels?
    Mr. Sales. I think one of the modus operandi that the 
regime is most closely associated with is hiding behind 
proxies. They hide behind terror proxies in the Middle East, 
such as Hezbollah, such as Iraqi militias that are currently 
launching attacks on Americans, as Mr. Greenway pointed out, 
but it's not just terror proxies.
    They also hide behind organized crime and get them to do 
their dirty work. As Ms. Alinejad pointed out, it was an 
Eastern European criminal syndicate that was involved in the 
attempted assassination of her. Mexican drug cartels or 
suspected Mexican drug cartels involved in the assassination 
plots against John Bolton and against the Saudi Ambassador.
    So it's highly consistent with Iranian tradecraft to use 
these sorts of proxies and hide behind them.
    Chairman Green. Mr. Greenway, do you agree with the 
assessment of Ambassador Sales on the potential threat at the 
Southwest Border and that Iran could use that current open 
border to threaten Americans here at home?
    Mr. Greenway. There is no question, Mr. Chairman. Again, 
they've got a stated and past record of doing exactly that.
    I would also note that their surrogates and proxies and 
Iran itself is engaged in criminal activity, and so it's not a 
surprise that they would make common cause with other criminal 
networks. They have ample opportunity if the population of 
available agents that they could use in order to conduct 
operational activity is expanded dramatically.
    Chairman Green. I agree with some comments that the Ranking 
Member made in his opening statement about current known 
intelligence threats. As we've connected with CBP and their 
Intelligence Division, they have made that clear.
    However, I want to enter into the record by unanimous 
consent their situational awareness alert that they put out 
advising their people to be on the watch for these individuals, 
both Hamas, and they shared Hamas patches, Hezbollah patches, 
because clearly the threat is real. I'd like, with unanimous 
consent, to enter this into the record.
    Hearing no objection, so ordered.*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * The information has been retained in committee files.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I'm actually going to do something I rarely do and yield 
back a little extra time. Maybe I'll give it to Mr. Ivey, but, 
again, thank you for being here.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member for his 5 minutes of 
questioning.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Warrick, in your opening statement, you talked about 
Iran and its impact on the people of Israel. What must Congress 
do, in your opinion, to support Israel in order to prevent a 
wider war in the region?
    Mr. Warrick. Well, I would note with great satisfaction the 
measures that the Biden administration has already taken, 
sending two aircraft carrier battle groups to make it very 
clear to our enemies--Hezbollah, Iran, whoever they may be--
that they should take no steps to try to inflame the situation 
in the Middle East beyond what it already is. That will be very 
important.
    I think it's also important for us to make sure that the 
American people appreciate that protecting our computer 
networks and cybersecurity here at home is something that's an 
obligation for all of us to undertake.
    The National Cybersecurity Strategy will help. It needs to 
be fully funded. Yet there are still many things that Americans 
can do to make sure that our defenses are so strong that no 
Iranian cyber attack would be able to do damage to us. This 
will take vigilance.
    Then, finally, there are obviously things that we, as the 
American people, need to do. As the President said, speaking 
out against antisemitism and Islamophobia is actually important 
for the security of the United States and American values.
    I think that's something that all Americans can do as we 
hope that the situation is addressed and the war that Israel 
has had to declare against Hamas comes to a conclusion that 
will be a better world for the Middle East.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you.
    Ambassador Sales, there is significant concern about the 
Iranian threat to our homeland. In your review of that threat, 
how would you suggest to this committee that we address it?
    Mr. Sales. Well, thanks for the question, Ranking Member 
Thompson.
    I think the threat is significant. We've heard about 
several on-going assassination plots. I think the most 
important thing that the U.S. Government and this committee can 
do is reestablish deterrence.
    Iran is not currently deterred from carrying out these 
operations. I think that the prosecutions that have been 
undertaken are all to the good. I'm grateful to the Justice 
Department for pursuing the wrongdoers who are trying to shed 
American blood on American soil, but we have to do more than 
that.
    That doesn't mean, as I said in my opening remarks, bombing 
Tehran, but the United States needs to actively deter Iran, 
demonstrate strength to the Iranian regime so that the regime 
concludes: We have more to lose from carrying out these sorts 
of operations than we have to gain from them.
    Mr. Thompson. Mr. Greenway, what's your opinion on that?
    Mr. Greenway. I would agree completely. I think, in the 
end, a bus is easier to stop before it gets to full speed. We 
were complacent before 9/11, and I think we can be accused of 
being complacent now.
    The threat is real. It is present, and it requires 
immediate action and priority. I think we have deprioritized 
the range of Iranian threats associated with the current 
administration's policies. If they are corrected, we may be 
able to detect the next threat before it occurs.
    Mr. Thompson. Mr. Warrick.
    Mr. Warrick. This echoes debates that I've had with Mr. 
Greenway and Mr. Sales both. Iran did not go to our military 
academies and actually doesn't respond to deterrence in the way 
we teach it to our military. Strong defenses are the best way 
to prevent Iranian threats from harming us. We need to elevate 
our defenses here at home and to take out measures that will 
deter Iran's proxies from getting involved in these matters.
    But strong defenses at home are the absolute essential best 
way to defeat Iranian threats to the homeland. That includes in 
cybersecurity. It includes being aware of Iranian 
disinformation efforts, especially during our political 
campaigns. But they will stop at nothing in order to try to 
continue to extend their authority over the Middle East, and 
this obviously is a direct threat to Israel and to our Arab 
partners.
    Mr. Thompson. Thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Green. I thank the Ranking Member for his 
questions.
    I now recognize the Vice Chairman of the committee, the 
gentleman from Mississippi, also from Mississippi, Mr. Guest.
    Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    To each of our witnesses, I want to thank you for 
referencing the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, a 
terrorist organization funded by Iran.
    Mr. Warrick, you say in your written statement that the 
Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 ranks among the worst 
terrorist attack in modern history.
    Mr. Greenway, you reference the attack, and you say at 
least 1,200 Israelis were killed, 2,200 wounded, and 
approximately 150 hostages taken as Hamas terrorists carried 
out an unprecedented multifront attack on Israel at daybreak on 
October 7.
    Ambassador Sales, in your written testimony, you state that 
this hearing is taking place in the aftermath of a horrific 
terrorist attack on our ally Israel. On October 7, gunmen from 
Hamas, a Palestine terrorist group that the Islamic Republic 
provides with money, weapons, and training invaded Southern 
Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 1,400 men, women, and 
children were mercilessly slaughtered and 200 hostages were 
carried off into captivity, including infants and toddlers.
    You go on to say October 7 was the deadliest day in 
Israel's 75 history, more than it was the deadliest day of Jews 
since the Holocaust.
    Finally, you reference it was also a dark day for America, 
with 30 U.S. citizens killed and an estimated 1,300 missing.
    I want to take a minute first to condemn the attacks on 
Israel. I also want to take a moment to condemn Members of 
Congress who do not support Israel's right to defend 
themselves, to defend Members of Congress who spread false 
information that the hospital destroyed in Gaza was caused by 
Israel when, instead, we know that our intelligence community 
shows that that destruction was caused by Palestine militants.
    We know Iran is an exporter of terrorists, funding 
terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. We also 
know how Iran feels about America, that the Iranian regime 
hates America. Iranian leaders refer to America as the Great 
Satan.
    We saw several years ago, after the death of General 
Soleimani, that the Israeli--excuse me, the Iranian Parliament 
in unison chanted ``death to America, death to America.''
    We also know that our intelligence agency has identified 
threats posed to the United States by Iran. In the Annual 
Threat Assessment, which was conducted and put out by the 
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, dated February 
of this year, there is an entire section on Iran. Well, that 
section states Iran will continue to threaten U.S. persons 
directly and via proxy attacks, particularly in the Middle 
East. Iran also remains committed to developing surrogate 
networks inside the United States, an objective it has pursued 
for more than a decade.
    So, in light of the warnings issued by the director of 
national intelligence, I want to speak to the threats to our 
homeland posed by the vulnerabilities caused by our unsecured 
border. We saw statistics that have recently been released. It 
shows a record number of immigrants coming across the border. 
Fiscal year 2021, 1.7 million. Fiscal year 2022, 2.4. This past 
year, fiscal year 2023, almost 2.5, and that's in addition to 
the estimated 1.5 million gotaways.
    We know that FOX reported that this month that there were 
two Iranians who were apprehended crossing the Southwest 
Border, both who appeared on the Terrorist Screening Database.
    Mr. Greenway, in the brief amount of time that I have left, 
I would ask that you would speak specifically to the dangers 
posed to our homeland by this administration's failure to 
secure our Southwest Border.
    Mr. Greenway. Thank you, Congressman. I would say that, 
first, you correctly point out that the population that's 
entered our border provides rich potential for them to recruit 
criminal organizations to conduct a range of attacks.
    Second, their operational infrastructure already here in 
the United States has been deprioritized such that it has been 
unaddressed. The combination of the two constitute a prescient 
risk.
    Mr. Guest. One last thing, Mr. Greenway, and then I'll 
close. One of your recommendations is to enact H.R. 2 and to 
reestablish territorial integrity. Is that correct?
    Mr. Greenway. It is, sir.
    Mr. Guest. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Carter.
    Mr. Carter. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
    Jewish religious institutions, including schools and 
synagogues, have seen an uptick in threats since the Hamas 
terrorist attack on Israel, including places like New Orleans, 
which I represent.
    The New Orleans Police Department has had to boost security 
around the Jewish community and, according to interim Police 
Chief Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, New Orleans Police has 
deployed directed patrols to ensure the safety of our Jewish 
institutions and communities.
    Similarly, we have seen an uptick in anti-Muslim threats 
across the country, including the tragic murder of a 6-year-old 
Palestinian boy in Illinois by a deranged man who was driven to 
kill after becoming enraged while listening to Conservative 
talk radio.
    Mr. Warrick, based on your experience, how do you--how do 
events unfolding in Israel and in Gaza and the way news and 
politicians talk about these events affect Homeland Security 
and the threats minority communities face, and what steps 
should government take to ensure the safety of minority and 
religious institutions?
    Mr. Warrick. Thank you very much for that question. I 
completely agree with the proposition that it is important for 
all of our leaders to speak out against antisemitism and 
Islamophobia.
    Americans have the tradition of expressing differences 
through peaceful means, but it's absolutely unacceptable when 
language becomes so inflamed that it encourages what are often 
lone actors, who read these messages, consume this content, to 
believe that they should somehow carry out acts of violence. It 
is deeply, deeply troubling when leaders call for violence or 
for measures that any reasonable person would understand would 
cause those who are in some ways close to the edge to go over 
that edge into violent actions.
    So the best thing that all of our leaders can do is 
continue to call for everyone to resist antisemitism, resist 
Islamophobia, and remember that, as Americans, we settle our 
differences through democratic and peaceful means.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you.
    Iran has a long history of assassination plots and 
targeting dissidents who live outside the country. One of our 
witnesses here today has been the target of a plot to kidnap 
her and another plot to assassinate her.
    We know the indictments that Iran has plotted to 
assassinate high-level former U.S. officials, including former 
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
    Mr. Warrick, what specific U.S. counterterrorism assets or 
capabilities are most critical to our goal in disrupting the 
countering these and other threats from Iran?
    Mr. Warrick. I want to salute the work of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, which has the lead for investigating 
these types of threats against the American people. The FBI has 
done some extraordinary work, some of which I've seen first-
hand and its ability to do so.
    That having been said, as Ms. Alinejad said, there are 
limits to what the FBI is able to do, and it's clear that there 
do need to be additional measures taken to find ways to protect 
former U.S. officials and American citizens who may be 
threatened by outrageous actions of the Iranian regime.
    Mr. Carter. For each member, very quickly, you're sitting 
before the Homeland Security Committee, a committee of 
bipartisan Members with the desire to weigh in to help.
    Given that you now have this audience, can you each very 
briefly tell us what can we do? If you had one opportunity to 
ask this committee to weigh in and to help, what might that ask 
be? I'll start with you, sir.
    Mr. Sales. Thank you, Congressman. I would say secure the 
border. Provide the authorities and resources necessary to 
secure the border. Thank you.
    Ms. Alinejad. If I may add something, America needs to have 
a bipartisan strategy toward transnational repression. This is 
very serious, that I'm not alone. I see there a lot of 
activists and dissidents from other countries being the target 
of transnational repression on U.S. soil. We see that how 
Iranian--like the regime in Iran is--the alliance of dictators, 
autocrats, from Russia to China to Islamic Republic, they're 
all helping each other, backing each other, supporting each 
other.
