Issue Position: Stand Against Isis

Issue Position

The chaos in Iraq and Syria over the last several years has allowed the terrorist group ISIS, also known as the Islamic State or ISIL, to become a threat of global proportions, with the capacity to inspire and carry out attacks here in the United States.

The gruesome attack in Orlando, where the attacker was clearly inspired by ISIS, demonstrates how quickly this threat has come to our shores. Meanwhile, overseas, ISIS has dealt untold suffering and cruelty to millions of innocents in Iraq and Syria, especially religious minorities. ISIS is now spreading its influence across the Middle East: in Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

Most worryingly, multiple attacks in Europe and here in the United States have proven that ISIS has the ambitions and capabilities to execute large-scale attacks against the West and harm Americans here at home.

Marco warned for years of the implications of our disengagement from the Middle East and our failure to work with moderates to prevent jihadists from gaining power in Syria and Iraq. In the Senate, he led efforts to reverse President Obama's dangerous defense cuts that have undermined our military readiness and fought to provide additional assistance to our allies in the region fighting ISIS and in support of the religious minorities who have suffered the most. He has worked to restore critical intelligence programs halted by President Obama to ensure that we can track terrorists plotting attacks inside the United States. Marco opposes President Obama's attempts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and has called for terrorists captured in the fight against ISIS to be sent there. He also has supported a halt on new admissions of refugees from Syria and Iraq to prevent terrorists from coming to the United States.

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