On the recordJune 20, 2014
The gentleman has enumerated a number of terrorist organizations in countries, and I don't think there is a Member of Congress who would suggest that they are up to any good at any moment in time, but the amendment attempts to treat these countries and these organizations with a one-size-fits-all approach. Our Nation's involvement with each one of these entities is reflective of each country's reality and state of affairs, our Nation's interests, national security concerns or lack thereof. I would just provide one example. If this amendment were to pass, the Department of Defense could provide that the options for any actions in Syria relative to the removal of chemicals and materials of mass destruction would be inhibited, because these moneys are provided through the cooperative threat reduction account, which works to ensure the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons' stockpile, and by necessity, we end up having to work with that government to do this very good work. For that reason, the practical nature of this begs it, and I am opposed to the gentleman's amendment. I yield time to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen), the chairman of the subcommittee.
