(RepublicanDaily.org) – President Joe Biden has extended the duration of Proclamation 7463, which puts the United States in a continued state of emergency in relation to terrorist acts.
The proclamation was originally issued in September 23, 2001 by then President George W. Bush in response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01 that caused close to 3000 fatalities in three different states in the United States: New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Biden’s signature on the proclamation indicates the extension of the national state of emergency for one more year. Previous presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, also extended the proclamation.
According to a news release from the White House, the government recognizes the continued threat posed by terrorism in the country, hence the extension. The proclamation grants the president broad powers over the military. The president last used them in 2021 to authorize an attack on al-Shabab, an independent Somalia-based offshoot of al-Qaida, with drone strikes.
Biden also issued a separate proclamation, declaring September 11 as “Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance” in commemoration of all those who lost their lives on 9/11. All U.S. departments, agencies, and instrumentalities will display the flag at half-staff on that day.
President Biden spoke at a 9/11 ceremony at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, while other memorial and commemoration ceremonies were held elsewhere.
Meanwhile, USA Today reported that military prosecutors from the Department of Defense’s Office of Military Commissions are looking at the possibility of entering into a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-admitted mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, along with his four other accomplices, in exchange for them pleading guilty to attacks. The five are being held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The case has been met with several roadblocks and challenges along the way, and in a letter to survivors from the Office of Military Commissions – Convening Authority said that there is no finalized pre-trial agreement, and one “may never be finalized.” A plea deal may also remove the death penalty as a punishment when the five are finally sentenced.
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