Isil

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 7 months ago ISIL terrorists massacred 130 civilians across the city of Paris, 6 months ago ISIL supporters murdered more than a dozen Americans at a holiday party in San Bernardino, 3 months ago ISIL bombings killed and maimed indiscriminately in the heart of Europe, and then last month ISIL's spokesman issued a chilling declaration of war against the Western world. He called for attacks--specifically lone wolf attacks-- throughout the month of Ramadan in Europe and the United States. He said:

Get prepared . . . to make it a month of calamity for the nonbelievers. [T]he smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would do if you were with us here.

On Sunday, a terrorist claiming allegiance to ISIL took 49 American lives. The next day, an ISIL supporter in France murdered two people, including an off-duty police officer.

We hope to learn more about the Orlando terrorist attack and the depth of that particular terrorist's involvement with ISIL when Senators are briefed later today by the FBI Director and the Homeland Security Secretary. This much seems clear already: I do not believe this was some random act of violence. It seems clear this was a cold- blooded murder committed by a terrorist who picked his targets with deliberate malice, who pledged his allegiance to a group who stones gay men and tosses them from rooftops, enslaves women, and crucifies children.

ISIL is not the JV team; it is the personification of evil in our world. ISIL is not contained, nor can it be. The way to prevent more ISIL-inspired and ISIL-directed heartbreak is to defeat ISIL. This is why we have repeatedly demanded a serious plan from the President to defeat ISIL and have done what we can to fill the leadership vacuum he has left. This is why we worked to strengthen law enforcement, rebuild our military, and develop counterterrorism tools designed to save lives. The terrorist attack in Orlando underlines the critical importance of this work, and it presents each of us with a choice: Do we want to make the tough choices to actually solve the problem and defeat ISIL, or do we want to use the Senate floor to make a 30-second political ad?

As I said, the principle way to defeat ISIL-inspired or ISIL-directed attacks is to defeat ISIL inside Iraq and Syria. The President's containment strategy, which has relied primarily upon a ground proxy force of Syrian YPG Kurds, will not be sufficient to dislodge ISIL from its headquarters in Raqqa or clear and hold ground in Arab parts of Syria.

The next President must do much more, and there are steps we can take today to help him or her succeed in that effort. The sweeping Defense bill we passed yesterday represents a decisive step in the right direction. Not only will it help prepare our next Commander in Chief, it will help strengthen military readiness, better enable servicemembers to confront threats, and help keep the American people safer from an array of national security challenges. Passing that bill sent a strong signal to our men and women in uniform, it sent a strong signal to our allies, it sent a strong signal to our adversaries, but there is more we can and must do.

This week, through the appropriations process, we will continue to discuss ways we can shore up our efforts to fight terrorism. Several Republican colleagues have already offered ideas on how we can do so. Republicans have offered ideas to address the threat of lone wolf attacks like the one we saw in Orlando. Republicans have offered ideas to help connect the dots with respect to terrorists' communications. Republicans have offered ideas to help disrupt terrorists' plans. These are the kinds of things we have long advocated. They were important before the horrific events this weekend and are all the more important today.

By passing the underlying appropriations bill, we can provide the FBI with more of the support it needs to follow leads generated here within our borders. In the meantime, I encourage Senators to work with the very capable bill managers who crafted this legislation, the senior Senators from Alabama and Maryland. If they have other effective ideas, talk to them and try to make the bill even stronger.

This much is clear: We can choose to respond to terrorist attacks after the damage is already done, or we can make it our goal to prevent them in the first place. I know my choice. I am going to keep doing what I can to prevent the pain and loss from terrorism. Our families and communities are counting on us. Our freedoms and rights as Americans are counting on it too. We must continue to do what is necessary to seek out terrorist threats at every level and protect the country we love.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source