Homeland Security Chairman: Obama ‘Short-Changes’ Real National Security Threats For Climate Change

House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul (R-Texas) speaks in this AP file photo.

President Obama is giving short shrift to real threats as he focuses on climate change as a national security issue, according to Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX).

Speaking to graduates at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut Wednesday, Obama argued that climate change represents a true threat to national security.

“So I’m here today to say that climate change constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security,” Obama said. “And make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country. And so we need to act — and we need to act now.”

According to McCaul, however, Obama is missing the point.

“President Obama sounds alarm bells about climate change and in the meantime short-changes those responsible for tackling real threats to our national security,” McCaul said.

The Texas lawmaker further took issue with the administration’s proposed DHS budget.

“Incredibly, the President’s proposed budget allocates more money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to combat global warming than to counter violent extremism,” he said.

“In fact, despite repeated Congressional requests, the President failed to set aside any meaningful dollars at DHS for counter-radicalization programs designed to prevent more Americans from being recruited by terrorist groups like ISIS,” McCaul added.

He stressed that the Obama administration should not “busy DHS with climate politics when terrorism is going viral.”

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