Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is calling for an end to the Obama administration’s Middle East refugee program following a series of weekend attacks that appear to be acts of terrorism, according to a statement provided to the Washington Free Beacon.
Cruz, a vocal critic of administration efforts to bring tens-of-thousands of refugees from Middle Eastern countries into the United States, is calling on Congress "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," according to comments provided to the Free Beacon.
"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. "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."
Cruz’s comments come on the heels of multiple weekend attacks that have wounded dozens of U.S. citizens. Elements of the Islamic State terror group have already claimed credit for some of the attacks.
Americans and the Obama administration must identify radical Islam as the culprit in recent attacks, Cruz said.
"We must avoid the trap of misconceiving these attacks as isolated incidents somehow disconnected from the larger ideological struggle against jihad," the lawmaker said. "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."
Full Statement:
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.