Committee on Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD, Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner issued a joint statement following the release of the non-classified part of the 2023 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.
“As a nation, we are facing a myriad of threats like never before, from foreign malign actors seeking to undermine our way of life to increasingly aggressive adversaries attempting to displace the United States as a leading power on the world stage,” Chairmen Rogers, McCaul, and Turner said. “This ODNI threat assessment only reinforces the fact that China, Russia, Iran, al-Qaeda, ISIS, and North Korea all present grave threats to our national security that demand sustained attention from Congress.”
“From cyber threats to attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and brazen acts of espionage, our adversaries are pushing boundaries to see how far the United States will let them go,” Rogers and the other Congressmen continued. “We have witnessed this in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, al-Qaeda’s growing confidence following the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan, the rebuilding of ISIS, the Chinese Communist Party’s consistent acts of espionage and cyber intrusions in addition to their military build-up and rapid nuclear expansion, as well as North Korea’s missile tests aimed in the direction of U.S. allies. We have also witnessed this with other transnational issues, including a devastating opioid crisis in the U.S., fueled by the production and trafficking of illicit fentanyl and precursor chemicals by nefarious actors.”
“It is evident from this threat assessment that the tactics the CCP uses to accomplish its goals have not worked entirely in its favor, leaving our nation at a tipping point,” Rogers et. al. continued. “The CCP must not be underestimated, but the U.S. can still triumph in a peer-to-peer competition with the CCP if our government acts in a swift and unified manner. Ultimately, this threat assessment only reinforces the concerns we have about the U.S. threat posture under the Biden administration. Our committees will continue working together to combat these threats and strengthen our national security, while demanding the Biden administration hold our adversaries accountable in response to acts of aggression.”
The full text of the 2023 edition of the unclassified Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community was presented in testimony to Congress by the U.S. director of National Intelligence. The full report is nearly a 40-page document that provides the best official U.S. summary of both the threats the free world faces and of the combined mix of both military and civil threats now available.
According to the Assessment, “Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine has highlighted that the era of nation-state competition and conflict has not been relegated to the past but instead has emerged as a defining characteristic of the current era. While Russia is challenging the United States and some norms in the international order in its war of territorial aggression, China has the capability to directly attempt to alter the rules-based global order in every realm and across multiple regions, as a near-peer competitor that is increasingly pushing to change global norms and potentially threatening its neighbors. Russia’s military action against Ukraine demonstrates that it remains a revanchist power, intent on using whatever tools are needed to try to reestablish a perceived sphere of influence despite what its neighbors desire for themselves and is willing to push back on Washington both locally and globally. Besides these strategic competitors, local and regional powers are seeking to exert their influence, often at the cost of neighbors and the world order itself. Iran will remain a regional menace with broader malign influence activities, and North Korea will expand its WMD capabilities while being a disruptive player on the regional and world stages.”
Mike Rogers is in his eleventh term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
