[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 171 (Thursday, November 19, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8126-S8130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES
Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, because of what happened in Paris last
week, a lot of speeches are going to be given on the floor of the
Senate about terrorism. But it is too bad that we only seem to talk
about the dangers of terrorism when bad things happen in the United
States or happen in Paris or someplace else that brings the issue to
our attention. I think what we all need to remember is that it is a
constant danger that may not appear to us daily, but somewhere out
there are people thinking about killing us for what we believe.
So I rise today, again, expressing my sympathies to the people of
Paris and those affected by Friday's terrible attacks by radical
Islamic terrorists there. On behalf of the people of Iowa, I continue
to stand with the people of France.
Unfortunately, the attacks last Friday should not have been a
surprise. Radical Islamic terrorists have been waging war against the
United States and our allies for years. When thinking about the last
three decades of the last century, you think about the terrorism at the
Munich Olympics or an American being murdered on a TWA plane. Then we
had a Jewish person in a wheelchair thrown overboard in the
Mediterranean. There was the attempt to bring down the Twin Towers in
1993
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by car bombs. Marines were murdered in Lebanon--over 200, I think it
was. We had the attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, where our
military people were living. We had the East African Embassy attacked,
and we had the USS Cole attack.
Now, all of those happened before
9/11. Since 9/11, attacks have occurred around the world--from the
train bombings in Madrid in 2004 to the suicide bombings in London in
2005 to the senseless slaughter in the streets of Mumbai in 2008. My
focus today, however, will be on the United States homeland.
Terrorists have continued to try to attack us here on many occasions
since 9/11. Some of these attacks have succeeded. Most of them have
failed. Some of them have involved direct coordination with terrorist
leaders abroad, and some have been committed by lone wolves inspired by
terrorists overseas or the views of those terrorists. But these threats
are ongoing, and that is what we should not fail to understand.
Consequently, we must be vigilant to guard against those threats. We
know that we will face them again.
Several prominent terrorist attacks in the United States come to
mind. We all remember the carnage at the Boston Marathon in April 2013,
where two brothers detonated bombs at the finish line that killed an 8-
year-old boy and two others and injured hundreds more. Although the
brothers did not appear to have direct ties with terrorist
organizations, they were motivated by radical Islamic beliefs.
We also remember the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, TX, where
13 people were killed and several dozen others were wounded.
Incredibly, the Obama administration refused to categorize this as a
terrorist attack, in spite of the fact that the shooter had traded
emails with then senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki. The shooter
also later identified his extremist beliefs as a basis of his attack.
But those tragedies only continued the pattern followed by radical
Islamic terrorists since Al Qaeda hijacked and crashed airplanes into
the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that fateful day in 2001. Soon after
9/11, for example, British citizen Richard Reid attempted to detonate
explosives packed in his shoe while on a flight to Miami in December
2001. He had previously trained at Al Qaeda terrorist camps in
Afghanistan. Thankfully, he failed, but this attempted attack put us on
notice that these terrorists were not finished with what happened on 9/
11.
More attacks and plots followed, perhaps less well remembered after
the passage of time. And the passage of time is our biggest enemy here,
as we don't think about this often enough. But they still demonstrate
the ongoing threat we face.
In July 2002, an Egyptian shot and killed two Israelis and wounded
four others at the Los Angeles International Airport. Although the FBI
did not find evidence linking the shooter to a terrorist group, the
agency concluded the shooting was an act of terror.
In March 2006, another radical Islamic terrorist injured six people
when he drove his vehicle into a group of pedestrians at the University
of North Carolina. The attacker claimed to have conducted the attack in
order to avenge the killing of Muslims around the world by our American
Government.
Another example is the ``Fort Dix Six'' plot in May of 2007. In that
case, six men planned to kill American soldiers at the military base in
New Jersey but were arrested before they could do so. The men were
inspired by jihadi videos.
In June 2009, a terrorist shot two recruiters at a military center in
Little Rock, AR. One of the recruiters was killed, and the other was
seriously wounded. The shooter told the judge in his case that he was a
soldier of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Later in 2009, three radical Islamic terrorists were arrested just
before they were able to conduct suicide attacks in New York City. One
of these terrorists drove all the way from his home in Colorado to
strike the New York City subway system with homemade explosives hidden
inside a backpack. He later admitted in court that he was trained by Al
Qaeda to be a part of what they call a ``martyrdom operation.'' He
further confessed that Al Qaeda officials ordered these suicide attacks
from Pakistan.
