Hurt and Comstock respond to president’s speech

While it’s great to hear what presidential candidates and Bearing Drift contributors think about the president’s speech, we don’t vote on policy. Reps. Robert Hurt (R-VA5) and Barbara Comstock (R-VA10) do.

Hurt wrote:

“On Sunday, the President addressed the nation in response to the tragic events in recent weeks. While I appreciated his call for unity in the face of the threat of terror, I was disappointed that the President did not articulate any new tactics or strategy in the effort to destroy ISIS. Instead, he said that we would keep doing the same things we are already doing despite the fact that we have not made significant progress in the effort to destroy ISIS.

“The President also called on Congress to adopt an Authorization for the Use of Military Force for his campaign against ISIS. While I agree that Congress should authorize military engagement of this degree, and I am disappointed we have not authorized the airstrikes and special operations the President has employed, the President must do more than state four bullet points on television if he wants the American people to support a proper military strategy.

“The President must develop and present a thorough strategy to defeat the Islamic State and outline the metrics for our goals. It is the Commander-in-Chief’s constitutional responsibility alone to detail this plan, and it is incumbent upon Congress to consider his proposal, once he has outlined such a strategy.

“I did appreciate the President’s comments on the need to review and tighten our immigration protocols in light of the circumstances involved in the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. We have learned that one of the terrorists in San Bernardino came to the United States on a K-1 visa, more commonly known as a fiancé visa. While she was screened before entering the country, clearly that screening was insufficient; we have heard about similar vulnerabilities in the visa waiver program and with the vetting of refugees. We must address these weaknesses, close the loopholes, and gather the intelligence necessary to make our screening processes effective. Failure to do so allows unacceptable levels of risk to persist.

“The House has already passed legislation to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees in light of our screening issues, and this week, the House will consider legislation to tighten our visa-waiver program. This bill will allow the Department of Homeland Security to suspend a country’s participation in the visa-waiver program if that country does not provide us with the necessary intelligence information we need to prevent terrorists from traveling to the United States.

“While this is legislation is critically important, we have much more to do to improve our ability to protect ourselves from radicalization at home and abroad and to destroy the agents of terror seeking to perpetuate evil across the globe. I remain committed to doing everything within my power to maintain our national security and to protect American lives from the scourge of terror.”

And Comstock stated:

“Our first responsibility in Congress is to keep the American people safe during this time of ever increasing threats from radical Islamic terrorism and Islamist extremism. Recently we passed the NDAA legislation that the President signed which requires him to have a clear strategy in dealing with ISIS. Unfortunately, last night–despite two recent deadly terrorist assaults in Paris and in San Bernardino–we did not hear a President who seems to appreciate the magnitude of the threat we are facing and did not offer much in terms of strategy. ­­

“However, in the House of Representatives, we will move forward this week and vote to update the visa waiver program to deny visa waiver status to citizens in any of our 38 partner countries who have traveled to terrorist associated countries like Syria. Thousands of foreign fighters have moved freely between ISIS controlled territory and European countries, and we cannot make the same mistakes.

“Before Thanksgiving, the House took swift action and voted on a bill that addressed the Syrian refugee crisis. This bill pauses the Syrian and Iraqi refugee program until the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the FBI, and the Director of National Intelligence unanimously certify that each individual applicant does not pose a threat to national security or the safety of the American people.

“We must also reinvigorate our national security and intelligence capabilities that have been weakened over the last few years. After September 11th we were told that al Qaeda was at war with us, but we weren’t at war with them. Now it is clear that ISIS is also at war with us – and they are not just abroad, they are here already. As former British Prince Minister Tony Blair said when he spoke to us last week, we must have an active policy of engagement that is sophisticated and informed by our experience – not incapacitated by it.

“This threat is at our door. In the 10th District of Virginia we already had a 17-year-old criminally charged for recruiting for ISIS online. Defeating ISIS is a necessity. Understanding the scope of the larger threat of terrorism and Islamist extremism and how it must be uprooted will be the challenge of our time.”

Key points in each: reexamining the visa waiver program, halting Syrian refugee resettlement, and improving our intelligence capabilities for national defense.