    Buy we don't see alliance of democratic countries 
supporting each other. Like IRGC is on the terrorist list by 
the United States of America, but the United States must take 
lead and ask its allies to designate and criminalize IRGC as a 
terrorist organization as well, which we don't see that.
    I kept hearing from the lawmakers from the United Kingdom 
saying that, actually, this is the United States advising them 
not to lose the embassy, because they have to have a channel 
open toward this terrorist regime in Iran.
    Mr. Greenway. I would echo Ambassador Sales' recommendation 
and add reprioritize Palestinian terrorist groups and Iranian 
surrogates in the United States and abroad.
    Mr. Warrick. I would say bipartisanship, cybersecurity, 
especially the private sector, reauthorize the WMD office at 
DHS, renew 702, and keep I&A able to do some collection with 
Constitutional protections, extend authorities to counter 
unmanned aerial systems, reauthorize CFATS and reauthorize 
section 702 with the changes that Mr. Greenway and I agree 
should be looked at.
    Mr. Carter. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina and the 
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on 
Homeland Security, Mr. Bishop.
    Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Two of the most stunning moments I've had sitting on any 
committee in Congress are in November of last year, when I 
asked Christy Abizaid, the director of the National 
Counterterrorism Center, whether the uncontrolled entry into 
the country of I guess it's in excess of a million-seven, if I 
remember, was the number that the Judiciary Committee recently 
documented in a report of gotaways--that is to say people that 
never encountered anyone from any United States agency as they 
entered the country--was not an obvious risk for, egregious 
risk for criminal or terrorist threats on the homeland.
    I want to know if anybody on--Ms. Abizaid told me it's not, 
that they don't believe that's it because, historically, that's 
not how terrorist threats have developed in the homeland. That 
seems to me to be unimaginably stupid. Today, we've heard 
Members on the dais essentially repeat that, that is an unfair 
attack on the Biden administration.
    I'd like to know if anybody sitting on the panel believes 
that allowing a million-seven into the country during the Biden 
administration without any vetting of any kind, no connection 
to--or encounter of any Government official presents an 
egregious threat of terrorism to the homeland. Does anyone 
disbelieve that who sits on this panel? Thank you.
    Is it a threat to the United States homeland if there is an 
Iranian government influence operation functioning at the 
highest levels of the United States administration? Does anyone 
on the panel believe that that would not present a threat to 
the homeland?
    Is anyone on the panel familiar with this reporting in 
Semafor that there was this Iran experts initiative operated by 
the Iranian government that had contact not with only Robert 
Malley, the Biden administration's Special Envoy who's now I 
understand suspended, but I can't figure out this one.
    There's a woman named I think Ariane Tabatabai, if that's 
how you pronounce it. Ms. Alinejad, perhaps you could correct 
me if that's the wrong pronunciation. But she's the chief of 
staff to the assistant secretary of defense for special 
operations, a Classified operation, a Classified position, has 
to have a security clearance to be in that position, obviously. 
There's documentation of her 2014 email correspondence with--
Zafor, is that the name?--Zahrani believe it is, who's adjacent 
to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. This is in the Biden 
administration. As far as I know, she's still there. I don't 
even hear any mainstream reporting on that.
    Is there anyone on this panel that can enlighten the 
American people in this hearing about the details of that 
situation? Ms. Alinejad.
    Ms. Alinejad. It was shocking for you, but not for us 
Iranians. I was the one actually launched a petition against 
Rob Malley right after the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini, 
because he was the one actually came out and saying that 
Iranian people want respect from its government, but that was 
not the fact.
    Iranian people sacrificed their life. More than 700 people 
got killed. More than 22,000 people got arrested. They had only 
one demand. They wanted to end this regime. They don't want 
respect from this government. After 40 years, we the people of 
Iran know that this regime is not reformable. Whether you like 
it or not, we want to have a regime change.
    But Rob Malley actually stopped the Biden administration to 
meet with people like me and other Iranian Americans who say 
clearly we want an end for gender apartheid regime. So that's 
why he had like his own people trying to say that, you know, 
protests like--Ariane Tabatabai was one of them, saying that it 
became part of the culture of Iranians. It's not.
    So that is why we've been warning the U.S. Government, and 
we've been ignored, but that's information launched by Iranian 
International. Semafor is correct, that they were the same 
people trying to say that Qasem Soleimani was a national hero. 
Here we are.
    Mr. Bishop. Thank you. In the last 25 seconds I've got, I 
want to make one last comment. I'm sorry Mr. Magaziner has 
left, Mr. Chairman.
    But in the beginning of this, when he was talking about the 
vicious, horrific antisemitism that we've seen in this country, 
he repeated a smear of the former President.
    Whatever you think about the former President, I urge you 
to go to USA Today about that continued claim that he said that 
antisemites, that neo-Nazis were fine people on both sides. It 
is a lie. It is a gutter lie. You cannot maintain bipartisan 
support for rejecting antisemitism in this country when you 
equate saying that--when he went on to say: I'm not talking 
about the neo-Nazis. They should be condemned entirely.
    He was talking about people who were protesting the removal 
of a Confederate statue in the previous events to that 
Charlottesville event. For that to be repeated over and over 
again by Members on this dais when even the liberal 
organizations recognize that that is a smear, that's got to 
stop in order for this bipartisan rejection of antisemitism to 
succeed.
    I yield.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Ivey. I believe Maryland, right?
    Mr. Ivey. Still, yes.
    Chairman Green. Still Maryland.
    Mr. Ivey. Chairman, that is correct.
    Chairman Green. For his 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Ivey. Thank you very much.
    I appreciate the opportunity to hear from this panel. I 
think it's--I want to thank the Chairman for bringing this 
together. We don't all agree on some of the things that have 
been said and some of the points of emphasis.
    Before he leaves, though, I did want to thank Chairman 
Bishop for his work on some related issues. We had a previous 
subcommittee hearing on domestic terrorism threats. Now, we 
came at it from different angles. You know, you focused on the 
issues from the left. I focused on the issues from the right.
    But I think it's still important that we recognize that 
those issues are there because, as has been pointed out by the 
panel--and I'll come back to the border wall issue in a moment. 
But, you know, one of the things I think we need to focus on 
with respect to threats from Iran are the domestic 
opportunities that they have. We already know that, as we've 
heard from some of our leaders in law enforcement at the 
Federal level, domestic terrorism is one of the top challenges 
if not the top challenge in the United States with respect to 
overall terrorism. We've had hearings here in this committee--
I'm on Judiciary as well--with respect to lone-wolf killings 
and attacks on democracy.
    I want to make sure, though, we focus on these issues 
because, with respect to the threat, CISA, one of the agencies 
within the Homeland Security Department, has really been 
undermined, frankly, by some of the leadership. Some of my 
colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, including the Chairman, 
have taken opportunities to really challenge that entity.
    So the ability for us to, as a Government, to respond to 
interaction from Iran that's attempting to undermine the Nation 
with respect to democracy or ginning up false information has 
been a problem. I think we need to reinvigorate that, and I 
hope that we can do that as well with this group.
    I see Congressman Pfluger has returned. I did want to take 
a moment and apologize for interrupting your opening statement. 
I didn't realize the context of what was going on with that.
    With respect to the border wall, I do want to say this too. 
I had a chance to go to Israel last month, actually, with 
Congressman Carter and some others. We went down to the Gaza 
border and saw that--you know, I think pretty much some of the 
same areas that we saw Hamas coming across.
    I know in H.R. 2 the border wall is a key focus. I know 
there is a strong interest by my Republican colleagues in 
completing that. In fact, H.R. 2 has a mandate for 900 
additional miles of border wall to be built up.
    I still continue to believe that that's not the right way 
to go. I think the additional funds that could be used--our 
calculation was that 900 miles of additional wall would run 
about $18 billion. The supplemental that the White House sent, 
which I would encourage my colleagues to support, I think is 
less than that total amount.
    So I think we need to move forward with the supplemental 
proposal with respect to 1,600 new asylum officers, 375 new 
immigration judges. I think this can also help with getting 
control over the number of people who are in the United States. 
We talk a lot about the people who come across the border, and 
we don't know their backgrounds or where they are. I think if 
we expand the personnel who can deal with that, I think that 
would be a big step in the right direction.
    I know there's going to be an issue and discussion in 
Israel about the--you know, what happened at the border. I 
don't want to get into that now. I think it's important to 
simply support them in their efforts to defeat Hamas and 
dismantle Hamas. But I think there is some instruction there 
for the United States as we consider H.R. 2 and the border 
wall.
    I think, in closing, I wanted to ask a quick question to 
the Ambassador. You said kind-of in two ways that we needed to 
do more. I think at one point you said more than a press 
release with respect to the deterrence. Then, with respect to 
questions from the Ranking Member, you mentioned that we've 
already had prosecutions and that you can congratulate the 
Department of Justice on that.
    But I wanted to get a sense of specific steps. What 
specifically would you be saying we should do? You said don't 
bomb Tehran, and I appreciate that comment. What exactly did 
you have in mind that we should be doing?
    Mr. Sales. Congressman, thanks for the question. It's 
actually really hard to answer that from the chair I'm 
currently sitting in, as a private citizen, without access to 
Classified intelligence reporting and not being privy to 
diplomatic conversations in the region.
    So I think the best I can do from my current perch is to 
offer sort-of broad strategic advice. That strategic advice is 
impose costs using whatever tools of national power are 
available: Economic power, diplomatic power, law enforcement 
power, intelligence, perhaps military under the right 
circumstances. Use whatever levers of national power are 
available to us to impose costs.
    Mr. Ivey. Let me reclaim my time briefly. Before I wrap up, 
we've heard a lot of comments about appeasement. Again, I would 
encourage my colleagues, with respect to Ukraine and the 
funding for them, if we don't want to send a message about 
appeasement that's interpreted the wrong way, I think it's 
critical for us to continue to fund Ukraine.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Guest [presiding]. Thank you.
    At this time, the Chair recognizes Mr. Gimenez for 5 
minutes for his questioning.
    Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ms. Alinejad, I think that the people of Iran and the 
people of my home country of Cuba, when they go out and they 
protest on the street they probably say the same thing, maybe a 
different language. People of Cuba say freedom. Is that what 
the people of Iran say?
    Ms. Alinejad. Azadi.
    Mr. Gimenez. Exactly. Everyone seeks the same thing. It's 
freedom. All these apologists say, no, they want food, or they 
want this, or they want a little bit kinder regime. We want 
regime change, because that's the only thing that will help 
us----
    Ms. Alinejad [continuing]. You want freedom.
    Mr. Gimenez. Exactly. As far as the border wall is 
concerned and security at the--I may have a difference of 
opinion with my colleagues. I actually don't think any funding 
helps whatsoever. We can put a zillion dollars into the 
Southern Border, and nothing will change because the policies 
won't change.
    It's the policies that have caused the crisis at the 
border, the policies of this administration. There wasn't any 
difference in funding from January 19 to January 21 of 2021. It 
was the change in policies that have caused the crisis at the 
border. There wasn't any more wall. It's the change in policy. 
This administration has absolutely--they have no will to change 
their policy. They like what's going on. You can't be this 
dumb. It's on purpose.
    Now let's get back to something else. Hey, do you know what 
cybersecurity, rockets, drones, rifles, bullets, paragliders, 
antitank missiles, terror cells, spies, misinformation 
campaigns, a whole bunch of different other things, you know 
what they have in common? Funding, money.
    So, Mr. Greenway, I want you to talk to me about how the 
Biden administration is helping Iran get more of the funding 
that it needs to conduct its terror operations around the 
world, including the United States, and the difference between 
this administration and what was happening in the previous 
administration and how that is pouring billions of dollars into 
this regime that's funding all the terror and the chaos we see 
around the world.
    Could you elaborate on that, please?
    Mr. Greenway. Thanks for the question, Congressman. I can. 
At the conclusion of the Trump administration, as Ambassador 
Sales pointed out, Iran's foreign accessible reserves were at 
$4 billion, which was the equivalent of Haiti.
    They were exporting about 400,000 barrels of oil a month, 
which is what you can do under smuggling circumstances and 
little else. They were committed to acquiring resources rather 
than the conduct of terrorist organizations and terrorist 
activity.
    At the moment, their accessible foreign exchange reserves 
are north of $40 billion on their way to $70 billion. Their oil 
sales are approaching 2 million barrels a day. It's important 
to note that oil is now north of $90 a barrel. So they're 
making more and selling more.
    This has all breathed life into the organization. The 
defense budget has increased by 14 percent. That's just what 
goes to the IRGC itself. All of that goes then to surrogates 
and proxies, who now are no longer worried about resources. 