Also in 2009, on Christmas Day, a terrorist often referred to as the
Underwear Bomber attempted to blow up a bomb concealed in his underwear
while on a flight over Detroit. Several days later, Al Qaeda affiliates
in Yemen and Saudi Arabia claimed responsibility for that effort.
In May 2010, a terrorist tried to set off a car bomb in the middle of
Times Square in New York City. He was arrested while attempting to flee
the country on a flight to the Middle East. The bomber was trained and
financed by the Pakistani Taliban.
More recently, the threat from radical Islamic extremism has sprung
from the chaos in Syria. By now we are all familiar with ISIS, or the
Islamic State. Last year, we witnessed the horrors of ISIS's brutal and
barbaric beheading of American journalists James Foley and Steven
Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig in Syria.
As FBI Director Comey explained to the Senate Judiciary Committee
earlier this year, ISIS presents a new type of Islamic extremist
organization. For one thing, ISIS exploits social media to promote its
terrorist agenda and encourage people within the United States to
commit terrorist attacks. As Director Comey explained, ISIS's
propaganda machine is like a devil on somebody's shoulder saying:
``Kill, kill, kill;'' and ``if you can't come to Syria, kill somebody
where you are. Kill somebody in uniform. Kill anybody.'' Those are the
words Comey used in paraphrasing the message that comes from ISIS on
social media.
ISIS's deadly message of terror is having a profound effect here in
our country. Over the last year, the government has stopped numerous
individuals in the United States who tried to travel to Syria to fight
for ISIS. According to Director Comey, over 200 Americans have traveled
or attempted to travel to Syria for this purpose. I fear that such
individuals who successfully return home could recreate the Paris
attack here in our country, given the training, the indoctrination, and
the battlefield experience they received abroad. The Washington Post
reported on November 16 that 66 men and women in the United States have
been charged with crimes associated with ISIS, including both
attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS or planning attacks here.
Beyond ISIS's recruitment of Americans to fight in Syria, the Paris
attack demonstrates the extreme dangers the group now poses here in
North America. Look at what occurred just over the past year or so. In
October 2014, a radical Islamic terrorist who could not obtain a
passport to travel to Syria shot up the Parliament in Canada, killing a
Canadian soldier on duty at the Canadian National War Memorial. The
next day, a self-radicalized Muslim convert attacked four police
officers on the streets of New York City with a hatchet after watching
ISIS Internet propaganda.
In January of this year, the FBI arrested a person in Ohio for
plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol with pipe bombs and guns. The
terrorist also allegedly expressed a desire to support ISIS, and he had
posted videos and messages on social media, supporting violent attacks
by radical Islamic terrorists.
Later, in May of this year, two Islamic terrorists drove from Arizona
to Garland, TX, to attack a conference center during an art exhibit.
The center was hosting an exhibition of cartoons depicting the Islamic
Prophet Mohammed. The pair shot and injured a security guard before
being killed by a police officer. ISIS subsequently claimed
responsibility for that attack.
In June 2015, law enforcement officers in Massachusetts shot and
luckily killed a knife-wielding member of a group of ISIS supporters
who were plotting attacks here in the United States, along the lines of
what Director Comey has said: Just go out and ``kill, kill, kill.'' Two
other alleged terrorists were arrested and are being prosecuted.
Just this month, an American was arrested in Ohio for supporting
ISIS. He allegedly posted online detailed personal information,
including their addresses, of 100 U.S. military members. He had then
allegedly called on fellow
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terrorists to kill these military personnel in their homes and
communities, along the lines of what the social networking message is
from overseas to people in the United States, as Director Comey has
reported to us: ``Kill, kill, kill.'' Just kill anyone.
More chilling than a lot of this is the video released earlier this
week. On Monday, ISIS released a video warning countries against
participating in air strikes in Syria. The video claimed that ISIS
would attack these countries just as it attacked France last Friday.
The video specifically threatened to attack this city, right here,
Washington, DC.
According to the New York Times just this morning, ``at least three
dozen people in the United States suspected of ties to the Islamic
State were under heavy electronic or physical surveillance even before
the Paris attacks.'' That ought to wake us all up to the dangerous
environment that exists.
