President Barack Obama stressed the need to remain vigilant in the United States even as his administration works with the international community to squeeze the Islamic State group.
“Squeezing ISIL’s heart, its core in Syria and Iraq, will make it harder for them to pump their terror and propaganda to the rest of the world,” Obama told a year-end news conference, using an acronym for the militant Islamist group.
“At the same time … we have to remain vigilant here at home,” he said. “All of us can do our part by staying vigilant, by saying something if we see something that is suspicious, by refusing to be terrorized and by staying united as one American family.”
During a wide-ranging year-end news conference, Obama also praised several events during the past year, including that nearly 6 million people have been able to sign up for coverage under his health care law, and recently passed education legislation.
Guantanamo Bay
Obama also answered questions about the plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center as well as recently passed spending and tax legislation.
On Thursday, U.S. lawmakers criticized the visa review process of people seeking to enter the United States.
Obama said Friday that critics have to recognize that no government can read every single person’s social media posts and text messages. He said he thinks the U.S. has struck the right balance in protecting civil liberties while ensuring Americans’ safety.
Earlier Friday, Obama pardoned two people and commuted the sentences of 95 others in an end of year act of executive power, the White House announced Friday, ahead of the president’s year-end news conference.
Almost all of those receiving commuted sentences are non-violent drug offenders. Many were convicted of distributing or possessing cocaine or crack-cocaine.
The commutations, the most Obama has issued at one time, aim to build momentum for the president’s broader push on criminal justice reform.
The White House has been working with lawmakers from both parties in an effort to overhaul U.S. sentencing.
Later Friday, Obama will leave for San Bernardino, California, where he plans to meet with families of the 14 victims of the recent mass shooting. Obama doesn’t plan any public appearances while in California.
The California stop will be Obama’s last before he travels to Hawaii to spend Christmas and New Year’s with his family. Obama has vacationed in Hawaii every year since taking office.
He is scheduled to return to the White House a few days after New Year’s to start his last year in office.
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