They have a flush amount of resources and capital. They're now 
able to focus their time and activity on terrorism.
    Mr. Gimenez. So, by my calculation, that's a 500 percent 
increase in oil production, or actually sale, the selling of 
oil, Iranian oil, a 500 percent increase, plus the increase in 
the oil prices.
    A lot of it's caused by this administration because they 
refuse to let American energy produce more oil and gas, which 
actually makes Iranian oil much more expensive, which gives 
them more money to do the things that they do.
    So tell me, tell me, how serious is this administration 
really in helping our allies or helping United States security 
when they're actually funding the same people that are trying 
to destroy us?
    By the way, does Iran want to destroy the United States? 
When the leaders say they want to destroy the United States, 
does anybody here think that's just, oh, they're just kidding, 
you know? Do you think they're kidding?
    Mr. Sales. They're not known for their sense of humor, 
Congressman.
    Mr. Gimenez. What about you ma'am?
    Ms. Alinejad. Absolutely, they are. They mean it. They 
don't even care whether you're Republican or Democrat. They 
hate America, and they want to destroy American democracy is 
right. That's why they hate people like me who say that.
    America, get ready to see an Iran without Islamic Republic. 
Because you don't have any policy to see that, that's why you 
stick with wrong people who say: Let's reform this regime.
    Mr. Gimenez. I need to get the other two.
    Do you believe that Iran wants to destroy the United 
States?
    Mr. Greenway. They do.
    Mr. Gimenez. Mr. Warrick, do you think they want to destroy 
us?
    Mr. Warrick. Iran wants to dominate the Middle East, and 
they see the United States as the chief impediment to that 
goal.
    Mr. Gimenez. Do they want to destroy us?
    Mr. Warrick. They know they can't destroy us.
    Mr. Gimenez. Do they want to?
    Mr. Warrick. They----
    Mr. Gimenez. There's the problem. See----
    Mr. Warrick. No.
    Mr. Gimenez. There's the problem.
    Do you think they want to destroy Israel? Do you have any 
doubt they want to destroy Israel?
    Mr. Warrick. Oh, on that I agree with you.
    Mr. Gimenez. Well, very good. So we agree on one thing, all 
four of us do. OK, very good.
    This administration is giving them the money to let them do 
it.
    Thank you, and I yield back.
    Chairman Green [presiding]. The gentleman yields.
    I know I've been very lenient on letting people go over, 
and I do my best to apply that bipartisanly. However, we've run 
the math and we think there's a vote. Votes are going to be 
called at noon.
    So, as I do the math, we want to make sure as many people 
get an opportunity to speak today. So I'm going to tighten up a 
little bit for everyone bipartisanly on our time limits. I 
apologize; that leniency I normally have has to go away.
    Mr. Goldman is recognized, the gentleman from New York.
    Actually, you snuck in on me, Doctor. Mr. Thanedar will be 
recognized. We'll get to you.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you, Chair, and I'll be quick.
    I think I'm going to skip some of my introduction here and 
go right into my questions.
    Mr. Warrick, what unique challenges does Iran's use of 
proxy hackers, like Hezbollah, pose to the defending U.S. 
interests in cyber space related to both domestic networks and 
those of our allies?
    What do you see as the biggest threat posed by increasingly 
capable cyber actors associated with terrorist organizations 
like Hezbollah? To what degree do the cyber capabilities of 
Hamas and Hezbollah pose a threat to the homeland, and are we 
prepared?
    Mr. Warrick. So Iran cyber threats are most posed by 
contractors who are based in Iran and who think by attacking 
the United States they will be rewarded with additional 
contracts and other kinds of benefits that they want to 
receive.
    Hezbollah, Hamas, and others have very active 
disinformation networks, and it's actually that that concerns 
me. The propaganda that those groups put out is intended to 
inflame the situation in the Middle East and to try to 
encourage people here in the United States, which I have to say 
I must remind everyone they target people who are already U.S. 
citizens or who are already here with this propaganda, and this 
really concerns me.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Warrick.
    In the wake of October 7 attacks, questions have arisen 
about the intelligence shortfall regarding Hamas' plan to carry 
out a terrorist attack. There have been questions about the 
U.S. intelligence community's awareness as media has reported 
the United States warned about a potential escalation in 
violence but did not predict the complex multi-pronged attack 
by Hamas.
    Mr. Warrick, how can we, Congress, assist to strengthen or 
provide resources that monitor and predict these attacks, 
especially predict the magnitude of this attack?
    Mr. Warrick. So it's obvious that, within Israel, after the 
war is over, there will be a reckoning and an attempt to find 
lessons learned. I would hope that this Congress would do the 
same thing here in the United States so that there can be an 
independent bipartisan inquiry into what went wrong.
    I do have to say, though, that the United States relies 
very heavily on our intelligence partnerships. We don't try to 
do everything ourselves. That would be wasteful, inefficient, 
and probably just plain wrong. So, in this case, we do rely on 
allies, including Israel but not only Israel, to increase what 
we know about these threats.
    I think there's an essential role for the Congress to play 
in a serious lessons learned exercise so that a strategic 
surprise like this doesn't happen to us. The Iranian regime is 
capable of doing that, as we have seen, and this very much 
concerns me.
    Mr. Thanedar. Thank you.
    Chair, I yield back a few minutes here.
    Chairman Green. Thank you, sir.
    I now recognize Mr. Pfluger from Texas for his 5 minutes.
    Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Chairman, can I take just 20 seconds 
personal privilege?
    Chairman Green. Sure. I mean, it's your time anyway. Yes.
    Mr. Pfluger. I've spoken with Mr. Ivey, and we had a good 
conversation. My apologies for some of the unnecessary 
commentary earlier. We were able to talk about that. This is a 
committee that needs to function bipartisanly, and anyways. As 
we get to the--I hope you'll accept that apology as well.
    Mr. Ivey. Certainly, Congressman. Thank you. I appreciate 
it.
    Mr. Pfluger. You know, look, we've got 1.7 million known 
gotaways since President Biden took office. Ambassador Sales 
mentioned the number of Iranians, Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese, 
Yemenis. It's 650 Iranians that have come into the country that 
we know about; 7\1/2\ million people total in that period of 
time.
    When you look at what happened in Israel and you compare 
the threat, the possibility of a threat, Ambassador Sales, what 
lessons do we learn and what actions must the Biden 
administration immediately take to prevent that type of attack 
from happening here?
    Mr. Sales. Well, Congressman, I think one of the lessons 
from October 7 is that vigilance is essential. We can't let up 
on our guard. We have to take our adversaries seriously. When 
they say that they want to kill Americans, we have to believe 
them, and we have to prepare so that we can prevent them from 
doing so.
    When they say they want to wipe Israel off the face of the 
map, that's not just rhetoric. When they say ``death to 
America,'' that means death to Americans. It's not just 
rhetoric. That's their goal. We have to take that seriously. We 
have to prepare, and we have to prevent it.
    Mr. Pfluger. When it comes to our policy toward Iran, give 
me two or three points that need to be immediately reversed 
from this administration.
    Mr. Sales. I think the most important thing that we can do, 
Congressman, is cut off the flow of money to Iran. You've heard 
some numbers from me. You've heard some numbers from Mr. 
Greenway.
    The bottom line is that sanctions work. Sanctions deprive 
terrorists and their state sponsors of the resources that they 
use to shed blood around the world.
    During the last administration, when we squeezed Iran's 
economy to the point that its accessible foreign currency 
reserves were equivalent to Haiti, the money for terrorism 
dried up. Both Hamas and Hezbollah had to adopt austerity 
programs to deal with the shortfall.
    As I mentioned, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, 
had to go on TV and beg for donations. That is the sort of 
sanctions posture we need to get back to to dry up the 
resources for these groups.
    Mr. Pfluger. Ms. Alinejad, thank you for your testimony. 
Thank you for reminding us that the Iranian people are not the 
problem, that the issue is the Iranian Government, that the 
despotism, the authoritarianism, and the horrific ways in which 
the Iranian people are treated is reflective of their desire to 
do harm and to use terror as a the largest state sponsor of 
terror around the world. I appreciate that.
    I'm going to move on to Mr. Greenway because I want to get 
to something that you talked about. What Ambassador Sales was 
talking about on the sanctions, talk to us about what this 
administration has done, how that's viewed as appeasement, or 
if it's something else, please tell us.
    But what has the issuance of waivers on some of the money--
let's just first look at the $6 billion in Qatar right now 
that's--no, it's not been given to the Iranian government, but 
it's made available. Talk to us about that and the need for 
sanctions as it is--as it's viewed around the world as strength 
instead of weakness and appeasement.
    Mr. Greenway. I appreciate the question, Congressman. As 
Ambassador Sales pointed out, the interpretation that Iran has 
made is that their behavior, their conduct is encouraged 
because they're being rewarded for it. That is the 
interpretation of all of our partners and allies in the region 
and those that we would target with sanctions in order to 
change their behavior.
    The interpretation is that we are getting the behavior that 
we are paying for. Our allies in the region think that we're 
paying for Iran's nuclear program because, essentially, we are. 
All that this does is encourage Iran to conduct more of the 
behavior and provides the resources, the capital necessary to 
do it at levels it has not seen in over 20 years.
    Mr. Pfluger. Is there any doubt in any of you-all's minds--
I'll start with Ambassador Sales and go down the list--that 
Iran would use our porous Southern Border to infiltrate and 
then carry out an attack in the United States? Is there any 
doubt that they would not do that?
    Mr. Sales. Zero doubt. They have tried to do it before. 
They'll try to do it again.
    Chairman Green. Ms. Alinejad.
    Ms. Alinejad. The Iranian regime claims that the money that 
they get from the U.S. Government, it goes for humanitarian 
purpose. I am here to tell you that, for the Islamic Republic, 
wiping out Israel from the map, destroying Israel, destroying 
America is humanitarian act.
    That's why we ask the U.S. Government to stop handing out 
this money to Iranian regime, because it goes to Hamas and 
Hezbollah.
    Mr. Pfluger. My time has expired. Any doubt, Mr. Greenway, 
Mr. Warrick, that they would use that to attack us?
    Mr. Greenway. None whatsoever.
    Mr. Warrick. The Iranian----
    Mr. Pfluger. I have to get a yes or no.
    Mr. Warrick. It's much more complicated than that, and----
    Mr. Pfluger. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from New York, Mr. Goldman.
    Mr. Goldman. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    I'm heartened that there's so much bipartisan agreement 
about the threat that Iran poses not only in the Middle East 
but to the United States, and I do hope that we can continue to 
work together.
    Some of the rhetoric, though, coming from my colleagues 
across the aisle is a little disconcerting I must say. My 
distinguished colleague from Florida tried to say that the 
Charlottesville Unite the Right rally was not antisemitic and 
filled with neo-Nazis using antisemitic slogans.
    The demonstrators chanted lines like, ``Jews will not 
replace us.'' They used slogans like ``blood and soil,'' which 
is a phrase drawn from Nazi ideology. One said: This city is 
run by Jewish Communists and criminal N-word--I will not say 
that.
    That was an antisemitic neo-Nazi rally that President Trump 
said there were good people on both sides. So let's not dispute 
the facts.
    Second, I want to point out in response to--I'm sorry. That 
was Mr. Bishop who said that. Mr. Gimenez was talking about how 
the issues we have on our border are purely policy issues 
there, not funding issues, and that the Biden administration 
has done nothing to address policy. That is false.
    The problem the Biden administration has is that every 
policy change they make is subject to a lawsuit by Republicans. 
So the Republicans are trying to sabotage the Biden 
administration's efforts to fix the issues at the border and 
then bash the administration while they are doing that. That is 
not helpful.
    But what is I think helpful is what Ambassador Sales said, 
which, when asked--and correct me if I'm wrong--when asked what 
the most important thing that the Government can do, the Biden 
administration can do to stop the criminal organizations on the 
border was more funding.
    Is that right?
    Mr. Sales. Funding and authority, sir.
    Mr. Goldman. Funding, OK. Well, it's interesting because, 
in the supplemental brief, supplemental recommendation by the 
administration, they include money to hire 1,000 additional CBP 
officers and resources for Homeland Security Investigations, 
HSI. That would be funding to combat transnational criminal 
organizations.
    Is that right, Ambassador Sales?
    Mr. Sales. Having not reviewed the legislation, I'm 
reluctant to offer a view on it, but----
    Mr. Goldman. Well, you would agree that 1,000 more officers 
and additional resources for the investigative arm of the 
Department of Homeland Security would be helpful to--would be 
new funding and helpful to combat transnational criminal 
organizations on the border.
