By Dave Yochum. Calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the Winston Churchill of our day,” U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger said business owners—and all Americans—should be prepared for acts of terrorism from countries like Iran and organizations like Isis.

“We have super cells and sleeper cells in the United States,” Pittenger said at a Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce lunch sponsored in part by Business Today. “Countless Americans are going overseas…we have a threat.”

Pittenger was also comparing President Barack Obama to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who will forever be remembered as the man whose appeasement policies allowed Adolf Hitler to overrun Europe, leading to the demise of at least 5.5 million Jews and others who were deemed inferior.

“We should be reaching out directly to the people of Iran with the Voice of America, not striking deals with a leader who hates us,” Pittenger said.

Netanyahu has taken the lead in warning the West about Iran’s nuclear arms ambitions. In 1938, Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement, conceding land in Czechoslovakia to Germany. Emboldened by this appeasement, Hitler invaded Poland, drawing Great Britain and France into war.

Pittenger says the parallels between then and now are troubling as the U.S. negotiates with Iran, and Iran pushes its own agenda in India, Africa and other Middle Eastern countries such as Syria.

Of course, Pittenger is a Republican and Obama is the head of the Democratic Party.

“What the President has done with the refocus of our role in terms of national security has had repercussions,” Pittenger stated.

The 9th District congressman chairs the Congressional Taskforce on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. Pittenger said Isis, Iran, al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations would like nothing more than to destroy our way of life.

In prepared material he said there could be significant numbers of casualties and damage to buildings and infrastructure in the event of a terrorist attack. “Employers need up-to-date information about medical needs…and how to contact your designated beneficiaries.”

Types of attacks include those on hazardous material storage, radiological dispersion, electromagnetic pulse, nuclear blast, explosions, biological hazards and cyber attacks.

The timing and extent of cyber incidents are virtually impossible to predict. “There may or may not be any warning. Some cyber incidents take a long time—weeks, months or years—to be discovered,” he said.

Pittenger also discussed the nation’s deteriorating financial condition. “The trajectory of our spending will cause us to collapse,” he said, noting that the national debt exceeds $18 trillion. “The extraordinary welfare state will be our demise.”

The first-term congressman said hyper-regulation strangulates entrepreneurialism and economic growth.

Lamenting “how off course we are,” Pittenger said we are “in bondage” to regulation, particularly Dodd-Frank, which in 2010 placed new regulations on financial institutions.

“The financial requirements are not just a burden, the banks are hiring compliance officers, not lenders,” he said.

Meanwhile, influence, at least on the White House, has “shifted to environmentalists from unions,” he said, pointing to labor support for the Keystone Pipeline.