National Defense and the Global War on Terrorism

Our first responsibility as a Congress and as a nation is to protect Americans from threats to our national security. The events of September 11, 2001, brought into ever sharper focus the numerous threats that are mounted against the United States. In an increasingly global world, we must be vigilant and meet this challenge on each and every front. As we confront this war on terrorism, we should recognize that it is a new kind of war and America will need to use a wide range of tools to win this war. The tools include combining the economic, diplomatic, educational, cultural, military, humanitarian, persuasive, and moral aspects of our foreign policy.

Simply stated, we must:

Use all available financial tools to disrupt and seize terrorist funding
Engage in intensive public diplomacy to show the world the true nature of America and the importance of democracy and human rights
Use of our intelligence agencies effectively and continue to improve the quality of our intelligence
Use and develop technology to defend our skies, borders, and citizens
Work with foreign states to combat hotspots of hatred and promote tolerance
Work with our allies whenever possible to meet shared security challenges
Strive to keep confrontations between the terrorists and Americans far from American soil

One of the first challenges that highlighted by the 2001 terrorist attacks was the need to improve our intelligence collection and analysis. Congress took steps in enacting the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which upgraded our nation's counterterrorism initiative and created the coordinating office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Counterterrorism also requires the close coordination of intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Through the Homeland Security Act, Congress reorganized many agencies charged with related responsibilities into a single unified cabinet-level department. Through the most significant transformation of the U.S. government in over half a century, the Department of Homeland Security combines parts of eighty-eight agencies with the primary mission to protect the American homeland.

To provide the tools to law enforcement officials, the USA PATRIOT Act was enacted to remove previously existing statutory barriers between various law enforcement organizations. Initiatives to starve terrorists of financing and states that sponsor terrorism remain long-term strategic goals of U.S. foreign policy. An overarching goal of U.S. counterterrorism policy since the September 11, 2001, attacks has been to expose, disrupt, and incapacitate the financial networks of terrorist groups. A key instrument in this effort was Presidential Executive Order 13224, which blocked "all property and interests in property" of certain designated terrorists and individuals and entities materially supporting them.