WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today issued the following statement in response to the attacks in London and Antwerp.
“Yesterday’s terror attack in London – committed by a radical Islamic terrorist and claimed by ISIS – was an act of barbarism. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the brave law enforcement members who brought the terrorist down – particularly with the family of Kurt Cochran, a fellow American from Utah who was killed, and his wife, Melissa, who was seriously injured. The British people and the British government should know that America stands shoulder to shoulder with them.
Just today, a man in the Belgian port city of Antwerp was arrested after driving his car at high speed through a busy pedestrian shopping street. Fortunately, there are no reports of injuries, despite police reportedly having found rifles, knives and a gas can in his car. Had local authorities not acted swiftly and decisively to stop the suspected attacker, countless innocent people could have been killed or injured.
It is past time for us to get serious, smart, and decisive in dealing with the global threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Fortunately, we no longer have an administration in the White House that refuses to call these terrorists by their name and make clear that, rather than acting in the name of an amorphous violent extremism, they are setting off bombs, stabbing people with knives, shooting people in cafes and concert halls and running people down on promenades and shopping streets in the name of their Islamist ideology.
This is why I reintroduced the Expatriate Terrorist Act last month, so that American citizens who join foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS and commit acts of terror against the United States forfeit their citizenship. I have also supported the Trump administration’s executive order to suspend immigration from at risk countries until we have an improved vetting system in place to check for Islamist terrorists attempting to enter the United States. We know that ISIS is using migrant routes to smuggle its fighters into Europe and the United States. What is equally disturbing from the murderous attack in London is that the terrorist appears to have been a homegrown jihadist who was known to authorities. Beyond executing a strategy to utterly destroy ISIS and closing pathways for Islamist terrorists to enter our free societies, we need a comprehensive, bold and effective strategy to address radicalism here at home and I am committed to working with my colleagues and the administration to continue making this a priority.”