{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-questions-africa-commander-on-how-americas-reduction-in-soft-power-is-feeding-an-expansion-of-terrorism", "King Questions Africa Commander on How America\u2019s Reduction in Soft Power is Feeding an Expansion of Terrorism", "2026-05-15", "2026", "2026-05", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), questioned a top military general on the reduction of non-military power in Africa and the impact that has had on the expansion of global terrorism. In his exchange with United States Air Force General Dagvin Anderson, Commander of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in a hearing centered on the Department\u2019s Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027, King argued that the cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have contributed to a resurgence of Al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates intent on attacking the American homeland.\n\nGeneral Anderson testified that the African continent \u201chas become the center of gravity for global jihadism, with West Africa accounting for over 51 percent of global terror-related deaths in 2024.\u201d He is not alone in raising issues. The Council for Foreign Relations addressed this rise in terrorism and acknowledges that the removal of soft power instruments USAID in the Sahel region created a vacuum in which violent extremism can expand \u2013 including groups like Jama\u2019at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and the Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP).\n\nSenator King began, \u201cGeneral Anderson, talk to me about the loss of soft power in Africa, our abandonment of USAID and what has happened with the Chinese and Russians that, my understanding is, are now filling that gap in addition to the other aggressive actions they are taking?\u201d\n\n\u201cSenator, I would say that we look at all facets of national power and how to bring those to bear on the continent to provide a security outcomes,\u201d General Anderson replied.\n\nSenator King then followed up, \u201cI think one facet of our national power off the table, unilaterally, for no apparent reason. The whim of Elon Musk.\u201d\n\n\u201cSenator, we work very closely with the state, commerce, and energy in order to look at the security requirements on the continent,\u201dGeneral Anderson replied. \u201cI have a foreign service commercial officer joining staff this summer along with a liaison from Department of Energy.\u201d\n\nSenator King asked again for a straight answer, \u201cIt is a fact is it not that we have essentially left all of the role that USAID played on the continent. That's gone? That\u2019s a yes or no question.\u201d\n\n\u201cSenator, there are still aid programs that are active on the continent,\u201d General Anderson said. \u201cThey are much reduced from what they were before.\u201d\n\n\u201cMuch reduced. That is a fair way of stating it,\u201d Senator King quipped. \u201cYou mentioned earlier that the Al Qaeda and ISIS have resurged in Africa. The term epicenter has been used several times of world terrorism. You said they have the will and intent to attack the homeland. My question is, do they have the capacity? Are they developing weapons, strategies, other ways to take that will and intent and turn it into something of imminent danger to the American people?\u201d\n\nGeneral Anderson concluded in agreement, \u201cSenator, that is the exact issue that's my top concern.\u201d\n\nAs a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King has spoken on the Senator Floor several times to discuss the critical importance of USAID. He has also joined his colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressing their deep concern regarding the growing chaos at the U.S. Department of State and the Trump Administration\u2019s attempt to abolish USAID.\n\n###", 1, "2026-05-16T06:05:00Z", "2026-05-16T06:06:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-questions-africa-commander-on-how-americas-reduction-in-soft-power-is-feeding-an-expansion-of-terrorism"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8007531762123108, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}