On Wednesday, 14 Americans were killed as they came

together to celebrate the holidays.

They were taken from family and friends

who loved them deeply.

They were white and black; Latino and Asian;

immigrants and American-born;

moms and dads; daughters and sons.

Each of them served their fellow citizens and all of

them were part of our American family.

Tonight, I want to talk with you about this tragedy,

the broader threat of terrorism,

and how we can keep our country safe.

The FBI is still gathering the facts about what

happened in San Bernardino, but here is what we know.

The victims were brutally murdered and injured by one

of their coworkers and his wife.

So far, we have no evidence that the killers were

directed by a terrorist organization overseas,

or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home.

But it is clear that the two of them had gone down the

dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted

interpretation of Islam that calls for war

against America and the West.

They had stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition,

and pipe bombs.

So this was an act of terrorism,

designed to kill innocent people.

Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al

Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11.

In the process, we've hardened our defenses --

from airports to financial centers,

to other critical infrastructure.

Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have

disrupted countless plots here and overseas,

and worked around the clock to keep us safe.

Our military and counterterrorism

professionals have relentlessly pursued

terrorist networks overseas -- disrupting safe havens in

several different countries, killing Osama bin Laden,

and decimating al Qaeda's leadership.

Over the last few years, however,

the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase.

As we've become better at preventing complex,

multifaceted attacks like 9/11,

terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence

like the mass shootings that are all too common

in our society.

It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in

2009; in Chattanooga earlier this year;

and now in San Bernardino.

And as groups like ISIL grew stronger amidst the chaos of

war in Iraq and then Syria, and as the Internet erases

the distance between countries,

we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the

minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and

the San Bernardino killers.

For seven years, I've confronted this evolving

threat each morning in my intelligence briefing.

And since the day I took this office,

I've authorized U.S. forces

to take out terrorists abroad precisely

because I know how real the danger is.

As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater

responsibility than the security of the American people.

As a father to two young daughters who are the most

precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves

with friends and coworkers at a holiday party like the

one in San Bernardino.

I know we see our kids in the faces of the young

people killed in Paris.

And I know that after so much war,

many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by

a cancer that has no immediate cure.

Well, here's what I want you to know: The threat from

terrorism is real, but we will overcome it.

We will destroy ISIL and any other organization

that tries to harm us.

Our success won't depend on tough talk,

or abandoning our values, or giving into fear.

That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for.

Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart,

resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every

aspect of American power.

Here's how.

First, our military will continue to hunt down

terrorist plotters in any country

where it is necessary.

In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out

ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure.

And since the attacks in Paris,

our closest allies -- including France, Germany,

and the United Kingdom -- have ramped up their

contributions to our military campaign,

which will help us accelerate our effort

to destroy ISIL.

Second, we will continue to provide training and

equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and

Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we

take away their safe havens.

In both countries, we're deploying Special Operations

Forces who can accelerate that offensive.

We've stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris,

and we'll continue to invest more in approaches that are

working on the ground.

Third, we're working with friends and allies to stop

ISIL's operations -- to disrupt plots,

cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting

more fighters.

Since the attacks in Paris, we've surged

intelligence-sharing with our European allies.

We're working with Turkey to seal its border with Syria.

And we are cooperating with Muslim-majority countries --

and with our Muslim communities here at home --

to counter the vicious ideology that ISIL

promotes online.

Fourth, 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.

Doing so will allow the Syrian people and every

country, including our allies,

but also countries like Russia,

to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL -- a

group that threatens us all.

This is our strategy to destroy ISIL.

It is designed and supported by our military commanders

and counterterrorism experts,

together with 65 countries that have joined an

American-led coalition.

And we constantly examine our strategy to determine

when additional steps are needed to get the job done.

That's why I've ordered the Departments of State and

Homeland Security to review the visa *Waiver program

under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino

originally came to this country.

And that's why I will urge high-tech and law

enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to

use technology to escape from justice.

Now, here at home, we have to work together to address

the challenge.

There are several steps that Congress should

take right away.

To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no

one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun.

What could possibly be the argument for allowing a

terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon?

This is a matter of national security.

We also need to make it harder for people to buy

powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used

in San Bernardino.

I know there are some who reject

any gun safety measures.

But the fact is that our intelligence and law

enforcement agencies -- no matter how effective they

are -- cannot identify every would-be mass shooter,

whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or some

other hateful ideology.

What we can do -- and must do -- is make it harder

for them to kill.

Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those

who come to America without a visa so that we can take a

hard look at whether they've traveled to warzones.

And we're working with members of both parties in

Congress to do exactly that.

Finally, if Congress believes, as I do,

that we are at war with ISIL,

it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued

use of military force against these terrorists.

For over a year, I have ordered our military to take

thousands of airstrikes against ISIL targets.

I think it's time for Congress to vote to

demonstrate that the American people are united,

and committed, to this fight.

My fellow Americans, these are the steps that we can

take together to defeat the terrorist threat.

Let me now say a word about what we should not do.

We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly

ground war in Iraq or Syria.

That's what groups like ISIL want.

They know they can't defeat us on the battlefield.

ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced

in Iraq.

But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands,

they can maintain insurgencies for years,

killing thousands of our troops,

draining our resources, and using our presence to draw

new recruits.

The strategy that we are using now -- airstrikes,

Special Forces, and working with local forces who are

fighting to regain control of their own country -- that

is how we'll achieve a more sustainable victory.

And it won't require us sending a new generation of

Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade

on foreign soil.

Here's what else we cannot do.

We cannot turn against one another by letting this

fight be defined as a war between America and Islam.

That, too, is what groups like ISIL want.

ISIL does not speak for Islam.

They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death,

and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a

billion Muslims around the world -- including millions

of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject

their hateful ideology.

Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around

the world are Muslim.

If we're to succeed in defeating terrorism we must

enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest

allies, rather than push them away through suspicion

and hate.

That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist

ideology has spread within some Muslim communities.

This is a real problem that Muslims must confront,

without excuse.

Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to

continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally

reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and al

Qaeda promote; to speak out against not just acts of

violence, but also those interpretations of Islam

that are incompatible with the values of religious

tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity.

But just as it is the responsibility of Muslims

around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to

radicalization, it is the responsibility of all

Americans -- of every faith -- to reject discrimination.

It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on

who we admit into this country.

It's our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim

Americans should somehow be treated differently.

Because when we travel down that road, we lose.

That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values

plays into the hands of groups like ISIL.

Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors,

our co-workers, our sports heroes -- and, yes,

they are our men and women in uniform who are willing

to die in defense of our country.

We have to remember that.

My fellow Americans, I am confident we will succeed in

this mission because we are on the right side

of history.

We were founded upon a belief in human dignity --

that no matter who you are, or where you come from,

or what you look like, or what religion you practice,

you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes

of the law.

Even in this political season,

even as we properly debate what steps I and future

Presidents must take to keep our country safe,

let's make sure we never forget

what makes us exceptional.