Political Quotes

“Madam President, the provision in the continuing resolution before us authorizes the President to train and equip friendly forces whose interests and objectives are aligned with ours so that they can fight on their own behalf, much as we have done elsewhere in the world--for example, a number of African countries which we have helped support their own freedom and independence, their own efforts to go after the terrorists who terrorized them. We have done that pursuant to provisions we have included in previous Defense authorization bills. This year, as our Presiding Officer knows as a very important member of our committee, when the Armed Services Committee marked up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, we approved a similar Syria train-and-equip provision by a bipartisan vote of 23 to 3. While ISIS is currently focused on building an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East, its poisonous ideology is hostile not only to the region but to the world, and there is a real risk that the area it controls could become a launching pad for future terrorist attacks against the United States and its friends and allies. ISIS is terrorizing the Iraqi and the Syrian people, engaging in kidnappings, killings, persecutions of religious minorities, and attacking schools, hospitals, and cultural sites.…”