WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) speaks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference, June 14, 2013 in Washington, DC. The Faith and Freedom Coalition is a group created by former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, designed to strengthen the evangelical influence in national politics. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference, June 14, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — Rep. Michele Bachmann says she was told by the FBI that Americans who joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Middle East would be allowed to return to the U.S.

Speaking to Newsmax, the Minnesota Republican detailed a private meeting she had with the federal agency earlier this summer when she asked them if any Minnesotans had joined ISIS.

“The FBI told me … that there were two Minnesotans that had joined up with the Islamic State. I asked the FBI, ‘If they choose to return to Minnesota, will they be allowed to?’ The FBI responded, ‘Yes, they will. They’re American citizens,’” Bachmann explained. “My jaw dropped when they said that. I said, ‘You mean nothing happens?’ They said, ‘Well, we put their name on a watch list and they have additional screening.’”

Bachmann explained that the additional screening consists of extra questions and then they would be allowed to go back unimpeded to live.

“That cannot be. We need to ‘get a brain in the United States and wake up,’” Bachmann told Newsmax. “Because the Islamic State has been very clear about their intention. That’s why they call themselves the Islamic State. They see that the global caliphate literally goes around the world, including the United States.”

Bachmann has introduced legislation to the House, similar to that of Sen. Ted Cruz, where if Americans join ISIS, they renounce their citizenship.

“The Terrorist Denaturalization and Passport Revocation Act amends existing law to include membership or association with a foreign terrorist organization as a renunciation of U.S. citizenship and grounds for denaturalization. Additionally, the bill gives the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security additional tools to revoke passports of terrorists before or after they travel abroad to better track their movements and prevent attacks on our homeland,” the statement reads.

Bachmann said it would be madness to allow Americans to re-enter the U.S. after fighting for ISIS.

“Sitting on the intelligence committee for two years, we’ve been following the rise of ISIS. This is not new to us. We have been following this,” Bachmann told Newsmax. “If we knew about this in the intelligence committee, certainly the president of the United States had our information and I would hope more information than we had access to.”

In an address to the nation Wednesday evening, President Barack Obama laid out his strategy on how to deal with ISIS. He announced expanding airstrikes in Iraq, including authorizing strikes inside Syria for the first time. He is also dispatching an additional 475 American troops to Iraq to help advise and assist Iraqi forces and is calling on Congress to authorize the training and arming of moderate Syrian rebels to combat ISIS.