On the recordFebruary 24, 2015
During the Presidents' Day break, I was grateful to chair a delegation to visit with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and President Fuad Masum of Iraq, along with Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi of Iraq. Each leader clearly wants to protect their citizens from terrorism. I was joined by the dynamic Elise Stefanik of New York, four-tour Iraq veteran Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, and hardworking Brad Ashford of Nebraska. It is more clear than ever that Daesh, the Arab interpretation of ISIL, is a growing threat to the American people, and we must forcefully defeat the barbarian murderers with our courageous allies abroad. Radical Islam has declared war on Americans and targets fellow Muslims, as evidenced during our visit. We have seen in the last 10 days the slaughter of 40 worshippers at a mosque in Pakistan, the burning of over 30 innocent civilians in Iraq, the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, and Jews murdered in Copenhagen. In conclusion, God bless our troops, and may the President, by his actions, never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism. ____________________