It is all too obvious that we will continue to face attacks from
radical Islamic terrorists in the future. We ought to remind ourselves
every day about this potential threat. So to help remind us both of
that certainty and that we must be prepared for it, I ask unanimous
consent to enter into the Record a long list of terrorist attacks in
the United States that I prepared from public sources. The list may not
include each and every attack by terrorists, but it does include a wide
variety of attempted and planned attacks against our citizens. Because
of space limitations on material submitted for the Record, a more
complete and annotated list can be found on my website. That list also
includes a separate list of individuals prosecuted in the United States
for attempting to leave the country to fight for ISIS.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Radical Islamic Terrorist Attacks and Plots in the United States Since
9/11
I. Successful Attacks
July 4, 2002: Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, a 41-year-old
Egyptian national, shot and killed two Israelis and wounded
four others at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles
International Airport. Although the FBI did not find evidence
linking Hadayet to a terrorist group, the agency concluded
the shooting was an act of terrorism because of Hadayet's
stated anti-Israel views and opposition to U.S. Middle East
policy.
March 5, 2006: Mohammed Reza Taheri-Azar injured six people
when he drove a Sport Utility Vehicle into a group of
pedestrians at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Taheri-Azar
claimed to have conducted the attack in order to avenge the
killing of Muslims around the world by the U.S. government.
July 28, 2006: Naveed Afzal Haq shot and killed one woman,
and wounded five others, at the Jewish Federation building in
Seattle, Washington. During the shooting, Haq spoke with a
911 dispatcher and said ``these are Jews and I'm tired of
getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by
the situation in the Middle East.''
June 1, 2009: Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot two military
recruiters at a Little Rock, Arkansas Army/Navy Career
Center, killing one and seriously wounding the other.
Muhammad had previously converted to Islam and spent
approximately 16 months, beginning in 2007, in Yemen.
Although no independent, public confirmation of Muhammad's
ties to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula exists, Muhammad
wrote to the judge in his case stating that he was ``a
soldier'' of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and undertook
his attack as revenge for U.S. killing of Muslims in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
November 5, 2009: Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army Major
serving as a psychiatrist, shot and killed 13 people and
wounded several dozen others at Fort Hood, Texas. Hasan
stated that his motive was jihad to fight ``illegal and
immoral aggression against Muslims'' in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hasan had earlier exchanged 18 e-mails with Anwar al-Awlaki,
an important, U.S.-born leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula.
April 15, 2013: Tamerlan Tsarnaey and his younger brother,
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, detonated two bombs within moments of each
other near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing
three people and injuring hundreds more. Although the
brothers were motivated by radical Islam to carry out the
attacks, they did not appear to have had any direct ties to
Islamic terrorist organizations.
October 23, 2014: Zale Thompson attacked four New York City
police officers with a hatchet, injuring two of them (one
critically) at a Queens, New York shopping district. The
police shot and killed Thompson, and a bystander was injured
in the process. Thompson appears to have been a self-
radicalized Muslim convert who had posted ``antigovernment,
anti-Western, anti-white'' messages online.
May 3, 2015: Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi began shooting
outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas during an
art exhibit hosted by an anti-Muslim group called the
American Freedom Defense Initiative. The center was hosting
an exhibition of cartoon adaptations depicting the Islamic
Prophet Muhammad. The pair shot and injured a security guard
before being killed by a police officer. The Islamic Sate of
Iraq and Syria subsequently claimed responsibility for the
attack, though the group did not provide evidence of how it
was involved with the shooters or in the attack.
July 16, 2015: Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez--who reportedly
had been in various locations in the Middle East for nearly
seven months last year--shot at government personnel in two
military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, first
through a drive-by shooting at a recruiting center, then by
traveling to a naval reserve center and continuing to fire.
Before being killed by police, Abdulazeez killed four
Marines, and wounded another Marine, a Navy sailor, and a
police officer. The Navy sailor died from his wounds two days
later. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of
terrorism.
II. Unsuccessful Attacks and Plots
December 22, 2001: British citizen Richard Reid attempted
to detonate explosives packed in his shoes while on a flight
from Paris to Miami. The airplane's crew and passengers
subdued him, and the plane landed safely in Boston. Reid had
previously received training at Al-Qaeda terrorist camps in
Afghanistan.
May 8, 2002: Jose Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport and subsequently accused of plotting to
attack the United States with a radiological weapon (a
``dirty bomb''). He had previously spent several years in the
Middle East, and the U.S. government produced evidence at his
trial indicating he had attended an Al-Qaeda training camp in
Afghanistan.
