Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized for 4 minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, contrary to what may be popular belief, there are plenty of Democrats in this body who are very much worried about Iraq. The question is, What do we do about it? I will be the first to admit it is complicated. The first…

This was in a meeting in his office. He asked me, What kind of force are you talking about? I turned to General Austin and Ambassador Jeffries and I asked them, What is the number? Answer the Prime Minister's question. They said, We are…

Yes, I will be glad to. And to put it in context, in 2008 we signed a strategic framework agreement. It was envisioned that we would negotiate a follow-on force with advisers and some special forces units to secure our Nation as well as to…

I would not send $1 to Iraq. I would not send one soldier to Iraq, one airman to Iraq until we understand that over the arc of time Maliki has to go. I have been there more times than I can count. Maliki did some good things on his watch…

Here is the problem with that: To go to a meeting in Baghdad, you are likely to get killed trying to get there. Who is going to sit down in Baghdad when everybody is getting killed based on sectarian differences? So my advice would be to…

Mr. President, one of the greatest issues impacting the American health care system is the lack of access to high quality care for the uninsured. According to a 2012 CBO study, 26-27 million people will not have health insurance in 2016…

So, to the President: We agree with you that Iraq matters. We agree with you that it is not in our national security interests to have ISIS occupy territory from Aleppo to Baghdad. But here is what is a mystery to me: How do we turn this…

Is it fair to say the Air Force in Iraq is grounded for all practical purposes? Mr. McCAIN. Not only grounded but a lot of the air assets, I am to understand, such as Apache helicopters, are in the hands of ISIS.

Well, if it is not a good thing for us, how do we change it? Give me a scenario where we put these folks on the run in Syria and in Iraq without American air power. Give me a scenario of political reconciliation in Baghdad where that has a…

My point is, does my colleague agree he is right? It is not acceptable for our national security interests for ISIS to have a safe haven in Syria and Iraq that could run from Aleppo to Baghdad; that that is not a good thing for us? Mr…

Did my colleague hear President Obama say it is unacceptable for Iraq or Islamists to have safe havens in Iraq and Syria? Did my colleague hear him say that? Mr. McCAIN. No, I did not, but I did hear him say on December 14, 2011: ``We are…

I am sorry I was late. Actually, I had an exchange with General Dempsey about this very topic. Does the Senator from Arizona see any scenario where ISIS is militarily stopped and that the Iraqis can retake ground lost to ISIS without U.S…

Will the Senator yield for a question? Mr. McCAIN. I wish to thank the Senator from South Carolina for showing up.

I have no further speakers at this time. I yield back the balance of my time, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3375.

As Islamic terrorists seize control of major Iraqi cities, it is clear that the President's failure to secure a status of forces agreement has jeopardized the progress our military made to promote democracy and peace in the region. We have…

Senator McCain was on the floor, and I am sorry I missed him. I was in a briefing. To the American people, the situation in Iraq is dire. Syria has become a launching pad for attacks against the Iraqi people. The ISIS--we don't know who…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized for 10 minutes to 15 minutes, as if in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. We have an order to go to executive session at 11:30.