Kevin Bishop (864) 250-1417 or Lorcan Connick (202) 224-5972

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement on this morning's terrorist attack in Paris which has left at least 12 people dead.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, the families, and the French people in the wake of this horrendous attack.

"Simply stated, radical Islam - through extreme violence and intimidation - is trying to replace our way of life with theirs. I have no doubt they will ultimately fail, but the question is how many will be injured or killed before that day arrives?

"Here at home, we must use this horrific attack as an opportunity to reevaluate our own national security posture. I fear our intelligence capabilities, those designed to prevent such an attack from taking place on our shores, are quickly eroding. Through a combination of poor policy choices made by the Obama Administration regarding detention and interrogation policies, and budget cuts approved by the Congress with President Obama's support, I believe our national security infrastructure designed to prevent these types of attacks from occurring is under siege.

"President Obama should immediately change his interrogation and detention policies as we are gradually losing the ability to detect, disrupt and prevent future terrorist attacks. In addition, it is time to restore the necessary funding to our intelligence-gathering and national security operations.

"I fear we can expect and must prepare for more attacks like this in the future. ISIL is well-funded and has an entrenched command structure that is actively inspiring terrorist attacks throughout the world. And while President Obama has the right goal in destroying ISIL, I fear the policies he is using are grossly insufficient and leave our homeland increasingly exposed.

"Finally, we should acknowledge that radical Islamists have no limits when it comes to destruction and the taking of human life. That is why it remains imperative that we never allow radical Islamic terrorists to acquire weapons of mass destruction. While today's attack in Paris involved conventional weapons, I fear the terrorist attacks of the future could be even more lethal and even more tragic if these organizations acquire chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Denying them this capability is the challenge of the time."

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