May 1, 2003: Iyman Faris pled guilty to providing material
support to Al-Qaeda and providing information to Al-Qaeda
about potential targets in the United States--including a
bridge in New York City.
August 2004: A group of men in the United Kingdom, led by
Al-Qaeda ``member or close associate'' Dhiren Barot, were
arrested for being part of an Al-Qaeda plan to bomb the
International Monetary Fund, New York Stock Exchange,
Citigroup and Prudential buildings in the United States, as
well as targets in the United Kingdom. Barot had earlier
scouted the American targets while visiting the United States
in 2000 and 2001.
August 2004: Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay were
arrested after conducting surveillance at the Herald Square
subway station in Manhattan. The pair were planning to attack
the station with explosives in response to actions by
American military forces in Iraq.
August 31, 2005: Kevin James, Hammad Samana, Gregory
Patterson, and Levar Washington were indicted on charges to
wage war against the United States through terrorist
activities. The men planned attacks against targets including
American military and Jewish institutions, located in
Southern California.
November 24, 2006: Uzair Paracha was convicted of
conspiring to help an Al-Qaeda operative member suspected of
planning bombing attacks in Maryland to enter the United
States. Paracha was later sentenced to 30 years in prison.
June 23 2006: Seven men, known as the ``Liberty City
Seven,'' were arrested for being involved in a plot to blow
up the Sears Tower in Chicago as part of an Islamic jihad.
Attorney General Gonzales stated later that year that the
plotters had promised to fight ``a full ground war against
the United States.''
July 7 2006: Three men were arrested in Lebanon for
plotting to bomb transit tunnels underneath the Hudson River
in New York City. The men intended that the New York
financial district would then be flooded. The FBI discovered
the plot and gathered information on it through emails and
chat-room postings on web forums used to recruit Islamic
terrorists.
December 8, 2006: Derrick Shareef was charged with plotting
to detonate hand grenades at a shopping mall in Illinois
during the Christmas shopping season. Shareef was a Muslim
convert who reportedly had discussed his desire to wage jihad
against civilians and had also spoken of attacking government
facilities.
2007: Sabrihan Hasanoff and Wessam Hanafi, beginning in
2007 and at the direction of Al-Qaeda members in Yemen
performed surveillance on several potential targets,
including the New York Stock Exchange, for future terrorist
attacks in the United States. El-Hanafi forwarded the report
to Al-Qaeda.
May 2007: Six men planned to kill American soldiers at Fort
Dix, New Jersey, but were arrested before they could do so.
This plot is popularly known as the ``Fort Dix Six'' plot,
and the men appear to have been inspired by Jihadi videos
June 3, 2007: Four men were indicted for plotting to blow
up jet-fuel tanks and a fuel pipeline at John F. Kennedy
International Airport in New York City. Assistant Attorney
General Kenneth Wainstein said that the men ``sought to
combine an insider's knowledge of JFK airport with the
assistance of Islamic radicals in the Caribbean to produce''
a ``devastating attack.''
January 28, 2009: Bryant Neal Vinas pleaded guilty to
joining Al-Qaeda and developing a plan with Al-Qaeda
leadership to conduct an attack on the Long Island Railroad
in New York.
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February 26, 2009: Christopher Paul, also known as Abdul
Malek, was sentenced for conspiring to use weapons of mass
destruction against targets in Europe and the United States.
Paul, who had received terrorist training at overseas
terrorist camps in Afghanistan, and had subsequently
joined Al-Qaeda, had worked with an Islamic terror cell in
Europe to prepare to attack targets in the United States.
May 20, 2009: Four men were arrested for plotting to bomb
Jewish synagogues in New York City after they had planted
what they thought were bombs near two synagogues. The men
also allegedly planned to shoot down U.S. military planes
operating out of Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh,
New York. The men were apparently angry over the U.S.-led war
in Afghanistan, and one told an FBI informant that he'd be
interested in joining a Pakistan-based terrorist group ``to
do jihad.''
September 2009: Daniel Patrick Boyd and Hysen Sherifi were
charged with plotting to kill U.S. military personnel at the
Quantico marine base in Virginia. They had undertaken
reconnaissance of the base and had practiced attacking the
base in July. Boyd, along with several other suspects, had
earlier been charged with international terrorism charges in
August, but those charges did not concern attacks in the
United States. Prosecutors played a tape during Boyd's
detention hearing where he decried the U.S. military, decried
the struggle of Muslims, and mentioned the honor of
martyrdom.
