Stefanik Leads Intelligence Committee 9/11 Commission Hearing on Emerging Threats

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In case you missed it, House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik led an Intelligence Committee hearing on new and emerging threat streams since the attacks on 9/11. This hearing is part of a year-long bipartisan review of the 9/11 Commission Report recommendations ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks later this year.

Watch the Full Hearing HERE:

Read a full transcript of her opening statement as prepared for delivery:

Elise Stefanik: A "failure of imagination" was one of the key failures leading up to the September 11 attacks.

At the time, Afghanistan seemed very distant to most Americans. Islamist terrorism was known but not considered an impending threat. Using aircraft as weapons seemed far-fetched.

But was it that far-fetched? Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups had used suicide vehicles before to wreak havoc.

They used other modes of transportation as well. In the USS Cole attack, for example, al Qaeda used a boat.

So, was it such stretch of imagination that al Qaeda might leap to other vehicles, like aircraft?

In retrospect, the answer is easy: No. Using aircraft as weapons was not out of the question.

The problem was a failure of imagination by policymakers, law enforcement, and in the IC.

That is the core objective of today's hearing.

We cannot afford another failure of imagination. The risks are too high.

The threats that have emerged over the last 25 years are much broader and more complex than were present at the time of September 11.

Some of these threats include great power competition, artificial intelligence, foreign malign influence campaigns, drones, hostile use of emerging biotechnologies, and vulnerabilities littered throughout our critical infrastructure.

We need our IC and law enforcement agencies to think creatively, proactively, and seek innovative ways to get ahead of the new threats we are seeing today.

We must go on offense. We need to take preemptive moves to thwart our adversaries.

With all the challenges we are confronted with today, we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent.

To be sure, this is an immense challenge that we must tackle head on.

That is why this Task Force on the 9/11 Commission has held hearings, hosted briefings with the IC and law enforcement officials, visited the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, and will visit the memorials in Shanksville and New York City.

The American people are counting on us to forge a path forward in an uncertain future.

I look forward to continuing this important discussion with our excellent panel of witnesses on confronting the next generation of threats facing our nation and want to thank them for participating in today's hearing.

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