Fighting Terrorism Around the World

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise in solidarity with the people of France in the aftermath of last Friday's horrific terror attacks in Paris.

I also commend the French for their swift leadership in decisively and powerfully taking immediate action. They are delivering justice to those responsible for the cowardly attack on their innocent people.

This latest attack wasn't just on France. No. This was an attack on all free nations targeted and threatened by the brutal and savage tactics of Islamic terrorists who oppose the basic freedoms and liberties of the free world.

This is not an isolated incident or a final stand. Far from it. It could be France today and the United States tomorrow.

I should point out that there is but one mandatory function constitutionally of the Federal Government. That is to provide for our national defense. This is a constitutional duty and a moral imperative that trumps any day of the week the charity of opening our doors to a Syrian who will blow himself or herself up on our streets in the name of Allah.

I say, if an ISIS member wants to meet Allah, that we give them every opportunity to do so with a bomb from the air or a round of ammo from the end of a Navy SEAL rifle that you would never want to be on the wrong end of if you are the bad guy.

The good news is this: It doesn't require an occupation or an enduring ground operation. I don't want that. No one wants that. But it does mean that our entire strategy must evolve quickly and effectively.

We may have help from very motivated and a diverse capability of French, British, German, and now even Russians. We must understand that losing is not an option.

What we can't do is put 50 Special Operations Forces on the ground in Syria, in the middle of a war zone, and then tell them they are not there on a combat operation. You can't tell that to them, their family, the entire free world. It is just divorced from the reality of what they will face every day on the ground.

If you aren't going to send our service members to win, do not send them at all.

I would be happy to support a strategy to win if I actually believed the President had one.

First and foremost, ID the threat. You cannot defeat a threat that you cannot or will not identify.

Next, execute a strategy to win, not just tread water. It is not about getting them jobs. It is about wiping them off the face of the Earth. You annihilate the enemy. You don't contain it, especially not this enemy.

You eliminate the threat. You don't literally, as a matter of policy, escort that threat across our borders.

Here at home we must not move forward with the President's plan to bring in several tens of thousands of refugees, especially and so importantly, because we cannot identify who the bad ones are.

Not one Syrian refugee should be brought into America without knowing with confidence that they do not pose a threat. We must not bury our heads in the sand or try to click our heels together to an alternate reality.

Last week was Veterans Day. We were again reminded of the sacrifices that have been made through generations to protect our way of life. Let's honor their memory, treasure American greatness, stand up for freedom, and make sure what happened in Paris on Friday does not happen on our own home turf tomorrow.

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