Here’s how Ted Cruz wants to stop Islamic terror Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas (A, 97%) is calling for an end to the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Minnesota, New York, and New Jersey over the weekend.
Characterizing the weekend attacks as a “new phase of the war against ISIS,” Sen. Cruz warned that the United States “must avoid the trap of misconceiving these attacks as isolated incidents somehow disconnected from the larger ideological struggle against Jihad.”
“Congress should act to prevent Americans who have travelled abroad for training from returning here, and to stop the flow of refugees from hotbeds of terrorism in the Middle East that President Obama is determined to bring to our country,” Cruz said, according to comments provided to the Washington Free Beacon.
“We can’t overcome our enemies by pretending they don’t exist, and undermining our first line of defenders. Only together, clear-eyed and determined, can we defeat this foe.”
7 Constitutional Steps to Protect the Homeland Against Islamic Jihad
Cruz’s office released a full statement on the need for a “clear-eyed” approach to terrorism:
Terrorist attacks over the last several days across our homeland, from Manhattan to Minnesota, indicate we are moving into a new phase of the war against ISIS and al Qaida, who are increasingly targeting Europe and the United States. Two years ago, a focused, aggressive military campaign against ISIS’s claimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq might have effectively destroyed the terrorist group, but ISIS has instead spent the last year seeding radicals in the West, disguising jihadis as refugees and radicalizing Muslim citizens online and encouraging them to remain in the U.S. and fight here. Meanwhile, other networks such as al Qaida and the Taliban remain determined to resume the attacks on America that began on September 11, 2001.
As we confront this new phase,
we must avoid the trap of misconceiving these attacks as isolated incidents somehow disconnected from the larger ideological struggle against jihad. It is past time to take off the blinders and call the enemy what it is: radical Islamic terrorism engaged in a coordinated campaign designed to disrupt our very way of life.
We must start by fully supporting our law enforcement community, from the heroic off-duty officer Jason Falconer, who neutralized the terrorist in the St. Cloud mall, saving many lives, to the FBI officers in New York who have worked swiftly to identify and apprehend the likely mastermind of the weekend bombings. We also desperately need the active participation of American Muslims who see the jihadis for what they are: the enemies of all who celebrate freedom and tolerance. Congress should act to prevent Americans who have travelled abroad for training from returning here, and to stop the flow of refugees from hotbeds of terrorism in the Middle East that President Obama is determined to bring to our country. We can’t overcome our enemies by pretending they don’t exist, and undermining our first line of defenders. Only together, clear-eyed and determined, can we defeat this foe.
Along these lines, 38 House Republicans have sent a letter to House leadership and the Appropriations committee “urging them to include a provision which places a moratorium on unvetted refugees in the Continuing Resolution,” per a Sept. 16 press release from Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio:The measure, which would vet refugees from terrorist hotbeds in Syria, the Middle East, and North Africa, garnered the support of 289 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in a vote last November. Such a measure has been supported by over two dozen governors as well.
The Obama Administration has accelerated the rate of admittance for refugees, bringing in over 10,000 so far in FY16. The Administration said they would admit 40,000 more refugees from the Near East/South Asia, which includes Syria, in FY17.
“America is the land of opportunity, and we should be a place of safety for those who are fleeing persecution and war,” Davidson states. “By neglecting due diligence of refugees, we betray those who come to us seeking safety by potentially bringing terrorists into our nation. What my colleagues are proposing are common sense measures to protect everyone here in America.”
Given these terror attacks, would Democrats be willing to shut down the government to prevent such a moratorium from passing with the continuing resolution? Will House GOP leadership even put the measure into the CR, forcing Democrats to face that question?
- See more at:
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/09/heres-how-ted-cruz-wants-to-stop-islamic-terror#sthash.Kd2bnHsz.dpuf
