My Fox Memphis - Cohen: ISIS Most Frightening Threat for America

Students at Oakhaven Middle School proved to be a receptive audience Monday morning as they got a visit from Congressman Steve Cohen (D-9th District) of Memphis, who attended an event in support of Constitution Week in America.

But Congressman Cohen admits he'll have a tougher time when he returns to Congress in Washington, D.C., trying to get his colleagues to go along with the president's plan to fight ISIS.

This nation is the oldest Democracy in the modern world. It has survived a British effort to overthrow it, a civil war that almost tore it apart and a terrorist attack which attempted to bring us to our knees. But Congressman Cohen believes the latest threat posed by the terrorist organization ISIS may be among the most frightening the United States has ever faced.

The occasion was to mark Constitution Week celebration and no one at Oakhaven Middle School understood the historical implications of the event more than U.S. Rep. Cohen. Whether speaking about the significance of the Constitutional Convention, which spawned the final signing of the United States Constitution, or fielding questions from inquisitive young audience members about how government works, Cohen hoped his parting advice to the students would serve as a motivator.

"How can we get a good education? And they need to know they can get a good education. But, they need to listen to their teachers. Do their homework. Buckle down. Make good grades and get a scholarship," he said.

Except for the part about getting good grades and a scholarship, Congressman Cohen's words of encouragement might well have applied to his colleagues in Congress, in terms of listening, doing their homework and buckling down in the fight against the latest threat to international peace, ISIS.

Cohen embraced President Barack Obama's call for stronger action to curb the actions of the Middle Eastern menace.

"We've got to take on ISIS," he said. "Nobody wants to be in a war, and I like the president was opposed to Iraq, supported him in Afghanistan for those wee the people responsible for harboring the Taliban who attacked our country on 9/11.

Congressman Cohen said he understands the hesitation of some American allies to jump into the fray of a war that only seems to be escalating. Yet, Cohen, like his friend in the Oval Office, believes the threat ISIS poses is one detrimental to not only peace in the Middle East, but also the moral values of the Constitution he'd expounded upon in his speech to the Oakhaven students.

"They do not know what civility is," he said. "They don't know Democracy. They're not for freedom. They're a threat to freedom and Democracy. If we don't take them on now they get a nation. This will be a whole country training people and training Americans to come back and do us harm. So, we need to fight ISIS."

Congress will soon return to its final session before breaking for the midterm elections and the holidays.