Cruz Campaign Press Release - CRUZ: President Obama and Secretary Clinton have had their chance; We need to restore American leadership

RALEIGH, NC – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today addressed the John Locke Foundation Luncheon where he highlighted the disintegration of America's leadership on the world stage under the foreign policy of President Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"President Obama and Secretary Clinton have had their chance," Sen. Cruz said. "Their policies do not work. Leading from behind is a dismal failure. We need a new track. We need to get back to the principles that made America strong. We need to restore America's leadership."

In his remarks, Cruz noted numerous instances of the failed Obama-Clinton foreign policies and offered priorities that the United States must pursue in order to restore America's leadership in the world.

"We need new leadership in Washington that doesn't just start with symbolic steps, but it starts by making clear that America will stand with our friends and stand up to our enemies. It starts by making clear that America will stand unshakably with the nation of Israel, and that we will use every lever at our disposal to prevent the United Nations from undermining the sovereignty of our nation. And it means standing up to bad guys, such as making clear to brutal dictators like the Castros in Cuba, that billions in economic relief will not flow until real reforms and freedom occur."

Cruz concluded his remarks with words of encouragement, "We've seen great challenges before. And every time we've seen great challenges, with God's providential blessing, the American people have risen to the occasion."

Excerpts of Cruz's remarks highlighting the failures of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy are included below:

We saw during the Green Revolution, as people poured to the streets against the radical mullahs, President Obama and Sec Clinton decided the best course was to do nothing, to ignore the Green Revolution and allow the Iranians to crush it under their boot.

We saw Nov 5, 2009, a terrorist attack on our homeland as Nidal Hasan in Fort Hood murdered 14 innocent souls including an unborn child. And we saw the administration classify that attack as workplace violence... Mind you, Nidal Hasan was communicating with Anwar al-Awlaki, a known radical terrorist, expressly asking about the permissibility of waging jihad against his fellow soldiers. The federal government knew this and did nothing to prevent the terrorist attack that followed from that communication... Yet, to this day, this administration refuses to acknowledge this is radical Islamic terrorism.

We saw the consequences of leading from behind in Libya. We saw red lines drawn and then dissolve in Syria, which meant every bad actor on earth took note that when this president speaks he doesn't mean what he says.

We saw the unpunished murder of four Americans, including our Ambassador Chris Stevens, in Benghazi. And we saw the president and Secretary Clinton both go to the American people and not admit it was radical Islamic terrorism, but instead try to blame it on some silly internet video when they knew full well it was terrorists who had murdered those four Americans in Benghazi.

We've seen letters and phone calls to the Iranian mullahs while American citizens languish in Iranian prisons.

We've seen ISIS dismissed as the Junior Varsity of radical Sunni terrorists.

We've seen Yemen and Somalia hailed as models of successful counter-terrorism... if you were to pick out two countries that are in greater chaos from the disaster of [this administration's] counter-terrorism policy, it would be difficult to find.

We've seen the president make nice with Raul Castro and with Maduro.

We've seen an Egyptian president Al-Sisi having the courage to call out radical Islamic terrorism, and yet an administration not willing to stand up and speak with the same courage.

We've seen the terrorist attack in Paris described by the president as a random act of violence. There is nothing random when Islamists come in with butcher knives to a kosher deli to murder Jews because of their faith – it is a naked act of anti Semitism.

We've seen 21 Coptic Christians on their knees beheaded by ISIS, and White House statement saying they were killed because of their Egyptian citizenship.

We saw just over a week ago 14 Christians in Kenya systematically slaughtered. Al-Shabab, the radical terrorists there inquired person by person what their faith was, if they were Muslims they were spared, if they were Christians, they were slaughtered.

We cannot defeat radical Islamic terrorism with a President who is unwilling to utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism"

We have seen President Obama, Secretary Clinton and Secretary Kerry systematically unravel, undermine and attack our friendship and alliance with the nation of Israel.

President Obama recently had time to pal around with Raul Castro, but yet he could not be bothered to sit down and talk with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he came to America.

These episodes aren't isolated events. They are part of a broader problem. Part of an inability or unwillingness to recognize the threats to this country (9:40)

What are the fruits of the Obama-Clinton approach to the world? Well, today Iran has 19,000 active centrifuges up from 5,000. The best we've been able to do is negotiate a terrible deal that will pave the way to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons — the single greatest national security threat facing this country.

ISIS today controls a territory the size of Great Britain and is savagely murdering Americans, Israelis, British citizens, Japanese, Jordanians, and Egyptian Coptic Christians.

Putin has consolidated his gains in Georgia, has invaded our ally Ukraine while we stood by and did nothing, has annexed Crimea, and is eyeing further expansion in to NATO members such as the Baltics.

Our staunchest Middle East ally Israel faces unprecedented isolation, and international institutions that can no longer rely on

China is on a campaign of territorial expansion, the intent of which is to kick America out of the Pacific.

And the American military has been undermined by years of aggressive cuts while money has been poured into economic stimulus programs that didn't work, entitlement programs – like Obamacare – that have exploded the deficit and undermined our ability to protect this nation.

President Obama and Secretary Clinton have had their chance. Their policies do not work. Leading from behind is a dismal failure. We need a new track. We need to get back to the principles that made America strong. We need to restore America's leadership.