September 2009: Najibullah Zazi, and later Adis Medunjanin
and Zarein Ahmedzay, were arrested for planning to conduct
suicide attacks with homemade explosives in the New York City
subway system. All three had received weapons training from
Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and Zazi admitted in court that he
was trained by Al-Qaeda to be part of a ``martyrdom
operation.'' Evidence indicates that senior Al-Qaeda
officials ordered the attacks. According to the indictment
against Medunjanin, before being arrested for the planned
subway attacks, on January 7, 2010, Medunjanin attempted to
conduct an attack in New York City by intentionally crashing
his car on the Whitestone Expressway.
September 24, 2009: Michael Finton, also known as Talib
Islam, was arrested and charged for attempting to kill
federal employees by detonating a car bomb at the federal
building in Springfield, Illinois. He was arrested after he
attempted to detonate what he thought was the bomb, but which
was in fact a fake bomb. Finton reportedly idolized (and had
written to) American-born Taliban member John Walker Lindh.
September 24, 2009: Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, an illegal
immigrant from Jordan, was arrested for placing, with the
intent to detonate, what he thought was a car bomb outside of
the 60-story Fountain Place office tower in Dallas, Texas.
FBI undercover agents met with Smadi over several months
while posing as members of an Al-Qaeda sleeper cell.
According to the FBI, Smadi ``stood out based on his vehement
intention to actually conduct terror attacks in the United
States.''
December 14, 2009: Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris
Ahmed were sentenced for their earlier terrorism convictions
in support of terrorism. Among other activities, Sadequee and
Ahmed had driven to and taken videos--for use by ``the jihadi
brothers abroad'' with whom the pair were connected via the
internet--of targets in Washington, DC., including the U.S.
Capitol, the World Bank, the Masonic Temple, and a fuel tank
farm.
December 25, 2009: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian
citizen, attempted to blow up the commercial airliner he was
flying on over Detroit by igniting high explosives concealed
in his underpants. Several days later, Al-Qaeda's affiliate
in Yemen and Saudi Arabia claimed responsibility for the
attempted attack. Abdulmutallab later plead to the charges
against him and read a statement in court saying ``I
attempted to use an explosive device which in the U.S. law is
a weapon of mass destruction, which I call a blessed weapon
to save the lives of innocent Muslims, for U.S. use of
weapons of mass destruction on Muslim populations in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and beyond.''
May 1, 2010: Faisal Shahzad attempted, but failed, to
detonate a car bomb in Times Square in New York City.
Evidence indicated that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the
attempted attack, and that Shahzad was in contact with the
group via the internet while living in the United States.
Shahzad was attempting to flee the country through a flight
to the Middle East when arrested.
May 2010: Paul and Nadia Rockwood, from King Salmon,
Alaska, were arrested for lying to the FBI about having
compiled a list of 20 domestic terrorism targets, including
members of the U.S. military, the media, and two religious
organizations. The couple had also begun to acquire
components for mail bombs. Rockwood, who had earlier
converted to Islam and was studying the writings of Anwar al-
Awlaki, sought to ``exact revenge by death on anyone who
desecrated Islam.''
October 20, 2010: Zachary Adam Chesser, a supporter of
designated foreign terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, pleaded
guilty to charges that included soliciting other jihadists
online to murder U.S. citizens in the United States. Among
other things, he pleaded guilty to taking specific, repeated
steps to encourage jihadists to attack the writers of an
American television show for the way the show had depicted
Muhammad.
October 27, 2010: Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized U.S.
citizen, was arrested for plotting to bomb multiple
Washington, D.C. metro stations Ahmed believed he was
conspiring with Al-Qaeda operatives in plotting the attacks.
November 26, 2010: Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-
American, attempted to wage jihad by trying to ignite what he
thought was a real bomb, but which was a fake bomb supplied
by an undercover officer, at a Christmas tree lighting
ceremony in Portland, Oregon. Among other statements Mohamud
made regarding the attacks, he said ``I want whoever is
attending that event to leave, to leave either dead or
injured.''
December 8, 2010: Antonio Martinez, also known as Muhammad
Hussain, was arrested after a sting operation for plotting to
blow up the Armed Forces Career Center in Catonsville,
Maryland. Martinez, a Muslim convert, was motivated to plot
the attack because he was upset that the U.S. and other
militaries were fighting Muslims.
