Political Quotes

“Mr. President, over the weekend France suffered the worst attack that it has seen since World War II. The day before that, Beirut was rocked by two suicide bombs perpetrated by ISIL that killed more than 40 civilians. We just had confirmation that the Russian plane flying over Sinai was taken down by a terrorist bomb. Again, ISIL has claimed credit. These attacks have followed on the heels of an announcement 2 weeks earlier by the President that he has authorized deployment of up to 50 Special Forces in Syria. They will be there to support U.S.-backed Syrian rebels in the campaign against ISIL. More than 1 year after the announcement of Operation Inherent Resolve, a mission to ``degrade and ultimately defeat'' ISIL, this conflict has escalated dramatically. The facts on the ground in the Middle East have changed dramatically. Russia is intervening militarily on behalf of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians left their homes and their country to escape ISIL and Assad, precipitating a massive humanitarian crisis that has brought the European Union under great strain. In addition to the deployment of U.S. Special Forces in Syria, news reports indicate that the United States will increase supplies and military weapons to U.S.-backed Syrian rebels fighting ISIL. For all the changes that we have seen over the past year, one thing has not changed: The Congress of the United States has not voted to authorize the use of military force against ISIL.…”