W.H.: ‘The President Is Resolute in His Refusal’ Not to Let Us Be Terrorized by ISIS

LEDERMAN: “We have been discussing homeland security in the wake of Paris and California. The president has talked a number of times about not getting into fear and not allowing extremist to change the way that we live our lives. I am wondering if you can talk broadly about what advice the White House offers citizens about how to strike the balance particularly around the holidays between vigilance and resolve not to giving into the fears of terrorism?”

EARNEST: “Well, Josh, the most important thing in the mind of the president is keeping the American people safe, and we certainly do want to encourage everyone to be vigilant. That includes the citizens of our country — we encourage them if they see something they should say something. That advice, of course, continues to be operative. And we encourage local law enforcement and state officials to be vigilant as they go about their basic business of — a protecting the American people. At the same time the president is resolute in his refusal to allow this country and our citizens to be terrorized. And there are several things that the president is doing about that. You know, obviously the first is we have engaged this aggressive campaign to counter-ISIL to degrade and ultimately destroy that organization. That’s an indication and should be an indication to you and the American public that the president and the Federal Government are cognizant of the risks and are taking appropriate steps to protect the American people. This is after all, the president’s top priority. And I think that as people go about their business and go about the kind of holiday routines that many people rightly look forward to, that people can have confidence that our law enforcement professionals that are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, are actually doing the work that’s necessary to keep us safe. And they’re remain vigilant and they continue to use every element of the power and authority of the greatest country in the world to protect our citizens. And that is part of what should give people confidence that they can go about their holiday routine.”