February 24, 2011: Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a Saudi Arabian
student in the United States, was arrested for planning and
having begun to build bombs for use in various terrorist
attacks in America. Targets of the attacks included former
President George W. Bush's home, hydroelectric dams, nuclear
power plants, nightclubs, and the homes of American soldiers
who had been stationed in Iraq at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Aldawsari described in his journal, as well as on blog
postings, his desire for violent jihad.
May 11, 2011: Ahmed Ferhani, a native of Algeria, and
Mohamed Mamdouh were arrested for plotting to attack Jewish
synagogues in New York City. The pair were arrested after
purchasing several handguns and one grenade. The two were
said to be ``committed to violent jihad.''
June 23, 2011: Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif and Walli Mujahidh
were arrested after purchasing machine guns and grenades for
the purpose of conducting a suicide attack against a federal
building housing the Military Entrance Processing Station in
Seattle. The pair's motive was to conduct physical jihad in
the United States, as they were upset about U.S. military
activities in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen.
July 27, 2011: Naser Jason Abdo, a U.S. Army Private who
had been Absent Without Leave (AWOL), was arrested in a plot
against Fort Hood, Texas. He was found with jihaclist
materials, weapons, explosives instructions, and materials.
The explosives instructions were from an Al-Qaeda explosives
course manual.
September 28, 2011: Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested, following
an FBI undercover operation, and charged for plotting to use
a remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives to attack
the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon. Ferdaus planned to commit
violent jihad with the materials, and hoped to cause a
``psychological impact'' by killing Americans--who he
referred to as ``enemies of Allah.''
November 20, 2011: Jose Pimentel was arrested for building
and plotting to detonate pipe bombs in and around New York
City. Pimentel's intended targets included U.S. military
personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. postal
facilities, and police. Pimentel was described as an ``Al-
Qaeda sympathizer,'' though he is believed to have worked on
his plot alone.
January 7, 2012: Sami Osmakac, a naturalized U.S. citizen
from Kosovo, was arrested for plotting to use weapons and
explosives ``to create mayhem'' in Tampa, Florida. He planned
to conduct a car bombing, then take hostages, and to finally
detonate a suicide belt he would be wearing. Osmakac told an
FBI undercover agent that ``We all have to die, so why not
die the Islamic way?''
February 17, 2012: Amine El Khalifi, a Moroccan who was
illegally inside the United States, was arrested following an
FBI sting operation for plotting to carry out a suicide
bombing inside the U.S. Capitol building. When arrested near
the Capitol, Khalifi was carrying what he believed to be a
loaded automatic weapon and a suicide vest.
September 15, 2012: Adel Daoud was arrested, following an
FBI undercover investigation, for attempting to detonate what
he thought was a car bomb in front of a bar in Chicago. Daoud
had earlier expressed his interest online in engaging in
violent jihad in the United States or overseas.
October 17, 2012: Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, a
Bangladeshi, was arrested following a sting operation for
plotting to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan. He
was arrested after attempting to detonate what he thought was
a 1,000 pound bomb near the door of the bank. Nails undertook
his plot on behalf of ``our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden.''
November 29, 2012: Raees Alam Qazi and his brother,
Sheheryar Alam Qazi, both naturalized U.S. citizens of
Pakistani descent, were arrested for plotting to attack New
York City, possibly at Times Square. Raees, inspired by Al-
Qaeda (members of which he had tried to contact) had recently
traveled to New York to attempt to obtain explosives for the
attack.
December 13, 2013: Terry Lee Loewen, an avionics
technician, was arrested following an FBI sting operation for
attempting to explode a car bomb in a suicide attack at the
Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kansas. Loewen is a
Muslim-convert who had said to an FBI employee that ``I have
become `radicalized' in the strongest sense of the word, and
I don't feel Allah wants me any other way.''
September 15, 2014: Mufid A. Elgeeh was charged with
encouraging and helping prepare two other people to go to
Syria and join
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ISIS. He had also allegedly plotted to shoot U.S. military
members in the United States who had returned from Iraq.
Elgeeh was arrested after purchasing two handguns,
ammunition, and silencers.
February 25, 2015: Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev was
charged for offering online to kill the U.S. President if
ordered by ISIS. He, along with Akhror Saidakhmetove,
allegedly then planned to travel to Syria to wage jihad on
behalf of ISIS.
