President Barack Obama made an address on Sunday with plans to keep Americans safe and defeat the Islamic State — four days after 14 people were killed and 21 were injured in San Bernardino, California by shooters who were self-proclaimed supporters of IS.

The shooters, Syed Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, received praise from IS for the shooting, which happened on Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit agency that assists people with developmental disabilities. But IS did not claim direct credit for the attack, according to a Yahoo News article.

In his live broadcasted address, which began at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Obama said this shooting was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people. During his seven years of office, Obama said he has had to confront this evolving threat. He said he authorized U.S. forces to take out terrorists abroad because he is aware of how real the danger is.

“I know after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure,” Obama said in the address.

Groups like IS are hoping countries like America give into fear, Obama added.

In his address, the president outlined his strategy for how to destroy IS. First, he said, the U.S. military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country necessary.

Secondly, the U.S. will continue to provide training and equipment to Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting IS on the ground, Obama said.

For the third step, Obama said the U.S. is working with friends and allies to stop IS’s operations, disrupt its plots, cut off its financing and prevent the group from recruiting more fighters.

Obama said lastly that, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process and timeline to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war.

Following this strategy, Obama said, will allow the Syrian people and every country — including allies to the U.S. and other countries like Russia — to focus on the common goal of destroying IS.

“Now, here at home, we have to work together to address the challenge,” Obama said. “There are several steps that Congress should take right away.”

To begin, Obama said, no one on a no-fly list should be able to buy a gun in America, stating that this is a matter of national security.

He added that the U.S. needs to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons, like the ones used in San Bernardino.

Obama acknowledged the fact that some will oppose this gun-safety measure. However, he said, no matter how effective the U.S.’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies are, they cannot identify every potential mass shooter, even if that shooter was motivated by IS or by another hateful ideology.

“What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill,” Obama said.

If Congress believes as he does, Obama said it should vote to authorize the continued use of military force against IS.

However, Obama warned against the U.S. being drawn once more into a “long and costly” ground war in Iraq or a war in Syria — because that’s what IS wants, he said.

Obama ended his address by saying he is confident of the U.S.’s eventual success because “we are on the right side of history.”

New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement on Sunday that said he stands with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and demanding that Congress close the terror gap.

“As if it weren’t common-sense enough, it is clearer now than ever that members of Congress can no longer sit on their hands and shirk their responsibility to protect the American people — they must close the terror gap,” Cuomo said in the release.

Cuomo said this loophole does nothing more than help radical people kill innocent Americans, and added that it must be closed.

“The fact that reform continues to languish illustrates the stranglehold the NRA has over Washington, and it’s time for our elected leaders to show the political courage to vote for the safety of the American people,” Cuomo said.

Published on December 6, 2015 at 10:44 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann