House Speaker Paul Ryan has requested a classified briefing for all members of Congress in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris last week.
Ryan, R-Wis., told the Bill Bennett radio show Monday morning that he is seeking “the facts” from the Obama administration about how it plans to combat the growing threat of terrorism, which he called “a war.”
Ryan said he is calling on President Obama to develop a strategy to defeat the Islamic State that goes beyond a plan the administration sent to Congress in February. That plan was largely rejected by both parties.
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Instead, the administration is conducting airstrikes and training missions based on a war authorization Congress passed in 2001 and 2002.
“For over a year, we’ve been asking for an overarching strategy to defeat ISIS,” Ryan told Bennett. “There just simply isn’t one. We can’t have the administration avoid this question any longer.”
Ryan said the Defense Department authorization legislation cleared by Congress last week calls on Obama to develop a strategy to defeat the Islamic State, which he said would take strong American leadership.
“It’s obviously a horrible, coordinated terrorist attack,” Ryan said. “We have to see this for what it is. This is a war. They brought it to us, and so the question is, how do we finish it?”
