After Paris, Cornyn Calls for a Clear, Credible Strategy to Combat ISIS

The attacks on our nation's oldest ally have struck us here at home to our very core. We know what it's like to be attacked in our homeland, and we know, therefore, what the French people are going through. So as we continue to keep the French people in our thoughts and prayers, we should do everything in our power to assist them.

These attacks are a tragic reminder that the threat of ISIS stretches well beyond the Middle East. ISIS is not a ‘jayvee team,’ nor have they been "contained," as the President of the United States has claimed.

Over the course of this last year, the President has failed to come up with any sort of coherent strategy to deal with this threat. What we have seen and heard is speeches, interviews and vague assurances that have attempted to distract the American public from the stark reality that the President's so-called ‘strategy’ against ISIS is not achieving his stated objective.

Instead the President has stood and watched like a spectator while this terrorist army, over the course of many months, has carved out its own safe haven right in the heart of the Middle East.

The civil unrest in Syria has fueled the influx of nearly a half million refugees into Eastern Europe and elsewhere. 

I'm proud of our history of opening our doors to innocent people fleeing violence for religious persecution, that's part of who we are as a country. But following Friday's attack, we should pause our Syrian refugee program until we can be sure that the individuals are being fully vetted for potential terror ties, so we can ensure the public safety of all Americans.

The President needs to lay out a clear strategy for destroying perhaps the best-resourced, best-armed terrorist group on the planet. This is long, long overdue.

The President of the United States has the obligation to explain to the American people how he's going to defend our interests and keep our people safe here at home.

More than ever, the nation needs the kind of strong leadership that’s commensurate with the challenges that we're facing. That's the kind of leadership that the American people expect and the kind of leadership that they deserve.