What we saw tonight was a wasted opportunity to show real leadership on this issue and present a stronger strategy to defeat ISIS. We have not contained ISIS. They’ve grown and metastasized, fueled by our weak efforts to destroy them. Instead of more of the same, as the President called for tonight, we need a new, comprehensive strategy to destroy ISIS and keep Americans safe.

The first thing we need to do is implement the recommendations put out by my colleagues and I on the Foreign Fighter Task Force to increase protections against the threat of foreign fighter travel and combat homegrown extremism. I will be working with my colleagues in the coming weeks to do just that. Second, we need to abandon our current half-hearted and failed military approach and start unleashing our full air power to destroy ISIS’ command and control, means of finance, and critical capabilities.

Radical Islamic terrorism is a real and dangerous threat to Americans and our way of life –and it’s time our Administration started acting like it. Instead of more of the status quo, we need a comprehensive strategy to actually defeat ISIS and the evil they represent. I’ll continue to work to see that happen.