ISIL Attacks and the AUMF

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I want to comment on an interview that was
published yesterday, quoting the President. In an interview published
yesterday, the President spoke about a number of issues facing the
United States. During that interview he had commentary on terrorism and
he referenced the January attacks in Paris, France, in what I would
describe as a very concerning way. The President addressed the attacks
in Paris as ``randomly shooting a bunch of folks in a deli.''

The President's stated perception of the hostage taking and murder of
four Jews in a kosher supermarket in that way--we ought to all be
concerned. When asked to clarify the President's comments today, the
White House stated that the Jewish victims of this attack were ``killed
not because of who they were, but because of where they randomly
happened to be.''

The White House today suggested that because there were non-Jews in
the kosher supermarket named Super Kosher, the attack did not
specifically target Jews.

The State Department restated this explanation today, refusing to say
that an attack on a kosher supermarket that killed four Jews could be
Jewish. The absurdity of this logic is apparent. Let me give you a
hypothetical. If an attack occurs in a synagogue or in a church or in
the American Embassy, are we really to accept the idea that on the
chance that there were diverse people there, that that somehow
disqualifies the possibility that members of the group who would
predominantly frequent that place might be targeted? In other words, if
somebody who happened to work in an American embassy but is not an
American is killed in an attack, would we reach the conclusion that the
attack on the embassy is not an attack on America?

The Obama administration's logic doesn't make sense and it is
difficult to understand what they are trying to convey. It is also
contrary to the open source media reports about the attack. Reuters
reported that the perpetrator of the attack called a French television
station to declare his allegiance to the Islamic State and stated his
intentions to target Jews. Given this information, the Obama
administration's now repeated comments that chalked this up to
randomness--that is just amazing to me, that it is just random, this
attack in Paris. The fact that four Jews were killed at a kosher supermarket,
it is just random.

It is dangerous for our government leaders to reach such a conclusion
and for us to be operating as we make a determination of how to proceed
next in the war on terror to reach the kind of conclusions the
President, his spokespersons, and the State Department are reaching.

The Islamic State, the organization the perpetrators of the Paris
attack claim allegiance to, has made a point to persecute various
ethnic and religious minorities. The denial of anti-minority or anti-
Semitic motivations in this case gives me hesitation about whether the
President understands the true nature of the threat we now face. This
comes in the context of a report that the administration is soon to
present to Congress for approval an authorization for the use of
military force against Islamic State fighters.

Authorizing a war is a decision that should be made with the fullest
of information and the most complete understanding possible. The Obama
administration should be doing everything it can to clearly describe
the threat our country faces--in fact, that people around the globe
face--and a strategy that will be employed under this potential
authorization to use force. If we don't know who we are fighting, how
can we have a strategy to prevent the death and destruction those
enemies will cause? The stakes are way too high to operate under
anything but a clear understanding of the significant challenges our
country faces. It makes no sense to describe something different than
reality.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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