WAR ON TERRORISM UPDATE
While over six months have passed since the horrific and cowardly terrorist attacks of September 11, the war against terrorism continues to be my top priority in Congress. While this long and hard battle remains far from completion, there have already been many notable successes in our efforts to dismantle the global webs of violence and terror. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the brave work our military and intelligence agencies have been doing since last fall.
As daily life has slowly begun to return to normalcy throughout the United States, our military has been working hard to dismantle the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The brutal Taliban regime is no longer in power; al-Qaeda can no longer consider Afghanistan a safe training ground for their forces; and a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has been averted all thanks to U.S. military action and the continuing presence of American forces. Our troops continue to seek out remnants of al-Qaeda and collect intelligence that has led to the capture of operatives in other regions of the world and disrupted plans for other terrorist attacks. Most recently, Pakistani officials have captured a very high-ranking al-Qaeda member with the assistance of U.S. intelligence forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Globally, the United States continues to work with its partners in the worldwide effort to end terrorism. For example, in the Philippines, American troops are training Filipino forces in counter-terror tactics to help end the threat of terrorism from a militia group that continues to hold American hostages.
In addition, President Bush has requested a significant increase in the Department of Defense budget in order to give our soldiers the tools they need to combat terror. The request includes significant funding to defend against chemical, biologic and nuclear attack, which is especially important as regimes in Iran, Iraq and North Korea seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Be assured, I will continue to support every effort to protect the United States from terrorist attack and murderers who seek to undermine the American way of life.
For additional information on the continuing war on terrorism, you may also wish to visit the Department of Defense's Defend America website and the White House's Military Actions and Investigate Actions sites.
