[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12618-12619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             FOREIGN POLICY

  Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, this past weekend we bowed our heads in 
remembrance of the nearly 3,000 lives we lost on September 11, 2001. 
The largest attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor changed our lives 
drastically, but it did not impact America as our enemy had hoped. We 
did not falter. We bonded together. We fought back. From places such as 
Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and the Philippines, U.S. troops 
operating under Operation Enduring Freedom showed those responsible for 
9/11 the true power of the United States of America. The plan to fight 
against Al Qaeda and its hosts was as clear as its name: ``Global War 
on Terrorism.''
  Through strong American leadership, support from our allies, and 
working alongside local forces, the United States embedded itself in 
places where extremism had spread to deny terrorism a safe haven. From 
combat operations in Afghanistan to advising missions in the Caribbean, 
there has long been a global and comprehensive plan for our response to 
9/11. Since then, the global fight on terrorism has continued to become 
narrower under our current administration, despite the continued threat 
of Al Qaeda and the clear expansion of ISIS. Without clear leadership, 
we are failing to stop the spread of terrorism.
  Ignoring over a decade of lessons forged on the battlefield, this 
administration has not only failed to put together a comprehensive plan 
to fight Islamic extremism in the Middle East, but they have also 
dismantled the global effort and allowed groups to come back stronger 
in other regions of the world. This is especially true in Southeast 
Asia, a nearly forgotten safe haven for terrorists determined to cause 
harm. Southeast Asia was used for the initial planning of the horrific 
attack carried out by Al Qaeda that we all bowed heads for in 
remembrance this past weekend.
  In 1994, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed used the Philippines as a safe haven 
to target the United States. Today, ISIS appears to be doing the very 
same thing. The warning signs in Southeast Asia are all too familiar to 
the ones we witnessed over a decade ago with Al Qaeda in that region. 
They used its Southeast Asia cells to organize and finance its global 
network. This included planning and financing for 9/11 and the safe 
harbor of Al Qaeda operative Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted for 
organizing the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
  Because of this, following the September 11 attacks, U.S. Special 
Forces were deployed to the southern Philippines in support of 
Operation Enduring Freedom. With an annual cost of less than one new F-
35, the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines 
partnered with local forces and trained, advised, and assisted our 
allies in the fight against Al Qaeda-linked groups.
  Up until the mission was officially ended under this administration, 
operations and efforts to assist Philippine forces in dismantling 
terror networks were hailed as a success. The threat of terrorism from 
extremist groups in the Philippines, such as Abu Sayyaf, were largely 
reduced. But the success from U.S. support in the region has been 
short-lived. Just as we have been witnessing throughout the globe, 
previously weak or splintered terrorist networks in Southeast Asia are 
banding together beneath the flag of ISIS. Yet the administration's 
plans to defeat ISIS have not changed and a comprehensive global 
strategy still fails to be defined.
  We can not allow Southeast Asia to once again become a safe haven to 
target America. While it is easy to dismiss the terrorist groups in the 
region as mere criminal gangs and disorganized rebels, the Philippines 
lost 44 of its special police in a single battle against

[[Page 12619]]

groups now linked to ISIS in Southeast Asia last year. In April, 18 
Philippine soldiers were killed in a fight quickly claimed by ISIS. 
Then, in June, ISIS released a call for other fighters to join them 
after beheading a Canadian hostage. The video proudly displaying the 
black flag of ISIS states: ``If you can't get to Syria, join the 
mujahedeen in the Philippines.'' It is truly alarming.
  Our efforts to counter ISIS in Asia can assist our broader goals of 
countering a rising China and dealing with an unstable North Korea.
  Just before President Obama traveled on his final trip to Asia this 
month, I sent a letter urging him to discuss efforts for a new U.S. 
counterterrorism strategy in the region. Specifically, I asked 
President Obama to consider leveraging the five new bases recently 
announced for U.S. personnel in the Philippines to counter the rise of 
ISIS and to utilize our freedom of navigation patrols in the South 
China Sea to provide support capabilities. Like many of our efforts 
under Operation Enduring Freedom, this should be a fight with the 
support of our allies.
  The use of U.S. Special Forces helping train the Filipino forces has 
a successful track record in the region, but it needs to be real 
support and real training--a commitment with American leadership--or 
else it will never have the full support of our allies in Southeast 
Asia. They have witnessed our failure to appropriately support allies 
in the Middle East, like the Kurdish Peshmerga. We must correct this 
building perception of poor American leadership and weak support on the 
battlefield. We cannot allow ISIS to use Southeast Asia as Al Qaeda did 
to plan their next attack on U.S. soil.
  Shortly after I sent my letter to President Obama urging him to 
develop a strategy in Southeast Asia, ISIS claimed another attack, one 
that took the lives of 10 Filipino civilians. We cannot continue to 
downplay or ignore this part of the world when it comes to the threat 
of terrorism.
  I stand here today to renew my call for this administration to 
develop a comprehensive strategy to destroy the enemies abroad who wish 
to do America harm and those who provide them with a safe haven. As the 
safe havens Al Qaeda used 15 years ago to target our homeland turned 
into a staging ground for ISIS, the need to support our allies and 
address this issue is far too clear.
  I thank the Presiding Officer.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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