Political Quotes

“I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member for allowing us to bring up this important issue, basically this amendment and the failed Syria train and equip program. The failures of this program have been well documented and have resulted, ultimately, in strengthening groups like ISIS and al Qaeda with American taxpayer-funded weapons. Many of us voted against this program when it first came before Congress in 2014. We predicted the program would fail, and it did. We ended up arming so-called moderate opposition fighters who did not share our objective of fighting ISIS. Instead, they were and remain primarily focused on overthrowing Assad, which, if successful, would strengthen groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, allowing them to take over all of Syria, creating an even worse humanity crisis and an even greater threat to the world. The current program this bill funds is even worse. It only vets the commanders of so-called moderate Syrian opposition forces. Once the commander finishes some very limited training, then the U.S. provides arms and equipment to the entire brigade with no vetting or screening of the thousands of men who make up these units. Most concerning of all is nowhere in this bill or in the NDAA does it state that this program is limited to training and equipping only those who are fighting against ISIS and al Qaeda. Our strategy against fighting ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria right now is not working.…”