Ted Poe: “I thank the chairman for yielding, and I want the chairman to know that I support the amendment en bloc, and I support…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding, and I want the chairman to know that I support the amendment en bloc, and I support the bill as well. Mr. Chair, the number of foreign fighters traveling to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS is increasing at an alarming, dramatic rate. The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center said that more foreign fighters have joined ISIS in the last 2 years than those who went to Afghanistan or Iraq in the last 20 years. More than 180 of these fighters are from the United States. These killers are not just going to fight and die on the battlefields of Iraq and Syria. Many return home to their home countries as trained, battle-hardened Islamic radicals. Before Moner Mohammad Abusalha became the first American to carry out a suicide bomb in Syria, he had already been to Syria and back to the United States as a trained suicide killer. The United States Government didn't even know this. We need a comprehensive strategy to reduce the flow of foreign fighters from ISIS to the United States and foreign fighters going to train with ISIS. This amendment requires such a strategy. And that is just the way it is.”