    Are you going to disagree with that?
    Mr. Sales. That is certainly new funding, and I would also 
want them to have the full authorities to make use of those 
resources.
    Mr. Goldman. Right. I understand. I'm just quoting back 
what you said.
    It also asks for an additional 1,300 Border Patrol agents 
to work alongside the 20,000 agents that were funded in their 
fiscal year 2024 budget. There's also support for 300 new 
Border Patrol processing coordinators so that the Border Patrol 
agents can focus on their critical national security mission. 
The list goes on.
    The problem we have here is there are policies in place. 
The administration is trying to put more money in order to 
combat the transnational criminal organizations and the Mexican 
drug cartels, and my Republican colleagues oppose that. In 
fact, some of my Republican colleagues want to defund the FBI.
    Mr. Warrick, would defunding the FBI help combat 
transnational criminal organizations such as the cartels and 
the fentanyl problem that we have?
    Mr. Warrick. It would be a disaster of unimaginable 
proportions to defund the FBI.
    Mr. Goldman. It would. I think it's important, as we are 
attacking not only the terrorism exported by Iran around the 
world and our Southern Border that we try to unify, as we have 
in our support for Israel, as we have in denouncing terrorism 
in Hamas, but also as we try to address the issues at the 
Southern Border. Instead, my Republican colleagues want to 
politicize this issue for their own benefit, and that is not 
constructive.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I do want to make a point, though, of clarification. There 
was significant new funding in H.R. 2, to include increasing 
the size of Border Patrol over a set number of years in excess 
of what was requested by the White House, increased technology, 
license plate readers. So I will correct the gentleman on that.
    Mr. Goldman. So I hope you'll agree to a supplemental----
    Chairman Green. The gentleman from New York is recognized.
    Mr. Garbarino. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Now, Ambassador Sales, the Office of the Director of 
National Intelligence's 2023 Annual Threat Assessment states 
that Iran remains a major cyber threat. Iran's growing 
expertise and willingness to conduct aggressive cyber 
operations make it a major threat to the security of the U.S. 
and allied networks and data.
    Iran's opportunistic approach to cyber attacks make 
critical infrastructure owners in the United States susceptible 
to being targeted.
    Ambassador, in your role as coordinator for 
counterterrorism, you were able to witness first-hand the 
capabilities of our enemies to conduct terror attacks on our 
critical infrastructure.
    In your experience, how has Iran used cyber to enable their 
operations?
    Mr. Sales. Well, Congressman, thanks for the question. I 
think Iran is a very capable adversary, and, you know, we spoke 
previously about America playing to its strength and using the 
tools of national power available to us.
    That's exactly what Iran does as well. It wants to operate 
below the threshold of open conflict with the United States 
because it knows that it doesn't stand a chance. Ronald Reagan 
sank half the Iranian Navy in the 1980's, and they learned a 
lesson from that.
    So, instead of risking open conflict, they use proxies, 
such as Hezbollah, such as Hamas, to carry out a terrorist 
agenda. They use cyber intrusions to target critical 
infrastructure in the United States, not the sort of thing that 
would trigger open conflict with the United States but that 
would be an irritant and then some, and that would disable 
critical U.S. capabilities.
    That's their tradecraft, to operate below the threshold. 
It's an instinct for self-preservation that is largely driving 
this, I think.
    Mr. Garbarino. So the threshold, in your opinion, is just 
more of a--not an annoyance but, you know, just to keep 
peppering us and our allies with minor attacks?
    Mr. Sales. Well, I wouldn't consider many of the Iranian 
intrusions into our networks minor. I would consider them to be 
potentially quite significant. They may not be turned on today, 
but inserting malware into our systems that could then be 
activated in the event of some inflection point being reached, 
you know, that's something that could disable the grid, 
something that could take hospitals off-line. That would not be 
a minor attack in anybody's----
    Mr. Garbarino. No.
    Mr. Sales [continuing]. Estimation even if we haven't seen 
the consequences today.
    Mr. Garbarino. I see a couple of the other witnesses 
nodding their heads, so I'll open it up to hear your responses 
as well. Mr. Warrick.
    Mr. Warrick. Yes, it really does concern me that Iran keeps 
getting better and better in its cyber attacks. The first few 
attacks were nuisance attacks against small dams that had no 
strategic significance. They've gotten better, and so our 
defenses need to get better as well.
    Mr. Garbarino. Mr. Green--we'll just go down the----
    Ms. Alinejad. I mean, Iranian regime, they're really good 
at rattling their cyber army against not only Iranian 
dissidents and activists, they interfered in the election in 
the United States of America. That should be taken serious.
    More than this, when they want to kill someone, they want 
to assassinate someone, some activists and dissidents, first 
they go after him or her through cyber army on social media.
    Well, how ironic that the Iranian regime are using U.S. 
tech companies to bully their opposition, but at the same time, 
they ban 80 million people from using social media.
    The U.S. Government must do something to kick out the 
dictators because they're using the social media for their 
cyber army and rallying, mobilizing extremists against Israeli 
dissidents, against U.S. dissidents, and Iranian Americans as 
well.
    Mr. Garbarino. Thank you.
    Mr. Greenway. As long as they're rewarded for their conduct 
and they pay no price for it, it will continue, and it will get 
worse. That has been the pattern since 1979, and that will 
continue to be the pattern.
    Mr. Garbarino. Thank you. I have about a minute left so I 
do want to focus on Iran's use of technology.
    Ambassador, I'm concerned about the ramifications of the 
accessible AI tools to improve our adversaries' cyber 
capabilities. What should we be most concerned about regarding 
Iran's use of AI?
    Mr. Sales. Well, I think something that Ms. Alinejad just 
said is exactly right. The Iranian regime wants to take 
advantage of technologies and capabilities pioneered by 
innovators in the United States and use it to shore up the 
regime's survivability.
    The irony, I mean, the supreme leader is on Twitter every 
day, saying ``death to America, death to Jews, death to 
Israel,'' and he denies his own people the ability to access 
the internet, the ability to use Twitter, the ability to get 
information unfiltered through, you know, the regime's sensors.
    So, you know, we need to be very clear about--and this is a 
big conversation, probably enough for a separate hearing--we 
need to be very clear about the rules of the road, so that 
American tech companies, so that other American private-sector 
actors are not unwittingly enabling bad behavior by the regime.
    Mr. Garbarino. Thank you. I'm out of time, so I yield back, 
but I agree with you, this could be a hearing all on its own. 
Thank you.
    Chairman Green. Thank you. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. 
Magaziner.
    Mr. Magaziner. Thank you, Chairman.
    There's a lot that needs to be dealt with in order to 
defend and stand with our ally Israel, to deal with the 
humanitarian situation in Gaza, and to protect Americans here 
at home.
    But one aspect that I want to focus on, as Ranking Member 
for Counterterrorism and Intelligence, there was a massive 
intelligence failure in the lead-up to Hamas' attack on Israel.
    Israeli intelligence, which has a reputation of being 
amongst the best in the world, seemed to be blindsided by the 
scale of the attack that unfolded.
    U.S. intelligence, which I understand relies heavily on 
Israeli intelligence when it comes to monitoring Hamas, also 
was caught unaware.
    We, as a Congress, have a responsibility to make sure that 
that kind of intelligence failure does not happen again, and, 
in particular, this committee has a responsibility to make sure 
that such an intelligence failure cannot exist here in the U.S. 
homeland.
    So, Mr. Warrick, I'd like to ask you to expand on your 
remarks a little bit. What tools does Congress need to provide, 
with the appropriate civil liberties protections in place, to 
ensure that the intelligence community does not fail to detect 
a massive attack on the U.S. homeland the same way that they 
apparently failed to detect the plot against Israel?
    Mr. Warrick. The most important thing would be to renew 
section 702 authorization that would allow the collection of 
certain kinds of signals intelligence by foreign adversaries. 
As several of us have said here, this is extremely vital. There 
do need to be safeguards built in, but the program, as a whole, 
needs to be renewed with those safeguards.
    Second, it concerns me that there's a bill, or language 
from the Senate, that would take away DHS intelligence 
analysis' ability to do certain kinds of collections.
    Again, there need to be Constitutional protections in 
place. We should all agree on that. There should be 
investigations as the House language calls, but I would hope 
that the House in this particular provision stands by its guns 
during the conference that's now under way.
    Additionally, there are other authorizations that just 
absolutely have to be extended. The CWMD office, the counter-
UAS authorities, and the CFATS reauthorization are all vital to 
our Homeland Security.
    Mr. Magaziner. Thank you very much. I wanted to ask about 
Iran's cyber attacks as well. Mr. Garbarino touched on that, so 
I won't repeat his question.
    But, Mr. Warrick, in addition to the attacks that Iran has 
conducted against infrastructure in the United States, even a 
hospital in Boston, you note in your written testimony that 
they have also attempted to engage in disinformation campaigns 
in increasing levels of sophistication.
    Can you expand on that a bit and talk about what we, as a 
Congress, might do to combat Iranian disinformation efforts on-
line?
    Mr. Warrick. So, in a recent election a couple of years 
ago, Iran carried out a campaign to try to stoke racial 
division and hatred within the United States by spreading false 
information. That was frankly a more sophisticated attack than 
some people might have given the Iranians credit for.
    One of the things that I've learned in more than 40 years 
is, these guys get better every time, and so our defenses have 
to get better every time. We're going to have to be better 
prepared to resist Iranian disinformation in the next election 
because otherwise they could surprises us.
    Mr. Magaziner. Thank you very much.
    You know, I'll just say, I had to step out for a moment to 
take a call, but I'm told that a Member from the other side, 
Mr. Bishop, took it upon himself to try to educate me about 
antisemitism.
    I'll just say again that, when you show up at a rally and 
there are people chanting ``Jews will not replace us,'' ``blood 
and soil,'' carrying torches, if you're a fine person, you 
leave. You get out of there. You do not stay. You do not 
support that.
    A strong leader and the President of the United States or a 
Member of Congress would condemn it in no uncertain terms, not 
say: Fine people on both sides.
    With that, I'll yield. Thank you.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize another gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. 
Ezell, for his questioning.
    Mr. Ezell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all for 
being here today and sharing with us this very important topic 
that we are discussing.
    I want to begin today by saying how important it is that we 
stand with Israel during the recent attacks, and we must hold 
Hamas and their supporters, such as Iran, accountable for these 
terrible actions.
    We know that Iran supports terrorists around the world, 
organizations that finance terrorism. I find it very concerning 
that recent reports suggest a former Biden administration 
official, Robert Malley, used the State Department to funnel 
billions of dollars to Iran, and as we've heard today, they 
don't mean to do good things to America or Israel.
    This continues to threaten all of our allies around the 
world, and each day we see, with all the things that are going 
on, it's getting closer and closer to the United States.
    Mr. Sales, while there are many questions that we must 
answer regarding Robert Malley, still do you believe the 
actions by the Biden administration have emboldened Iran and 
encouraged the terrorists around the attack on Israel?
    Mr. Sales. Well, Congressman, I think the best way to 
answer that is to look at Iran's behavior, and what we have 
seen from Iran over the past several years has been a dramatic 
increase in its confrontation of the United States and of our 
allies in the region.
    You know, just within the past 7 days or more, we've seen, 
I think, 13 separate attacks on American soldiers in the Middle 
East by Iran-backed proxies in places like Syria, in places 
like Iraq, even off the coast of Yemen.
    I think the Iranian regime is like a spoiled child. It will 
act out until a parent steps in and puts them in the naughty 
corner. What we need to see from the administration is the 
application of pressure to the regime to impose costs on them 
to reestablish deterrence.
    Mr. Ezell. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Alinejad, excuse me for my southern voice here, but I 
want you to tell us a little bit today about your experience, 
because the Biden administration, what you went through in your 
life and your family. I would like for you to give us some 
details today about how that made you feel and about how they 
responded to helping you during this crisis.
    Ms. Alinejad. Thank you so much for giving me the 
opportunity actually sharing my experience with President 
Biden.
    To be honest, I'm very heartbroken, very disappointed, 
because I believe that Democrats were all about equality, 
feminism, women's rights, and I'm being the target of the 
Islamic Republic just because of giving voice to voiceless 
women, to brave leaders within the country, saying: We want to 
end gender apartheid regime.
    I wanted to meet with President Biden because when I came 
in America, I actually watched a video clip of him, very vocal 
and loud, saying that: Let's ban South Africa because of 
apartheid.
