Saying he is "highly concerned" about how much time President Barack Obama will give to the war on terrorism in his State of the Union address, Sen. Ron Johnson said Americans want a leader who will tell them the truth and "face reality."
"I think Americans in such uncertain times first and foremost crave some safety and security, and they're craving leadership," the Wisconsin Republican said Monday on
Fox News Channel's "The Kelly File."
Johnson said he wants to hear Obama say Tuesday night that he has put a strategy in place to accomplish his stated goal of degrading and defeating the Islamic State (ISIS.)
The White House has released a number of items Obama will address in his speech before both chambers of Congress, but all have dealt with domestic issues such as free community college tuition and tax credits for parents and homeowners. His request for $320 billion in new taxes already is drawing fire from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
With a Pew Research Center poll showing 76 percent of Americans think terrorism is America's most pressing problem, Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he wants to see Obama secure the border, ensure the United States has an effective intelligence-gathering capability, and have an actual plan to defeat ISIS.
"We're doing some bombing," Johnson said. "You might be able to claim maybe ISIS is being contained. They're certainly not being significantly degraded. They are a long way from being defeated."
If ISIS is not perceived as losing, it is being seen as winning, and will continue to inspire Western attacks such as the ones in Ottawa, Sydney, and Paris, he said.
"It's growing, it's metastasizing," he said.
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