April 2, 2015: Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui were
arrested, following a sting operation, for plotting to
detonate explosives in the United States. The two allegedly
discussed possible targets online and had acquired both
multiple propane tanks and instructions on how to turn the
tanks into bombs. Siddiqui had allegedly contacted members of
Al-Qaeda on repeated occasions.
April 10, 2015: John T. Booker was arrested, after a sting
operation, for allegedly trying to detonate a car bomb at the
Fort Riley military base in Kansas on behalf of ISIS. Booker
allegedly had spent months discussing different plans of
attack before deciding on a suicide attack against the base,
and had begun acquiring components for a vehicle bomb before
becoming the subject of the FBI operation. He also allegedly
repeatedly stated that he wished to engage in violent jihad
on behalf of ISIS.
June 12, 2015: David Wright and Nicholas Rovinski were
charged with conspiring to commit attacks against persons
inside the United States, which was intended to further
ISIS's objectives and therefore constituted material support
to that group. Wright and Rovinski also allegedly intended to
behead a man who had organized a conference in Garland, Texas
that featured cartoons depicting Muhammad. Moreover, Wright
and Rovinski allegedly conspired with Usaamah Abdullah
Rahim--Wright's uncle--who was shot and killed after
attacking police officers. The FBI stated that Rahim had been
under surveillance because he had bought fighting knives and
spoken of imminently attacking ``boys in blue.'' Rahhim, when
confronted by the police on a sidewalk, menaced the officers
with a military-style knife before shooting him when he
refused to drop the knife.
June 17, 2015: Fareed Mumuni and Munther Omar Saleh were
arrested for allegedly conspiring to attempt to assist ISIS
in committing a terrorist attack in the New York area. Mumuni
and Saleh allegedly charged, with knives, at law enforcement
officers who were trying to arrest them. Mumuni also
allegedly told authorities that he had pledged his support to
ISIS.
June 19, 2015: Robert McCollum, who changed his name to
Amir Said Abdul Rahman Al-Ghazi, was charged with, among
other offenses, attempting to provide material support to
ISIS. He allegedly had pledged his support to ISIS via social
media, took steps to create propaganda for the group, and had
tried to persuade others to join ISIS too. He allegedly had
also expressed his desire to conduct an attack on the United
States, and had attempted to purchase an assault rifle.
July 13, 2015: Alexander Ciccolo was arrested on gun
charges after purchasing two pistols and two rifles from an
undercover FBI informant. His apartment allegedly was loaded
with bomb-making equipment and jihadi paperwork. Ciccolo
allegedly had planned to travel to a town with a state
university where he could attack students at the college.
Ciccolo was turned in by his father, who said his son was
inspired by ISIS, had said he is ``not afraid to die for the
cause,'' and reportedly characterized America as ``Satan''
and ``disgusting.''
July 28, 2015: Harlem Suarez was charged with attempting to
use a weapon of mass destruction against a person or property
within the United States. Suarez came to law enforcement
attention following Facebook posts he made with Islamic
extremist rhetoric and promoting ISIS. Suarez allegedly had
told a confidential FBI source that he wanted to make a
``timer bomb,'' which was to include galvanized nails and for
which he had purchased components, to be buried and detonated
at a beach in Key West, Florida.
November 12, 2015: Terrence McNeil was arrested in Ohio for
soliciting the murder of members of the U.S. military. He had
disseminated ISIS rhetoric and detailed U.S. military
personnel information for 100 military members, then called
on fellow terrorists to kill the military personnel in their
homes and communities.
Mr. GRASSLEY. These lists include successful attacks that harmed
Americans as well as unsuccessful attempts that did not--often thanks
to law enforcement's efforts. What is common to all the attacks is that
they were undertaken by terrorists who coordinated with radical Islamic
extremists, were inspired by them or by those who shared their views.
The listed attacks should serve as a reminder that we must always be
vigilant. We must never forget that radical Islamic extremists are
waging war against us. We must always be prepared to fight this battle
and to defend against their attacks.
I am grateful this Thanksgiving season for the people in this country
who do the difficult work of protecting us from terrorists every day.
We must continually strengthen our country's ability to win this war.
We must ensure that our military and Special Forces have the ability to
take the fight to the terrorists overseas, wherever they are lurking.
We must ensure that our intelligence agencies have the tools needed to
identify terrorists and their plots, while preserving the civil
liberties that make our country very special. And we must ensure that
law enforcement is able to use the lawful tools provided by Congress,
consistent with our Constitution and approved by our courts, to help
stop these terrorist attacks.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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