    I was, like: OK. Here, he is the man. He can understand 
that why we, the women of Iran, are fighting against gender 
apartheid.
    But, unfortunately, when the FBI stopped the kidnapping 
plot, I just received a letter from President Biden calling me 
a hero, thanking me, and I was like: Hey, I'm here. I'm in 
America. I want to meet you.
    Don't do anything when I got killed. So no answer.
    Then the FBI arrested a man with loaded gun in front of my 
house. So I believe that if Biden administration was tough on 
terror, if they were condemning and taking actions, they 
wouldn't have come after me on U.S. soil.
    Like, there was a big, gigantic guy in front of my house 
who didn't even need to carry gun honestly. He could've just 
killed me easily.
    So still I'm very surprised that the Vice President, a 
woman, this is a dream for Iranian women. We receive award from 
the West, but we don't see actions. We don't see that concrete 
actions.
    They always saying that we stand with the people of Iran, 
and I always say that I want you to sit down with us and make 
decision about how to end this gender apartheid regime because 
an Iran without barbaric regime would benefit the United 
States, would benefit the democratic countries. Believe me, we, 
the women, are better allies for the U.S. Government compared 
to these barbaric mullahs.
    So I want the Biden administration first to meet with 
people like us. Don't be scared. Second, support the women 
inside Iran who say no to Islamic Republic. Instead of 
negotiating with these killers, recognize the civil society and 
help us, not our killers.
    Mr. Ezell. Thank you.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentlelady from Illinois, Mrs. Ramirez, 
for her 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mrs. Ramirez. Thank you, Chairman. I appreciate it.
    Thank you to the witnesses that are here today.
    You know, after numerous consecutive hearings related only 
to how we criminalize immigrants on the border, I'm really glad 
that our committee is ready to discuss other threats to our 
national security.
    I agree that Iran represents a real threat to our national 
security, and I fully believe it's our responsibility, as 
Members of Congress and Members of this committee, to address 
it with the intentionality, the seriousness it merits, and that 
we avoid political games to score political points.
    Mr. Warrick, earlier a question was put to the panel 
regarding Iran and the Southwestern Border, and you were cut 
off before you were allowed to answer. So I'm going to give you 
about 30 seconds of my time if you briefly want to share your 
response with the committee now.
    Mr. Warrick. In every one of the known plots that has been 
made public, Iran has targeted for recruitment people inside 
the United States, either people who were born here or people 
who had come here who were not terrorists when they came here. 
Many of those have obviously refused to cooperate.
    The other part of the reality is, although Mexican drug 
cartels frequently feature prominently in FBI charging 
documents of Iranian agents, it's almost always that they 
thought it was a good idea, and then it turned out, as in the 
Arbabsiar plot, that they were actually talking to a DEA 
source, or they were talking, in another case, to an FBI human 
source.
    It's quite fascinating. The Iranian regime has utterly 
failed to actually recruit drug cartels in any publicly-
available case that we've seen.
    Mrs. Ramirez. Thank you.
    Well, speaking of threats to citizens, I hope that I am 
speaking for everyone in this room when I say that the attack 
from Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians back on October 7 left 
us all heartbroken.
    It is inexcusable, and I unequivocally condemn Hamas 
attacks on Israel and the escalating violence that has 
followed, claiming the lives of more than a thousand 
Palestinian children in Gaza.
    I also join my colleagues in calling for the immediate 
release of our hostages and the safe return of all American 
citizens in the region, including, we don't talk enough about 
the 500 Palestinian Americans that are in Gaza right now and 
can't get out.
    Because I'm really worried about the escalation of violence 
that can lead us as a country and the effect that it will have 
on our own national security, that is why I've called on my 
colleagues and the administration to use our collective power 
and urge for a cease-fire to help deescalate the tensions in 
the region and allow for diplomacy to be leveraged to avoid a 
multifront conflict.
    So, with that in mind, Mr. Warrick, in your experience, 
what could we do to ensure protection of our own communities, 
here at home, seeing a rise in hate crimes? Specifically what 
could we do to deescalate the violence in the Middle East?
    Mr. Warrick. So there's a whole discussion to be had about 
the importance of community-based programs to try to turn 
people away from violence. These programs have been successful. 
They need to be funded at scale. Even if it costs $10 billion 
to do so, we need to ensure our communities are safe and that 
people turn away from violence.
    Mrs. Ramirez. Thank you, Mr. Warrick.
    So I want to finish by reminding everything on this 
committee that--and we say this on both sides--that words we 
use to address the threat to our Nation do matter. They hold 
power. Our committee shouldn't be a stage to further promote 
language of violence and ideals, like Islamophobia and 
antisemitism, that endanger the communities we are here to 
protect.
    Close to 2 weeks ago, 30 minutes away from my district, a 
man fueled by the rising Islamophobia and hateful rhetoric 
being spewed about carelessly and recklessly, like what we have 
heard in this committee over and over again, this man stabbed 
this little boy, whose birthday had just passed, 26 times, and 
attempted to murder his 32-year-old mother due to their Muslim 
religion and being Palestinian.
    A 6-year-old and his community is now deprived of his 
future. His death is also a failure of this committee, and in 
the name of Wadea Al-Fayoume and every single child and family 
put at risk by bigotry, as Members of Congress who have sworn 
to protect our communities, we must unequivocally stand against 
every violent White supremacist ideology that is anti-immigrant 
rhetoric, Islamophobic, and antisemitic sentiment.
    With his face in mind in all that we do, Chairman, I yield 
back.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize the gentlelady from Georgia, Ms. Greene.
    Ms. Greene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Just last week, we witnessed here in this building, in the 
Cannon Building, Democrat Members of Congress lead in radical 
leftist, Communist, and pro-Hamas terrorist groups in what we 
would call an insurrection. If January 6 was an insurrection, 
this was absolutely an insurrection of terrorism. They brought 
them in this building.
    We have watched, just as you mentioned a few minutes ago in 
your testimony, we have watched Iran's treatment of women, 
which is horrific. But I want you to know it aligns with the 
Biden administration's treatment of women.
    While they replace women in our sports, in jails, in our 
women's clinics, with trans men and say that these men that 
pose as women have the same rights as we do, and they 
absolutely do not.
    We have the Biden administration, Joe Biden, the President 
of the United States, wants $100 million given to Gaza, which 
is Hamas. That money will absolutely be given to Hamas 
terrorism.
    Ironically, $100 million is the exact same amount that Iran 
gives to Hamas every single year. There's so many similarities 
there it is unbelievable.
    In 2014, during the Obama administration, the Iranian 
Foreign Ministry established what they called an Iran Experts 
Initiative. The purpose of this initiative was to build ties 
with a global network of prominent academics and researchers, 
including in the United States, to improve Iran's image on 
global security issues. They have quite an image.
    As stated in your testimony, at least two of the people on 
the Foreign Ministry's list were or became top aides to Robert 
Malley, the Biden administration's Special Envoy on Iran.
    Mr. Greenway, isn't it true that Iran has succeeded in 
obtaining unprecedented access to and influence over the U.S. 
administration's policy toward Iran?
    Mr. Greenway. It would appear so, and in a twist of irony, 
we've--the Biden administration has employed those under the 
control or influence of Iran to negotiate with Iran.
    Ms. Greene. Isn't it true that at least three people 
selected by the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry were senior 
aides to Robert Malley, the Biden administration's Special 
Envoy on Iran?
    Mr. Greenway. At least three, and he was pulled from his 
former position because of his relationship with Hamas.
    Ms. Greene. That's why he lost his security clearance; is 
that correct?
    Mr. Greenway. Insofar as we know on that.
    Ms. Greene. Isn't it true that former member of Robert 
Malley's Iran negotiating team Ariane Tabatabai was in close 
contact with the Iranian regime for years?
    Mr. Greenway. She cleared foreign travel documents and 
talking points as far as we know, Congresswoman.
    Ms. Greene. Isn't it true that she participated in regime-
backed Iran Experts Initiative, which was stood up by Iranian 
Foreign Ministry officials in the spring of 2014?
    Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am.
    Ms. Greene. Is it your understanding that the Iran Experts 
Initiative was launched to bolster Iran's image on security 
matters like its nuclear program?
    Mr. Greenway. It is.
    Ms. Greene. Is it true that Iran chants ``death to Israel'' 
and ``death to America''?
    Mr. Greenway. They do.
    Ms. Greene. Despite all of this, the Biden administration 
hired her as a top official within the Department of Defense 
where she continues to hold a top security secret clearance, 
which affords one access to our Nation's sensitive secrets; 
isn't that true?
    Mr. Greenway. It is.
    Ms. Greene. Is it safe to assume that the Biden 
administration may have been influenced by the Iranian regime?
    Mr. Greenway. It certainly appears that way.
    Ms. Greene. It appears that way to me too.
    Ms. Alinejad, I'm sorry if I mispronounced that.
    Ms. Alinejad. Don't worry. I'm used to it. People butcher 
my name.
    Ms. Greene. It's OK. Mine too.
    As an Iranian American and someone who has been directly 
targeted by the regime, what do you make of the allegations 
surrounding Mr. Malley and others implicated in the Iran 
Experts Initiative?
    Ms. Alinejad. It broke Iranians' heart because we believe 
that, when it comes to equality, freedom, doesn't matter 
whether you're a Republican or Democrat, you have to show 
support for the voice of Iranian people. He downplayed our 
cause and he said that Iranian people want reform and respect 
from the government, so.
    Ms. Greene. As a woman----
    Ms. Alinejad. I want to add something about Ariane 
Tabatabai. While people in Iran were chanting against the 
Islamic Republic and wanting to have an end for this regime, 
she came out publicly saying that: Don't take it--Iranians 
outside serious when they say we want regime change, because 
protesting became part of Iranians' culture, and this is going 
to go away.
    That's sad because thousands of people got killed and 
arrested for participating that protest. It's not part of our 
culture. It's part of the frustrations of Iranian people trying 
to end the regime within the country.
    Ms. Greene. Just one more question. As a woman----
    Chairman Green. Actually, we've got to move on. I'm so 
sorry. I put this out earlier that I'm going to be tight on 
time this time. I think you may not have been here. But I have 
done that to both sides, so, sorry.
    I now recognize the gentlelady from New York, Ms. Clarke.
    Ms. Clarke. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and good 
morning to everyone.
    Let me start by thanking our witnesses for joining us 
today.
    Ahead of the 2020 Presidential election, Iranian actors, 
posing as members of the pro-Trump Proud Boys, sent threatening 
email messages to Democratic voters in battleground States, 
circulated a video that falsely alleged voter fraud, and gained 
access to an election results website, with the overall goal to 
undermine public confidence in U.S. elections, as was indicated 
by Ms. Alinejad and certainly alluded to by many of my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
    Mr. Warrick, my question to you is, the 2020--with the 
national 2024 Presidential election a little over a year away 
and campaigns already well under way, do you anticipate Iranian 
actors will, once again, attempt to meddle in U.S. elections 
through influence operations, and how do you expect evolutions 
in technology, as indicated by Mr. Garbarino, in AI, will 
affect these tactics?
    Mr. Warrick. So you can count on Iranian attempts to try to 
meddle in our election. We need to, therefore, as a country, be 
prepared to understand it, detect it, and resist it.
    I have to say, Iran, though, as an AI power, is dwarfed by 
China as an AI threat to the United States. In fact, meddling 
in our election from Russia and China ought also to be 
important concerns of this committee.
    It's very important that the committee, on a bipartisan 
basis, encourage American citizens to understand, detect, and 
resist foreign efforts to sow disinformation and division in 
our country.
    Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Mr. Warrick.
    In the wake of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine last 
year, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 
launched the Shields Up campaign which galvanized efforts to 
improve network defenses in anticipation of increased cyber 
attacks from Russia.
    Should we be concerned that Iran could engage in malicious 
activity in cyber space to punish the United States for its 
support of Israel and erode public support for it?
    Mr. Warrick. Yes, absolutely.
    Ms. Clarke. Mr. Warrick, how can CISA's successful Shields 
Up campaign serve as a model for defending against and building 
resilience to potential cyber attacks from Iran?
    Mr. Warrick. So CISA's campaign was intended to encourage, 
not the big companies that frankly can take care of themselves, 
but small businesses that are so dominant in our country, and 
individual citizens, to take the basic measures of cyber 
hygiene that are recommended by every technical expert and by 
CISA's experts.
    We all need to protect ourselves against these threats. 
Homeland Security really does begin at home.
    Ms. Clarke. Thank you very much.
    With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back a minute and 42 
seconds.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields. Thank you.
