[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TERRORISM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on one final matter, last week, 
some of our colleagues expressed disapproval of U.S. strikes against 
al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia. I find their views difficult to 
understand.
  Al-Shabaab poses a significant threat to U.S. interests. But you 
don't have to take my word for it. Late in 2019, the leader of al-
Shabaab, an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist group based in Somalia, said:

       Our biggest target today is the Americans . . . The only 
     reason we have exerted all this effort and undertaken all 
     this preparation today is to attack the American troops.

  In the assessment of the commander of U.S. Africa Command, U.S. 
General Stephen Townsend, that is coming from ``the largest, 
wealthiest, and most violent Al Qaeda-associated group in the world'' 
and ``the primary African violent extremist organization threat to 
American interests.''
  This is not a new threat. Al-Shabaab was designated a foreign 
terrorist organization back in 2008. Its leaders declared allegiance to 
al-Qaida in 2012, a year before their attack on the Westgate Mall in 
Kenya that killed 67 people. The Obama administration designated the 
group as an al-Qaida-associated force in 2016. That made it subject to 
the 2001 AUMF.
  At the time, it was a difficult but telling acknowledgement that the 
al-Qaida terrorist threat was growing. The raid that killed Bin Laden 
had clearly not ended the threat his terrorists posed to our country.
  As a result of its declared and demonstrated allegiance to al-Qaida, 
al-Shabaab is clearly subject to the 2001 authorization for the use of 
military force, no question. President Obama knew it. General Townsend 
knows it. Al-Shabaab themselves tell us they want Americans dead. What 
more, what more do the skeptics need?
  If our colleagues do not want the U.S. military to conduct strikes 
against the al-Qaida terrorists responsible for killing Americans and 
threatening our interests, I would be interested to hear how they 
propose we defend against these threats.
  So, by the way, with the administration's rushed withdrawal from 
Afghanistan, there are well-founded concerns that al-Qaida may be 
roaring back in that country.
  So which al-Qaida affiliate should we stop pressuring--al-Shabaab, 
AQAP, ISIS? Should we stop hunting for al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-
Qaida?
  Administrations of both parties have identified and supported local 
partners who share an interest in combating terrorists. By and large, 
this approach has succeeded in keeping pressure on the terrorists while 
keeping more Americans out of harm's way.
  But despite the best efforts of local partners to keep the terrorists 
at bay and the best efforts of U.S. diplomats to broker peace, some 
terrorists do require direct action by the U.S. military to be stopped. 
These hard-core extremists pose a serious threat to American national 
security. They seek to attack our interests all around the world, 
including our homeland, if we let them.
  The threat they pose will not recede if we lose focus. In fact, the 
exact opposite is the case. So I hope the Commander in Chief will 
exercise the authorities the Congress has provided him and the tools 
Congress has funded to keep America safe against the terrorists who 
continue to target our homeland and our interests abroad.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________