{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcsally.house.gov/media-center/editorials/us-rep-mcsally-washington-times-how-defeat-isis", "U.S. Rep. McSally in Washington Times: How to defeat ISIS", "2015-12-14", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Martha McSally", "M001197", "mcsally.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By Martha McSally and Will Hurd and John Katko\nOn December 2, 14 people were murdered and 21 injured in San Bernardino, California, in the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. The investigation is ongoing, but it is clear the perpetrators were inspired by the Islamic State in Iraq andSyria(ISIS). This comes on the heels of a string of major ISIS operations. Indeed, the world witnessed three ISIS terrorist attacks on three continents in just three weeks, including the massacre on the streets of Paris, brutal attacks in Lebanon and the downing of a Russian jet in Egypt  the first successful terrorist attack on an airline since 9/11.\nEach of us has fought violent Islamist extremism or worked to keep our country safe before coming to Congress  at the Justice Department, CIA and in the military. We dealt with al Qaeda and became familiar with its hierarchical structure and desire to conduct large-scale attacks.\nISIS is different. It has the same ideology and desire to destroy us and our way of life, but has metastasized into a new form, one that is effective, ubiquitous and dangerous. And when it comes to large versus small-scale attacks, ISIS is interested in all of the above. We say this not to invoke fear, but to instill vigilance. We are in a generational fight for our nation, interests, allies and freedoms.\nISIS declared its caliphate in Iraq andSyria17 months ago. Since then, the Obama administrations anemic airstrikes have done little to eliminate their leadership, or destroy command and control, logistics, and flow of resources to fund their operations. As a result of our hesitation, ISIS has flourished. They now have a growing presence in 19 different countries. Over 30,000 foreign fighters from 100 different nations have traveled to Iraq andSyriato join the fight or receive training. 5,000 of these foreign fighters come from Western and visa waiver countries and 250 are Americans. This is just what we know. Intelligence officials have admitted that there are probably many more.\nISIS takes advantage of social media to recruit, train, direct and inspire terrorists all over the world. There are an estimated 200,000 pro-ISIS tweets a day, pushing out the groups insidious message, searching for new enthusiasts, and celebrating their momentum. This reliance on social media, and other forms of communications, presents new opportunities, but also creates challenges when it comes to tracking and targeting those who seek to do us harm.\nTheir vision is to inspire jihadists worldwide to commit terrorist acts in their own communities. The attacks in Garland, Texas, Chattanooga, Tennessee and now San Bernardino, California, highlight the challenges law enforcement have to keep up with this pervasive threat. It is already difficult to monitor all of the terror suspects on our radar screen, but an even more dangerous threat comes from those who have quietly radicalized before law enforcement can take notice.\nTo read the full op-ed, click HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcsally.house.gov/media-center/editorials/us-rep-mcsally-washington-times-how-defeat-isis"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6104797832667828, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}