    Mr. D'Esposito from New York is recognized for his 5 
minutes of questioning.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank 
you to everyone for being here this morning.
    Mr. Warrick, I'm not sure if it was in your opening 
statement or in response to one of the questions, but you 
mentioned that we need to increase our defense at home.
    So my question to you is, does increasing our defense at 
home include securing our Southern Border?
    Mr. Warrick. I really want to commend you. The supplemental 
proposal that was submitted for $14 billion to strengthen the 
security and efficiency of the way the border and immigration 
system works. This is a very serious effort. I'll be the first 
to tell you I think more is needed. Would love to talk to you 
and Members of the committee about how that could be done.
    Mr. D'Esposito. That would be great. So the answer is, yes, 
we need to increase our defense at home, and that includes 
securing our Southern Border.
    Mr. Warrick. I am always in favor of border security and--
--
    Mr. D'Esposito. So I'll take that as a yes.
    Ambassador, I represent the Fourth District of New York, 
which probably has the largest Jewish population of any 
Congressional district across the country.
    After the horrific attacks that Hamas launched on Israel, 
former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal called for Muslims to target 
and attack Israeli interests and Jews across the globe. We've 
obviously seen that.
    Given your background, what effects do messages like these 
have on individuals here in America who may have become 
radicalized and are in the shadows waiting to commit a lone-
wolf attack?
    Mr. Sales. Well, Congressman, I share your concern about 
the rising antisemitism that has poisoned our public debate, 
particularly since October 7.
    You know, it might be comforting to think of antisemites 
as, you know, fringe radicals who occupy, you know, the shadows 
of our society, but in fact, October 7 has made them feel 
emboldened to come out and be more vocal about their hatred of 
Jews and in some cases their desire to see follow-on attacks 
somehow even worse than what we saw on October 7.
    What has been most disheartening to me as a former 
university professor is the extent to which these extreme 
voices are coming from our elite institutions. When you have 
Ivy league professors saying publicly that they felt 
exhilarated by the images coming out of Israel, ``exhilarated'' 
is not the word I would use to describe the decapitation of 
babies. It's not the word I would use to describe parents and 
children being bound together with wire and set ablaze.
    There is a sickness in academia, and I say this with regret 
rather than anger because, for far too long, support for the 
most violent and depraved antisemitic rhetoric, we've just 
turned the other eye--just turned the other cheek. We have to 
stop.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you. So, like I said, back home, 
probably one of the largest Jewish communities, and I am 
honored to work every day, especially as a former NYPD 
detective, work with our county executive, Bruce Blakeman, and 
our police commissioner, Pat Ryder, and the villages that fall 
into this district, to keep our shuls, our synagogues, our 
yeshivas, to keep them safe.
    What else can be done, not only in the law enforcement 
aspect but as communities? What's the messages that we can 
share back home in order to promote and encourage and actually 
keep these communities safe?
    Mr. Sales. Well, I think the most important thing is the 
visible presence of law enforcement at soft targets, like the 
ones you mentioned, can have an important deterrent effect.
    We know that when terrorist attacks happen, that often 
inspires others to take matters into their own hands and commit 
follow-on or copycat attacks.
    If there's a police cruiser outside a synagogue, that makes 
it much less likely that somebody's going to take a chance.
    So I think starting with the basics. Visible demonstrations 
of security are an important deterrent to further attacks.
    Mr. D'Esposito. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Sheila 
Jackson Lee.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Mr. Chairman, thank you, and thank you to 
you and the Ranking Member for holding an important discussion. 
I think it is important to establish the heinousness of the 
attacks by Hamas and the violence shown.
    We, in America, should be steadfast and in affront the 
outrage of antisemitism and the violence that it generates, and 
we must ensure as well that as this Nation respects all faith, 
that we tolerate no violence against any faith, including 
Muslim Americans.
    I think, in this committee, we want to have the homeland 
protected, and we want to be able to be honest and speak to 
those issues as very important, that we protect against such 
violence, should not be tolerated.
    I am grateful, Mr. Warrick, for your presence here and all 
the other witnesses, and may I start with you on this whole 
concept of Iran using the forward defense. One would call that 
cheating and hiding--cheating by having violence perpetrated 
but hiding behind other groups.
    ``Forward defense'' is a nice Foreign Affairs term, but I 
think that is what it is, and so can you dig a little deeper 
into that strategy? That is, using Hezbollah, using Hamas, and 
other terrorist groups in Iran either funding or directing, 
giving strategy, training, and how dangerous that is, and as a 
Homeland Security Department, Homeland Security Committee, how 
much attention we should give to that issue.
    Mr. Warrick. So I know the nuclear file gets a lot of 
attention, but, in fact, Iran's use of proxies, that is to say, 
its use of military forces not under the control of the 
national government of the country in which they're located, is 
actually one of the gravest threats that Iran poses to the 
region, and it's the way Iran is trying to project its power 
against Israel and our Arab partners.
    This is, therefore, something that needs to be addressed in 
the most serious possible way and very much should be the focus 
of a bipartisan, sustainable strategy against Iran that does 
not oscillate no matter who controls the White House or the 
Houses of Congress.
    We need the same bipartisan sustained approach that 
succeeded so well for us in the Cold War against the Soviet 
Union and the bipartisanship we see in our approach toward 
China today.
    We need to have the same bipartisanship in our approach to 
the threat that Iran poses through proxies and surrogates like 
Hamas and Hezbollah.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. We cannot turn our backs on that. We 
cannot ignore.
    Mr. Warrick. Absolutely.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. They can possibly recruit other groups and 
utilize them.
    The State Department has called them the leading proponent 
of terrorism.
    How much do you think Iran knew about Hamas' October 7 
bloody attack?
    Mr. Warrick. They may not have known the exact day and hour 
of the attack, but they helped fund, train, and equip, and 
provide facilities for Hamas to carry out some of its deadly 
attacks.
    So, as everyone on this panel agrees, they are as 
responsible as anyone other than Hamas' own leadership in the 
deaths that were suffered on October 7.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I think that should be loudly pronounced, 
so let me take you to this point.
    I think you will recall, during the Obama administration a 
very serious decision was made, an agreement was made regarding 
its nuclear assets. I can tell you that the Members that were 
here included myself. We had books and books of materials. We 
went into any number of briefings. We wanted to make sure that 
every line that we could ask, every question, every nuance, was 
pursued, and finally felt that the agreement was the best way 
to go.
    So my question to you is: You mentioned in your testimony 
that Iranian cyber attacks went down while they were beholden 
to the Iran nuclear deal, and other aspects of their bad 
behavior. If Iran was following the guidelines then, can you 
just, you know, explore that concept, that there was an impact, 
and whether or not--and we've probably--you know, I hate to say 
the door is closed, but what kind of future potential any of 
that has, but mainly there was an impact?
    Mr. Warrick. Yes. It's important to understand Iran's 
peculiar sense of symmetry. It makes it understandable and 
should help guide us in our efforts to defend the homeland, 
because anything done to the Iranians, they'll find some way to 
do something similar to the United States.
    This is why I say that deterrence doesn't work but raising 
our defenses does.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. So your next steps for this committee 
would be what?
    Mr. Warrick. We have to encourage the American people to do 
more on cybersecurity. The private sector in particular, and 
many businesses, the small businesses, the backbone of our 
country, do not have enough cybersecurity protection.
    It's important for the American people to increase our 
cyber defenses. I'm not worried about the big, you know, 
Amazon, Google, those companies. I'm worried about the medium 
and small businesses and what each of us individually can do.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
    I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize the gentlelady from Florida, Ms. Laurel 
Lee.
    Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this 
important hearing.
    The horrific atrocities happening right now in Israel by 
Iran-backed Hamas terrorists are heartbreaking. Israel should 
know that Congress remains steadfast in our support and our 
commitment to provide them with the tools necessary to defend 
themselves and the resources to eradicate the perpetrators of 
these heinous acts.
    This administration must recognize that Iran will not 
negotiate in good faith, bears responsibility for strengthening 
terrorist proxies around the world, and is still a state 
sponsor of terrorism.
    I want to be sure we bring to light today the human rights 
abuses being perpetrated by Iran against its citizens and, in 
particular, the abuses being perpetrated against women and 
girls.
    Ms. Alinejad, I commend you on your courage in speaking out 
despite the threats to your safety and the danger to you. I'd 
like to return to your story because it is important for us to 
understand, to have a first-hand picture of the status of women 
and girls in what you described earlier as gender apartheid. 
Would you please share with us what that looks like for 
citizens of Iran?
    Ms. Alinejad. It looks miserable. Imagine you go out by 
just showing a bit of your hair, you're not even sure whether 
you're going to go back home alive or not.
    Recently the Islamic Republic actually beaten up a woman 
called Mahsa Amini. She was unveiled. She refused the morality 
police, she got beaten up, and then they sent her to mental 
hospital because they believe women who say no to compulsory 
hijab, they are mentally deranged.
    Let me make sure that women of the Middle East, Iran, who 
can face these barbaric regimes, they are the most stable women 
in the region, in the world.
    But, yes, a regime that kick out girls from the age of 7 
from school if they don't cover their hair; if you don't call 
it a gender apartheid, then what do you call it?
    A regime that actually do not allow women to travel abroad 
without getting permission from their husband--we're not even 
allowed to go to stadium. We're not even allowed to dance. 
We're not allowed to sing--to sing solo.
    Women are not allowed to run for, you know, Presidential 
election. They cannot run the country. Believe me, we have more 
powerful women, educated women, compared to Rouhani, Raisi, and 
these killers.
    So women are being count like second-class citizens from 
the age of 7. That is why I believe that Democrats, 
Republicans, you can get united and help us to expand the 
definition of apartheid, in all international law, to include 
gender as well.
    That's how we, the women of Iran and women of Afghanistan, 
we can easily fight back the gender apartheid regime in the 
Middle East.
    Ms. Lee. What can we be doing as a committee, as a 
Congress, as a country, what can we be doing to help fight for 
the status of women and girls in Iran?
    Ms. Alinejad. You can do a lot. First of all, as I said 
that women receive Nobel Peace Prize this year, Sakharov Award 
from European Parliament, but the real award for us is that you 
take the lead and ask your allies in democratic countries first 
to name the Islamic Republic as it is, gender apartheid; 
second, support the civil society inside Iran; and, third, 
instead of negotiating with the killers, negotiate with women, 
negotiate with the leaders, negotiate with oppositions, and be 
ready to see an Iran without Islamic Republic.
    Because I'm being the target of the assassination plot, 
don't ask me to go under witness protection. I'm not in a 
position to ask questions, but how many of you, if you face 
killers in front of your house, your government comes to you 
and say that, ``OK, we love you, just go and get disappeared, 
be silent,'' would you accept that? How many of you accept 
that?
    This is America. By the First Amendment, freedom of speech, 
I want you to help me be as loud as I can because I'm not here 
to save Iranians. I'm not here to save just my own homeland in 
Iran. I'm an American citizen as well. I'm here, like millions 
of Iranians, to Save America from one of the most dangerous 
virus which is called Islamic Republic.
    I know there is a famous expression in America, what 
happened in Vegas is going to stay in Vegas, correct? But what 
happened in the Middle East is not going to stay in the Middle 
East.
    The Islamic Republic is more deadlier than coronavirus. 
They're going to infect the rest of the world. So I want none 
of the Democrats Congresswomen, none of them condemned 
assassination plot. It breaks my heart.
    When women were White, all the Congresswomen wore white in 
the Congress, I was so excited. I thought this is because of 
White Wednesday's campaigns against compulsory hijab. So I want 
women, Democrats, Republicans, right, left, see this as 
bipartisan and help us to end this gender apartheid regime 
where this will benefit the rest of the world.
    Ms. Lee. Thank you, Ms. Alinejad.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize the gentleman from California, Mr. 
Swalwell.
    Mr. Swalwell. First, I want to address what happened in 
Israel just a few weeks ago and want to absolutely, in the 
harshest way, condemn the terrorism committed by Hamas. Period. 
Some sentiments do not need a comma. What Hamas did was 
terrorism. Period. That says nothing about what the Palestinian 
people not affiliated with Hamas deserve.
    I also want to say that, as Israel defends itself, which it 
has an absolute right to do, as a country that respects the 
rule of law, they also have a responsibility to protect and 
look out for innocent life. Period.
    That does not say anything about the Israelis' right to 
have a Jewish state. It just says we all expect that we will 
look out for innocent people.
    I also believe that at home we have to look out for Jewish, 
Arab, and Muslim Americans who are unfairly being targeted as 
antisemitism and Islamophobia is on the rise, and that's 
something this committee can work on collectively.
