ICYMI: Pfluger Leads Effort to Require DHS to Assess Threat of Taliban-Released Prisoners

WASHINGTON, D.C.— In case you missed it, Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, introduced the Afghanistan Withdrawal Threat Assessment Act to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an assessment of the threat to the homeland posed by the prisoners that were released from the Pul-e-Charkhi Prison and the Parwan Detention Facility in Afghanistan. These facilities housed thousands of jailed ISIS and Al Qaeda fighters.

“In recent years, the threat landscape has shifted away from large-scale violent extremism, but that will change as Taliban-controlled Afghanistan once again becomes a pre-9/11 breeding ground for terrorism,” said Ranking Member Katko. “The thousands of prisoners released by the Taliban represent the next wave of foreign fighters looking to carry out their mission of devastation on U.S. soil. DHS must clearly articulate how it plans to mitigate this threat to U.S. interests and the homeland. I applaud Ranking Member Pfluger for his leadership on this critical national security effort. If history has taught us anything, the homeland is less secure when the U.S. allows for the creation of terrorist safe havens abroad.”

“President Biden’s reckless and chaotic Afghanistan evacuation led to the Taliban releasing thousands of known and jailed terrorists from prisons in Afghanistan,” said Congressman Pfluger. “There is no doubt in my mind that this failure by the Biden Administration has emboldened ISIS and Al Qaeda, who are sure to be plotting the next attack on American soil. My legislation delivers critical answers on who these prisoners are and who they are associated with to help understand the threat they pose, as well as our ability to respond. The chaotic evacuation and continuing crisis at the southern border has made our country less safe and less secure. As the Ranking Member on the Intelligence and Counterterrorism subcommittee, I am committed to holding the Biden Administration’s feet to the fire to provide a clear picture of any and all future threats to the Homeland.”

Read the bill text here.