Political Quotes

“as we continue to fight against ISIS and their radical allies, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the Ernst-Boxer amendment, which provides authority for direct assistance to a critical partner in that fight: the Iraqi Kurds. Defeating ISIS is critical to maintaining an inclusive and unified Iraq, and the Iraqi Kurds are the key to that goal and helping to improve the humanitarian crisis in the region through their support and protection of over 1.6 million displaced persons from Iraq and Syria. This bipartisan amendment, also cosponsored by Senators Graham, Tillis, Rubio, and Gardner, provides temporary authority for the President, in consultation with the Iraqi Government--and I say, again, in consultation with the Iraqi Government--to provide weapons directly to Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the fight against ISIS should the administration choose to do so. Currently, by law, the United States must provide support to the Iraqi Kurds through the Iraqi central government in Baghdad, which has often not been timely or adequate in the past. These delays have had a negative impact on the Kurds' ability to defend Iraqi territory and provide security for those who have sought refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. The President's recent decision to expedite arms to the Kurds as a way to improve the counter-ISIS effort, I believe, speaks for itself.…”