    Also, as leaders in the Congress, we all should think about 
the space that must be created, once the humanitarian crisis in 
Gaza is addressed, to create a two-state solution where both 
the Israeli people and the Palestinian people can live in their 
own peace and have their own economic prosperity. We should all 
strive to do that in the coming days, weeks, and months.
    I also want to talk about what the Chairman said at the 
top, as far as the Iranian people should be separated and 
distinguished from the regime.
    Mr. Greenway, you work for Heritage. Is that correct?
    Mr. Greenway. It is, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. They're your employer?
    Mr. Greenway. They are.
    Mr. Swalwell. You work there because you support their 
mission?
    Mr. Greenway. I do, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. At the top, Chairman Green, who I commend for 
his statement, said, the freedom-loving Iranian people who are 
suffering under the oppressive regime, that we must recognize 
we cannot essentially paint an entire population with one brush 
stroke.
    Do you agree with that sentiment?
    Mr. Greenway. I agree, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. On October 19 of this year, the Heritage 
Foundation tweeted out: The Palestinian population has no 
interest in assimilating into American culture and governance 
or in expressing loyalty to America or our allies. To import a 
population of Palestinians would be certain suicide for 
Americans.
    Do you denounce that tweet, Mr. Greenway?
    Mr. Greenway. I don't denounce it. I agree that there's a 
threat, and it constitutes open borders and immigration 
policies without controls, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. You don't believe that casting a broad stroke 
and essentially associating every Palestinian with Hamas is in 
direct conflict with what the Chairman said at the very top?
    Mr. Greenway. I think everyone coming into the country 
needs to be fully screened and vetted so they don't constitute 
a threat, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. Do you believe every Palestinian individual 
is affiliated with Hamas?
    Mr. Greenway. No, I don't, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. Well, then, why can't you denounce the tweet?
    Mr. Greenway. What I agree with, Congressman, is that 
everyone coming into the country needs to be fully screened so 
that we don't constitute an unsatisfactory threat to the United 
States.
    Mr. Swalwell. On the same day, Heritage tweeted, America 
should not--``NOT'' all capitalized--resettle Palestinians. To 
import a population of Palestinians would be certain suicide 
for Americans--again implying that any Palestinian who would 
come to America would bring violence. Do you denounce this 
tweet?
    Mr. Greenway. I think anyone coming into the country needs 
to be fully screened and vetted, and it's the policy of the 
neighbors of Palestine itself not to accept additional 
refugees.
    Mr. Swalwell. So I don't disagree with you. I don't think 
anyone here disagrees that every person who comes here should 
be vetted. I don't support open borders. I don't know a single 
Democrat here who supports open borders.
    What I want to know is why you cannot denounce the idea 
that every Palestinian should be treated as if they're a member 
of Hamas.
    Mr. Greenway. I think everyone comes into the country, 
Congressman----
    Mr. Swalwell. We're not talking about border security. 
We're talking about that the sentiment tweeted, that 
Palestinians, every single one of them, if they came here, 
would be certain suicide for Americans.
    Mr. Greenway. I think we've got an unacceptable risk of 
individuals crossing the country that have been screened and 
vetted, and it's a threat to every American, Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. OK. Assuming you screen a Palestinian who 
comes here, do you believe that Palestinian should be treated 
as a member of Hamas?
    Mr. Greenway. I think everyone should have the same applied 
threshold, the screening and security, before they enter the 
United States. It's not currently happening.
    Mr. Swalwell. Do you know that Heritage deleted these 
tweets?
    Mr. Greenway. If you say so, I assume they did, 
Congressman.
    Mr. Swalwell. Do you want to delete the sentiment that you 
just expressed casting Palestinians as all being affiliated 
with Hamas?
    Mr. Greenway. It's not what I said, Congressman. I said, 
everyone coming in the United States requires screening and 
vetting before they are allowed entry so they don't constitute 
a threat.
    Mr. Swalwell. I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Strong, the gentleman from----
    Mr. Swalwell. I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. Can I just enter 
into the--unanimous consent, to enter the two deleted tweets on 
October 19, 2023, by Heritage----
    Chairman Green. Without objection, so moved.
    [The information follows:]
    
    
    
    

    Mr. Swalwell. Thank you.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman from Alabama is recognized.
    Mr. Strong. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Greenway, I know you didn't get to answer that 
question. I want to yield 20 seconds to you if you want to.
    Mr. Greenway. No. No. I appreciate it, Congressman. Thank 
you.
    Mr. Strong. I want to take a moment and express my 
unwavering support for the nation of Israel. The civilized 
world watched in horror as Hamas terrorists carried out brutal, 
barbaric, unprovoked attacks against the people of Israel.
    I stand with our great ally as they fight to eliminate the 
dire threat to their survival posed by the Iranian-backed 
terrorists.
    While the full extent of Iran's involvement in the October 
7 attack is not yet known, this much is clear. Iran was 
complicit in the attacks having provided financial, material, 
and logistical support to Hamas for years.
    I'm proud that House Republicans have unified and 
unequivocally in support of Israel, and I thank the Chairman 
for holding this important and timely hearing to examine the 
threat of Iran which extends far beyond the Middle East.
    Over the last few days, we have seen 13 separate attacks by 
Iranian-backed proxies on U.S. service members. As a Member of 
this committee and the House Armed Services Committee, I find 
it completely unacceptable that the administration has not 
responded forcefully.
    Ambassador Sales, what steps would you advise the President 
to take to deter this type of aggression?
    Mr. Sales. Well, Congressman, I think actions speak louder 
than words. We've heard just yesterday from the Secretary of 
State, the right message, which is that if Iran harms American 
service members, we reserve the right to respond forcefully to 
defend our people, to defend our interests.
    But it's not an ``if.'' It's already happened. Reportedly 
more than two dozen American service members have been injured 
in the course of this rocket and drone campaign by Iran-backed 
proxies over the past week.
    What are we waiting for? How many more have to be injured 
before we restore deterrence? Do we have to wait for people to 
die before we establish deterrence?
    The way to avoid an escalatory situation in the Middle 
East, the way to avoid being dragged into a war, which we all 
want to avoid, is to enforce red lines with actions, not simply 
rhetoric.
    Mr. Strong. Thank you.
    As my friend from Mississippi highlighted earlier, the 
Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2023 Annual 
Threat Assessment states: Iran will continue to threaten U.S. 
persons directly or by way of proxy attacks. Particularly in 
the Middle East, Iran also remains committed to developing 
surrogate networks inside the United States, an objective it 
has pursued for more than a decade.
    Mr. Greenway, can you explain to the committee how Iran 
develops terror networks within the United States?
    Mr. Greenway. Thanks for the question, Congressman. For 
decades, and as I mentioned in oral and written testimony, the 
first assassination attempt conducted by the Islamic Republic 
in 1980 was in the United States just outside the capital.
    They have since built an infrastructure, built on their 
surrogates and proxies that conduct operational activity, 
espionage, foreign influence, and now cyber attacks.
    All of that has expanded and all of that, it seems, has 
been deprioritized, again, in the change in administration 
policies. I think we're exposed as a result of it.
    Mr. Strong. Thank you.
    Mr. Greenway, when you were at the National Security 
Council, what steps did the previous administration take to 
dismantle Iranian-backed terrorist networks, and how does that 
differ from what we're seeing with the current administration?
    Mr. Greenway. Thank you, Congressman.
    First, we denied access to all resources available through 
exports, through foreign accessible exchange, and through trade 
balances, and that, in essence, deprived them of resources to 
constitute and sustain these networks.
    Second, we prioritized law enforcement in order to conduct 
operations in the United States that would aggressively pursue 
these threats and apply the full range of law enforcement 
options against them.
    Third, we employed a strong and robust relationship with 
partners and allies to do the same. We didn't incentivize the 
taking of hostages. We penalized the taking of hostages, and so 
we didn't require the exchange of resources to obtain them.
    Mr. Strong. Did you happen to see the statement of the 
Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres? I 
quote what he said this morning: Hamas attacks had to be seen 
in the context of years of suffocating occupation.
    What are your thoughts on that?
    Mr. Greenway. I think if we had heard a similar sentiment 
after 9/11, we'd have been offended, and I think many here 
today were offended by his remarks.
    The only appropriate response to the terrorism we saw from 
Hamas is condemnation and absolute offense.
    Mr. Strong. Do you believe he ought to be removed from 
United Nations?
    Mr. Greenway. I don't see why he should stay in his office 
after making those comments.
    Mr. Strong. I totally agree.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the gentlelady from Nevada, Ms. Titus.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding 
this hearing. It's an important topic that we should be 
discussing.
    Unfortunately, over the last year or so, every topic that 
we should be discussing always just kind of evolves into the 
Southern Border, no matter what.
    Meantime, we aren't talking about cybersecurity, which is 
very important. We've done very little about anti-racism, 
antisemitism, anti-Muslims, anti-Asians in the wake of COVID. 
All of that has kind-of gone by the wayside.
    I've just been jotting down notes, and this is going to 
sound pretty disjointed, but the things I've been hearing from 
the other side of the aisle are so outrageous, I have a hard 
time putting them into anything comprehensive.
    If we want to talk about the Southern Border in relation to 
Iran's threat on the United States, you know, let's go back to 
9/11 and the people who were the terrorists there. I don't 
recall any of those terrorists getting into the United States 
by swimming across the Rio Grande, pretending to be a brown, 
poor person from El Salvador. They came other ways.
    Maybe we should be looking at some other things that we 
should be doing to prevent these terrorists from coming into 
the country.
    Mr. Warrick, could you address that?
    Mr. Warrick. Yes, you are correct that the 9/11 terrorists 
entered through ports of entry, airports. A number of measures 
were taken after 9/11 to tighten up that possibility and to 
make it much, much harder. Those efforts were carried out by 
both Democratic and Republican administrations, and they have 
been very successful compared with what happened before 9/11.
    We really do need to appreciate that Iran seeks to recruit 
people who are already here in the United States, because it's 
much easier, as they see it, to do that. We need to make it a 
lot harder for that to happen. But the way to do that is to 
educate Americans, inform Americans, and be careful as public 
officials make statements.
    As you correctly said, we need to denounce both 
antisemitism and Islamophobia. Educating Americans in the kinds 
of things that Iran is doing to us for real is actually very 
important.
    Ms. Titus. I've also heard the call for regime change and 
sanctions work, but we need to do more. I don't know what more 
you want us to do. It's not been very specific. You've said, 
``Let me speak,'' which is happening. You are speaking. 
``Support NGO's.'' We've tried to do that I know through the 
State Department.
    I don't--are you wanting us to send troops? We heard some 
of the Dem--I mean the, excuse me, Republican candidates in 
their last debate suggesting we send troops across the border 
to go after the cartels. We've heard here that the cartels are 
connected to some of the Iranian terrorists.
    Mr. Warrick, you kind of debunked that. Should we be 
sending troops? Can we send troops into Mexico to go after the 
cartels? Because not only do they have fentanyl, but apparently 
they are smuggling in terrorists from the Middle East.
    Mr. Warrick. There is a lot that can be done to disrupt the 
efforts of cartels to try to get drugs into our country. Many 
of them are in the appropriations supplemental request the 
administration has requested for inspection equipment that 
would do a much better job of keeping our country more secure 
from these drug shipments than trying to send troops chasing 
after mobile drug labs in Mexico.
    Ms. Titus. We also haven't heard anything about the United 
Nation's collective sanctions expiring last week on Iran's 
ability to acquire and send ballistic missiles. We haven't 
talked about the JCPOA and pulling out of that and what impact 
that has had. Perhaps those are topics that should be 
addressed.
    We've heard about some problems in the State Department 
with having Iranian sympathizers I guess advising us, but we 
didn't hear much about President Trump giving nuclear secrets 
to a high-level Russian diplomat that we don't even share with 
our allies and Russia's connection to Iran. Maybe we should 
talk about that.
    I think the only really good thing that I heard coming out 
was a reference to my district that what happens in Vegas stays 
in Vegas. Let me assure you, it doesn't. It stays on the 
internet.
    Thank you.
    Chairman Green. Does the gentlelady yield? OK, the 
gentlelady yields.
    I now recognize Mr. Brecheen, the gentleman from Oklahoma, 
for his 5 minutes of questioning.
    Mr. Brecheen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    What happened 11 days ago was pure evil. We know that we 
have 32 Americans that are included among those dead. We have 
11 Americans that are--we are hopeful there's going to be a 
positive outcome to their missing status. One thousand four 
hundred Israelis that are dead, thousands injured, 200 
hostages. People across the world are praying for a good 
result.
