--- title: President Obama Reassures Americans Ahead of Holiday Travel description: He said there is no specific and credible threat to the homeland at this time, and called for national unity and resilience. canonical: https://time.com/4153693/barack-obama-terrorism-security-holidays/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-17T18:25:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:28:15.087Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Reassures Americans Ahead of Holiday Travel og:description: "When Americans stand together, nothing can beat us." og:url: https://time.com/4153693/barack-obama-terrorism-security-holidays/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01224ff7acc8edc0/698875e1a988ca8fd26b5c69/barack-obama-national-counterterrorism-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5000 og:image:height: 2813 og:image:alt: US-SECURITY-ATTACKS-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Reassures Americans Ahead of Holiday Travel twitter:description: "When Americans stand together, nothing can beat us." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01224ff7acc8edc0/698875e1a988ca8fd26b5c69/barack-obama-national-counterterrorism-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Reassures Americans Ahead of Holiday Travel > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 17, 2015 6:25 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers remarks after a national security team meeting at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Virginia on Dec. 17, 2015. President Barack Obama delivers remarks after a national security team meeting at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Virginia on Dec. 17, 2015. Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 17, 2015 6:25 PM UTC Speaking at the National Counterterrorism Center Thursday, President Obama sought to reassure Americans on national security before the holidays. “After the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino I know that a lot of Americans are anxious, and that’s understandable. That’s natural,” Obama said. “Here’s what I want every American to know: Since 9/11 we’ve taken extraordinary steps to strengthen our homeland security… We have the very best intelligence, counterterrorism, homeland security and law enforcement professionals in the world. Our folks are the best. Across our government these dedicated professionals are relentless 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” He said that for now, intelligence and counterterrorism officials “do not have any specific and credible information about an attack on the homeland.” Obama also outlined the three fronts in which the United States is fighting ISIS: going after the terrorist leaders abroad, coordinating with European allies to prevent terrorists from entering the United States and other countries, and ramping up efforts to prevent attacks from individuals already in the U.S. The president ended with a call for national unity. “One of our greatest weapons against terrorism is our own strength and resilience as a people,” He said. “It also means staying united as one American family, remembering that our greatest allies in this fight are each other, Americans of all faiths and all backgrounds. When Americans stand together, nothing can beat us.” **Read Next:** [_President Obama Says U.S. Hitting ISIS ‘Harder Than Ever’_](http://time.com/4147492/obama-isis-isil/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4153693/barack-obama-terrorism-security-holidays/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4153693/barack-obama-terrorism-security-holidays/"},"headline":"President Obama Reassures Americans Ahead of Holiday Travel","datePublished":"2015-12-17T18:25:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:28:15.087Z","description":"He said there is no specific and credible threat to the homeland at this time, and called for national unity and resilience.","url":"https://time.com/4153693/barack-obama-terrorism-security-holidays/","keywords":["White House","Terrorism","Security","National Security","The White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01224ff7acc8edc0/698875e1a988ca8fd26b5c69/barack-obama-national-counterterrorism-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01224ff7acc8edc0/698875e1a988ca8fd26b5c69/barack-obama-national-counterterrorism-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-SECURITY-ATTACKS-OBAMA","caption":"President Barack Obama delivers remarks after a national security team meeting at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Virginia on Dec. 17, 2015.","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4153693/barack-obama-terrorism-security-holidays/","name":"President Obama Reassures Americans Ahead of Holiday Travel"}}]}] ```