Speaker Boehner: Report Reaffirms Need for White House Strategy to Confront Terrorist Threat

Statement

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today released the following statement after receiving the Committee on Homeland Security's bipartisan Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel's report on threats posed by individuals leaving home to join jihadist groups overseas:

"President Obama's failure to outline a broad, overarching strategy to defeat and destroy ISIL has put America at risk. Over the past four years, more than 25,000 individuals from more than 100 countries have streamed into Iraq and Syria, fueling the terrorists' momentum. And making matters worse, we know that nearly 5,000 of those individuals are westerners and Americans, who could return home to carry out attacks on the United States and our allies.

"This bipartisan report should be a serious wake-up call to this administration. We are losing the fight to stem the flow of foreign fighters overseas. We aren't doing enough to combat ISIL's sophisticated use of social media and communications. And to interdict foreign fighters and prevent attacks, intelligence needs to be exchanged more quickly and more efficiently, both with our allies and with law enforcement agencies here at home.

"I want to thank Chairman McCaul, Task Force Chairman Katko and the members of this task force for their hard work, and urge President Obama to immediately review these findings and get engaged to keep the American people safe."

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