    But this committee hearing about protecting our homeland, 
we do have to talk about the Southern Border and, thus, the 
reason for this hearing. You had 659 special interest 
individuals from Iran alone that came across our Southern 
Border in the last several years. I want to repeat that: 659 
special interest aliens from Iran that have come across that 
Southern Border, and that excludes the 1.5 million gotaways. 
There are 70,000 individuals that are known as special interest 
that have come across the Southern Border in 2 years from over 
150 different countries.
    The approach to our Southern Border, people say, well, you 
know, why should we be so concerned about that? The 
assassination plot to kill former President Bush by ISIS 
operatives, that was found out in the spring of 2022.
    I want to repeat that just so that people hear that. We had 
a former President of the United States that was under the 
threat of being killed, and that absolutely involved the 
Southern Border.
    Mr. Sales, you had some commentary, as a former State 
Department official, Homeland Security official, I found 
astounding. It was incredible information.
    In addition to this, specific to Iran, the reason, the 
purpose for this hearing, John Bolton was targeted. Mike Pompeo 
was targeted. These are former key officials that have been 
targeted specifically by Iran. These are people to be taken 
out.
    We had an author of a book in August 2022 who was stabbed 
in New York City.
    Ms. Alinejad--I hope I got your name correct--you 
personally have been the target of a kidnapping plot, and my 
understanding is that an Iranian American. You had someone when 
you were a journalist in Iran years ago who was picked up in 
France who was kidnapped and later killed in Iran. You had 
someone show up at your front door with an AK-47 trying to kill 
you. There is an adjudication taking place within the United 
States about three individuals who have tried to kill you tied 
to Iran.
    So that transitions me to my question. I sent a letter to 
President Biden. I am grateful to a number of colleagues who 
have signed onto this letter.
    There is an attempt, there is a call--I want to kind-of 
recite some of this letter: Dear President Biden, we understand 
there is an encouragement to bring Palestinians to be paroled 
into the United States following the Hamas attack on innocent 
Israelis on October 7. In the past week, we've seen protests, 
cities, colleges across America. It's deeply concerning that 
these have put on display the hatred against the Jewish people. 
There was a New York City Democrat Socialist of America who 
stood in the midst of one of these protests saying he might do 
the same thing because there's nothing left to lose.
    My letter goes on to call this administration to the fact 
that they are not granted Federal statutory authority to do 
mass parole like they have done on the Southern Border, 30,000 
a month with those coming out of Gaza.
    Here's my question: Ms. Alinejad, because your life has 
been threatened specifically, can you imagine an administration 
embracing the concept of those out of Gaza, which we know from 
the Washington Institute polling says 57 percent of those 
inside Gaza right now, 57 percent inside of Gaza right now 
support Hamas or have a favorable opinion of Hamas.
    Can you imagine what would happen--I'm interested--if we 
were to start granting those from Gaza access into the United 
States?
    Ms. Alinejad. I mean, in my opinion, that a lot of people 
in Palestine, in Iran, in the Middle East, they really don't 
support Hamas and Islamic Republic or terrorist groups, but 
they are being like hostage in the hand of this terrorist 
regime. They don't have any other option.
    But, honestly, I have to say that right now there are many 
Iranians in America, in Canada, they have strong link with the 
Revolutionary Guards. Right after Mahsa Amini got killed, many 
of them appeared on TV and praising the Revolutionary Guards.
    Mr. Brecheen. Just for a second of my time, I want to 
specify my question. I understand kind-of where you're going. 
Let me give you an example of what happened with Afghanistan.
    Chairman Green. Very, very quickly. Very quickly.
    Mr. Brecheen. In Afghanistan, we know that the investigator 
general has said to this administration for those that were 
allowed to parole, to come to the United States, that they 
lacked extensive background checks.
    Are you greatly concerned about----
    Ms. Alinejad. I am concerned.
    Mr. Brecheen [continuing]. Because they didn't have names 
or identification specific to these individuals. Are you 
concerned about those coming from Gaza into the United States 
without being thoroughly vetted?
    Ms. Alinejad. No, of course, I want to do the background 
check. This is my concern. I'm sure that many, many times that 
a lot of Iranians, they just came without doing background 
check. Even the members of Revolutionary Guards, they were a 
part of the delegation of Ibrahim Raisi when they came to the 
United States. So they have been given visa. But many ordinary 
Iranians, educated people, they have been denied to receive 
visa, including like members, family members of those who got 
killed.
    Mr. Brecheen. Thank you very much. I yield back.
    Chairman Green. The gentleman yields.
    I now recognize the Ranking Member for his closing 
statement.
    Mr. Thompson. Let me thank the witnesses for their 
testimony.
    One of the charges we have as a committee is to collect 
information from witnesses just like you and hopefully fashion 
some form of legislation that can support what we've heard.
    I still believe in America. I don't see us becoming a 
bully. I see us still as a passionate country that understand 
oppression by other people, and part of that oppression is to 
try to come somewhere with a common ground.
    So, you know, we all represent 700,000-plus people. I say 
that to say that, since I've been in this hearing today, I've 
gotten several messages from constituents who want to speak to 
me directly. I'm talking about today. Sometimes that's a 
challenge for Members. I can only imagine what the President is 
faced with, given his challenges and all he has to deal with.
    But I support our law enforcement. I support our 
intelligence-gathering agencies. Since I've been on this 
committee, since its inception, I've never voted against an 
appropriation part. I've questioned some of the policies, but I 
believe that we have to invest.
    Under my direction, we created CISA. We created some of the 
other agencies that help us protect America. I think we 
absolutely have to continue that. The Weapons of Mass 
Destruction Committee. All those things we created, but we have 
to invest in it.
    The President has offered some appropriation opportunities 
for us to help protect America. I hope we get support, 
bipartisan support to make that happen. Otherwise, we'll just 
be forever languishing and talking.
    So, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your holding this hearing 
and to understand how Hamas' horrific attacks against Israel 
impacts threats posed by the Iranian regime. The Iranian regime 
poses a range of threats to our national security. As Members 
of Congress, we must be mindful that our efforts to call out 
and confront these threats posed by the Iranian regime and its 
proxies do not result in scapegoating Iranian people.
    We must also be mindful to condemn antisemitism and 
Islamophobia here at home.
    I want to comment on remarks made by Congresswoman Greene 
that sought to conflate peaceful protests that took place last 
week with the January 6 insurrection. I chaired the January 6 
Select Committee. What I saw in our committee over months of 
investigation says quite the contrary.
    I believe in the right to free speech. I believe in the 
right to peacefully assemble. I'm from a part of the country 
that, as a person of color, the law prevented that from 
happening until our Federal Government stepped in and created 
an opportunity that everybody in my State of Mississippi not 
could just vote but could eat and sleep where they chose to. 
That's the greatness of this country.
    So I don't want to marginalize anyone. But what happened on 
January 6 was a travesty to this country, and that's part of 
that misinformation that some of you talked about here today. 
It's that misinformation that causes some people to act in ways 
that's not normal and in some instances illegal.
    So facts matter. I hope we understand that, while we all 
have our magic 5 minutes, we are obligated to come with the 
truth.
    Mr. Chair, I appreciate you as Chair. I think there are 
some opportunities for us to fashion legislation around this. 
There are opportunities to strengthen some of those agencies we 
have.
    I would say, but I didn't object, that some of the 
information shared was either Law-Enforcement Sensitive or 
almost Classified, but, you know, if Members want to run out 
here and say it that's fine, but I just think that we ought to 
understand that, in our zeal to make our points in 5 minutes, 
we should also take into consideration the importance of the 
responsibilities we hold as Members of Congress.
    So, with that, I yield back.
    Chairman Green. Thank you, Ranking Member.
    I want to thank the Members for their amazing testimony 
today. I agree with the Ranking Member. I think there's a lot 
of good stuff, especially in these opening statements from 
every witness, on what we can do from a legislation standpoint. 
I'll look forward to working with the Ranking Member to put 
some of that to pen to paper and get something done.
    As we've heard from our witnesses, the threats posed by the 
Iranian regime remain significant to the United States homeland 
and our allies, like Israel. The regime is the world's worst 
state sponsor of terrorism, utilizing its surrogates, like 
Hezbollah and other terrorist proxies, to conduct nefarious 
activities. The regime remains committed to develop proxy 
networks inside the homeland, which should concern us all.
    Mr. Warrick mentioned that the Iranian regime has not 
effectively connected with the drug cartels yet. They failed in 
their efforts, as I understood. But his implication of that is, 
because of that, it shouldn't be a concern for us. I think 
that's foolhardy.
    Iran hasn't dropped a nuclear device into the United 
States. It has not used a nuclear device in the United States. 
Because of that, that doesn't give us an excuse to just write 
off that as a threat because it hasn't been done yet.
    I think that reasoning is flawed. I believe that our open 
Southern Border, coupled with the threats from abroad and from 
within, are a significant concern. In fact, I think they're a 
significant national security threat.
    Mr. Warrick also mentioned that the greater threat is from 
recruitment inside the United States. I don't necessarily 
disagree with that statement. You can look at our college 
campuses in the past week since this attack, and it looks like 
there's a pretty large pool of people to recruit from. That is 
also concerning to me, and I appreciated your testimony on 
that.
    I want to talk a little bit about policy for just a second 
because we talk about, you know, how policy doesn't have an 
impact.
    If you give $6 billion to a terrorist regime and then it's 
supposed to be humanitarian--we've got all these guarantees 
that it's humanitarian--and then a couple of days after the 
transaction the very president, leader, the Supreme Leader of 
Iran says, ``We'll use that for whatever we want,'' and then 
you don't take it back, then, I mean, that emboldens enemies.
    You know, you take, for example, the insistence on the 
JCPOA just continuing to negotiate this deal with Iran, who 
really, from my perspective, has been an enemy since 1979 to 
the United States when they took Americans and held them 
hostage for 444 days, unbelievable. The Khobar Towers, the 
Beirut bombing. We just recently I think celebrated it was the 
40th anniversary of those Marines who died.
    All of that Hezbollah, Iranian-backed proxies, you can't 
turn a blind eye to that and go cut a deal with somebody 
because it does nothing but embolden them, a lot like the way 
we withdrew from Afghanistan I believe emboldened Vladimir 
Putin to think that he could get away with invading Ukraine.
    Weakness is like slap--it's provocation. It's like slapping 
your enemy in the face. That's what I see from the policies of 
this administration. I have to call it out. I'd be 
irresponsible if I didn't.
    We've also heard today from Ms. Alinejad that Tehran 
continues to target current and former U.S. Government 
officials, dissidents, journalists right here in our country, 
and this is unacceptable.
    Additionally, we have to secure our Southwest Border, as 
I've said. There's no doubt that the regime and its cherished 
proxies could exploit the glaring vulnerabilities there. We 
know for a fact, we've caught terrorists trying to get through. 
That number has exponentially grown.
    Is it just--are we to expect that the terrorists are 
intentionally going only to the crossing sites to get caught? 
That defies logic. In that 1.7 million gotaways, let's say it's 
just the same percentage. That's still one too many. We've got 
to secure our Southwest Border if we want to protect America.
    I appreciated the comments about cyber. One of the 
initiatives we've taken is to try to get to a whole-of-
Government approach on cyber. I formed, with the approval of 
then-Speaker McCarthy, to have all of the Cyber Subcommittees 
come together in a quarterly meeting. We've passed cyber 
legislation here.
    Our Cyber subcommittee, led by Mr. Garbarino, has done some 
amazing work. I agree, our cyber border is just as vulnerable 
and just as important as our Southwest Border. That Cyber 
subcommittee is tackling the issue of work force. We're 500,000 
jobs short in cybersecurity. I noted some other recommendations 
in here on cybersecurity, and we're going to take those and go 
forward with them. I appreciate the witnesses bringing that up.
    But we've got to remain vigilant to counter all of the 
threats, not just the cyber threats but also the Southwest 
Border. The threats from folks being recruited here in the 
United States. I couldn't agree more.
    I too want to say to the U.S. members of the Jewish 
community, we will fight antisemitism with our last breath. It 
should not ever be tolerated. The Members of Congress who are 
reticent or whatever it is to sign onto a resolution condemning 
Hamas, I cannot make an excuse for that. It is inconceivable to 
me.
    The Members of this committee may have some additional 
questions for the witnesses that they will submit in writing 
and the witnesses have 10 days in accordance with our rule, 
committee rule VII(D), to get that back to us and into the 
record.
    Without objection, the committee stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 12:19 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]

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