由于国会大厦周围的安全围栏仍然存在，对极端主义威胁的持续担忧，乔·拜登总统对国会的第一次联合讲话将在严密的戒备下进行——尽管细节仍不明朗。
“在拜登总统向联席会议发表讲话之前，美国国会大厦加强了安保...强调了在1月6日起义三个多月后，美国极右翼极端分子的持续威胁，”国家安全委员会前反恐主任贾韦德·阿里告诉美国广播公司新闻。
拜登发表讲话的几个月前，1月6日发生了致命的叛乱，支持特朗普的示威者冲进国会大厦，试图阻止国会的选举计票。不到一个月前，一名国会警察因一名男子驾车撞上安全路障而丧生。安全问题也特别围绕着拜登的讲话。
Yuri Gripas/POLE/EPA通过Shutterstock
华盛顿白宫车道上，美国特工人员手持防暴盾牌
在2月份的众议院委员会听证会上，代理国会警察局长约加南达·皮特曼警告说，有人威胁要扰乱拜登在国会联席会议上的讲话，而当时国会联席会议尚未安排。
她作证说:“我们知道，1月6日在场的民兵组织成员表示，他们希望炸毁国会大厦，并杀死尽可能多与国情咨文有直接联系的成员，我们知道日期尚未确定。”“因此，根据这些信息，我们认为国会警察保持其增强和强大的安全态势是谨慎的，直到我们解决这些漏洞。”
自她作证以来，国务院没有详细说明这些威胁。
尽管在1月6日的叛乱和总统就职典礼之后，国会大厦的外围仍然保持着围栏，但美国国会警察在总统讲话之前不会对安全细节发表评论，只是说国会大厦将只限于那些拥有适当证书的人。
华盛顿特区国民警卫队在国会大厦暴乱后动员了多达7000名人员，并将剩余的250名人员留在国会大厦附近，以支持执法人员，并在5月9日之前“根据需要”协助警方关闭街道。哥伦比亚特区市长穆里尔·布瑟在一次简报会上说。
由于拜登的讲话是国家特别安全事件(NSSE)，安全由特勤局协调。
阿里说，NSSE的指定意味着“最高级别的人身保护措施将得到实施，涉及联邦、州和地方政府的数千名执法人员和国土安全人员。”
周一，华盛顿特区国土安全和应急管理局局长克里斯·罗德里格斯(Chris Rodriguez)告诉记者，该局正在与联邦合作伙伴协调，该地区的指挥中心将于周三下午4点开始运作。周三晚上，只有200人被允许坐在众议院会议厅内，与通常拥挤的会议厅相去甚远。
阿纳多卢机构通过盖蒂图像，文件
警察与唐纳德·特朗普总统的支持者发生冲突，特朗普总统违反安全规定进入了C区
然而，众议院议长南希·佩洛西星期二告诉记者，她在演讲前听取了关于安全的简报，关于出席的限制主要来自新冠肺炎。
“我希望我能在1月6日之前得到这个简报，但是我们坚持要知道它的每一个细节。佩洛西说:“实际上，我们的大部分限制来自COVID，而不是医生和中士指定的有限人数的安全性，而是医生的大部分。”
国土安全部最近采取措施，优先打击国内暴力极端主义。
chip somodeilla/Getty Images，FILE
2021年4月5日，一个八英尺高的钢铁安全围栏继续包围着美国国会大厦
今年1月，它发出警告称，“由虚假陈述引发的”愤怒，尤其是对2020年总统选举的毫无根据的指控，可能导致该国一些人在未来几周发动袭击。
本周早些时候，国土安全部部长对所有DHS人员进行了内部审查，以清除任何可能在该部工作的国内极端分子。
Biden to deliver presidential address amid heightened security
With security fences still surrounding the Capitol and continuing concerns over extremist threats, President Joe Biden's first joint address to Congress will take place under heavy guard -- though details remain murky.
"Heightened security at the U.S. Capitol in advance of President Biden's remarks to the joint session ... underscores the ongoing threat from far-right extremists in the United States now more than three months after the insurrection on 6 January," Javed Ali, the former counterterrorism director on the National Security Council, told ABC News.
Biden's speech comes just months after the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection when pro-trump demonstrators stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop the electoral vote count in Congress and less than a month after a Capitol Police officer was killed when a man rammed his car into a security barricade. Security concerns have also revolved around Biden's speech in particular.
At a House Committee hearing in February, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman warned of threats to disrupt Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress, which at that time was not yet scheduled.
"We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified," she testified. "So, based on that information we think that it's prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities going forward."
The Department has not elaborated on those threats since her testimony.
While fencing still remains on the perimeter of the Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection and presidential inauguration, the U.S. Capitol Police would not comment on security specifics ahead of the president’s speech except to say the Capitol building will be restricted to those with proper credentials.
The D.C. National Guard, for its part, activated as many as 7,000 personnel after the Capitol riot and is leaving the remaining 250 personnel in place near the Capitol to support law enforcement and assist police with street closures "as needed" until May 9., D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a briefing.
Since Biden’s speech is a National Special Security Event (NSSE), security is coordinated by the Secret Service.
Ali said the NSSE designation means the "highest level of physical protection measures will be implemented involving thousands of law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel across the federal and state and local governments."
On Monday, Washington D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Rodriguez told reporters the agency is coordinating with its federal partners and the district’s command center will be operational starting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Only 200 people will be allowed to sit inside the House chamber Wednesday evening, a far departure from the usually packed chamber.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, told reporters Tuesday she was briefed about security ahead of the speech and restrictions regarding attendance spring mostly from COVID-19.
"I wish I had had this briefing before January 6th but we insisted on knowing every detail of it. Actually most of our, shall we say, limitations spring from COVID, not from as much from security in terms of the narrow number of people that's dictated by the physician and the sergeant-at-arms, but the physician mostly," Pelosi said.
The Department of Homeland Security has recently taken steps to prioritize combatting domestic violent extremism.
In January, it issued a warning that anger "fueled by false narratives," especially unfounded claims about the 2020 presidential election, could lead some inside the country to launch attacks in the coming weeks.
Earlier this week, the secretary of Homeland Security launched an internal review of all DHS personnel to weed out any domestic extremists that may be working at the Department.
