House members raise concerns about Islamic terrorist threats 25 years after 9/11

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(The Center Square) – Several members of Congress raised concerns about Islamic terrorist threats now that the U.S. is approaching the 25-year anniversary of 9/11. 

At a U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Thursday addressing an annual assessment of threats to national security, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, pointed to three high profile Islamic terrorist attacks that occurred this month alone. 

They included an Islamic attack against Temple Israel Synagogue in Michigan by a naturalized citizen from Lebanon, a targeted shooting and killing of college students in Texas by a lawful permanent resident from Senegal, and an ISIS-inspired attack targeting protesters outside of the New York City mayor’s residence. The Michigan and Texas attackers were shot dead by police. Two Muslim men were arrested and charged in the New York case. 

Stefanik excluded a shooting at Old Dominion University that also occurred this month that is being investigated as an act of terrorism. In this case, a Muslim man who pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS in 2016 was released from prison after receiving a light sentence and went on to kill one and injure two before he was shot dead.

When asked what her assessment of the increase in Islamic terrorism in the U.S. was, Director of the Office of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said it “continues to be an extreme concern.” This is “not only because of the rise of these attacks but the mechanisms with which they're carried out and the challenges that the intelligence community has in being able to try to detect some of these threats and attacks in advance,” she said. 

Preventing domestic terrorist attacks has become more challenging because “many of the attackers don’t have contact with known foreign terrorist entities or individuals, … making it a much more challenging threat to deal with,” she said. 

She also deferred to FBI Director Kash Patel, citing FBI and law enforcement agencies’ combined successful track record in thwarting numerous terrorist attacks in the last year.

Last year, the FBI made 2,300 arrests related to foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), 700 counterterrorism arrests, and 640 counterterrorism disruptions, Patel testified. The arrests “stopped attacks on the homeland. In December, we stopped four terrorist attacks in an 18-day span,” Patel said. 

Patel also said he wanted to work with Congress to amend laws on the books to increase sentencing for convicted terrorists, citing the Norfolk, Virginia, case. The Muslim shooter should have been in prison but wasn’t, he said. 

In the first Trump administration, the Department of Justice sought a sentence of 240 months on terrorism charges, he added. In the Norfolk case, the judge issued a sentence of nearly half that. If he’d received a full 240-month sentence, the shooting “would not have occurred and that individual would still be in prison and a member of our uniformed military service would still be alive,” Patel said. 

Patel also said he wants to work with Congress on the denaturalization process “for someone who should not be in this country who wants to attack and kill American citizens and American service members.” 

This FBI is ready to work with lawmakers on tougher sentences for convicted terrorists as well as the denaturalization process - so that no one who shouldn’t be in this country can attack and kill American citizens. Thank you for the question @EliseStefanik. pic.twitter.com/a6BAbwff7w

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 19, 2026

The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security has also published a “Terror Threat Snapshot” highlighting recent terrorist acts in the U.S. It notes that more than 60 cases were reported between April 2021 and December 2025 related to individuals linked to or inspired by foreign terrorist organizations. This includes those who’ve provided material support to ISIS, Hezbollah and al Queda, who received military level training from Hezbollah and al Queda, and who claimed to commit attacks because they were inspired by foreign terrorist organizations, The Center Square reported. 

It also cites terrorist cases that have been prosecuted by U.S. attorneys in at least 25 states.