U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following
statement on Friday in response to
Thursday’s act of terror in Chattanooga,
Tennessee:
“Yesterday, members of our armed services in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, went to work in the service of our nation. Some went to a recruiting
center to assist the young people who, like so many before them, would walk
through the door on any given Thursday morning and volunteer to defend the
United States of America. Four brave Marines went to a Naval Reserve Center to
perform their duties to the Tennessee National Guard.
“But one of the young people who visited two of those
facilities was not like the others. He was there not to volunteer to serve
America, but to attack America. Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez was there to carry
out jihad, an act of radical Islamic terrorism. An act of war, in which those
four brave Marines lost their lives, while at least two others were wounded.
“In the wake of this vicious attack on our nation we need to
rid ourselves of two dangerous delusions, first and foremost that a ‘lone
gunman’–as President Obama described the shooter–is somehow isolated from the
larger threat of radical Islamic terrorism. In the modern world, no one acts in
isolation. Through social media ISIS, al Qaida, and other groups are
infiltrating our nation with impunity while our government will not even admit
that radical Islamic terrorism is a problem.
“The second delusion is that this attack is somehow isolated
from previous episodes, notably those in Little Rock, Arkansas and Fort Hood,
Texas, in 2009—both of which were attacks on American military facilities. The
Obama administration was woefully reluctant to call either an act of radical
Islamic terrorism, instead suggesting ‘workplace violence’ as a justification
for the killings. Finally, after years of effort, the victims of Fort Hood were
properly recognized as victims of attacks by foreign terrorists when they received
Purple Hearts on April 15, 2015.
Likewise, the victim of the Little Rock attack
received a Purple Heart on July 1, 2015.
“We cannot afford to wait six years to recognize what
happened in Chattanooga for what it was. We need to see with clarity right now
what has happened. We can immediately hold hearings in the Senate Armed
Services Committee on the need for our enlisted men and women to have the right
to be armed in military facilities. Congress can pass the Expatriate Terrorist
Act that would allow our government to stop Americans who travel overseas to
train with terrorist groups from coming back to attack us at home. We can
thoroughly overhaul our broken immigration system that is allowing this type of
individual to gain citizenship. And we can accept the reality that while we
might wish it otherwise, the forces of radical Islam are at war with us.”
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