Cornyn: President's Plan Will Make America Safer
Cornyn: President's Plan Will Make America Safer
Congress Must Provide the Tools Necessary to Fight Terrorists
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee's Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee, made the following statement Tuesday regarding President Bush's National Strategy for Combating Terrorism and the important work facing Congress this month:
"As we approach the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the United States and its allies have made substantial progress in dismantling the al-Qaeda network by killing or capturing its key lieutenants and eliminating the safe havens that were allowed to thrive for too many years. It is not a coincidence that we have not had a terrorist attack on our shores since that terrible day in 2001. We have succeeded because we have taken the fight to the terrorists and provided those on our front lines with the resources necessary to prosecute and win this war.
"Now is not the time to choose a path of retreat and defeat - as many of the Dean Democrats would have us follow. The President today laid out an updated plan to wage this war that will continue to make America safer. Just as the degraded terrorist network has adjusted to our efforts, so must we adjust to meet this continued threat.
"It is now the responsibility of the Congress to continue providing the tools necessary to ensure that this plan is successful. In the weeks ahead, Congress will address many important issues, including the Department of Defense appropriations bill, the prosecution of enemy terrorist combatants, the nominations of government officials for key anti-terror posts, and the authority to gather critical intelligence during wartime through the Terrorist Surveillance Program. As each of these issues come before the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans face a choice: whether to continue taking the fight to terrorists abroad, or instead choose a path of appeasement and face them here at home.
"We face a global threat of Islamic fascism that celebrates the murder of innocent men, women and children to accomplish its goals. The sooner we recognize the reality of this threat and the sooner we confront that threat in a way that eliminates it, the sooner we'll be able to return our troops home and achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.
"This is not a time for us to walk away or to give up. America has never surrendered in the face of challenges and now is certainly not the time to start."
http://cornyn.senate.gov/index.asp?f=record&lid=1&yid=1&rid=237233&pg=1