On the recordOctober 16, 2019
Right now, with President Trump's permission, Turkey is slaughtering our Kurdish allies, the only people who stand between us and ISIS, men and women who have died by the thousands to protect Americans from terrorism, the families of our American constituents, like Seyhmus Yuksekkaya from my district. As a result, Russian and Syrian forces are taking our positions next to them. ISIS prisoners are escaping, and, Mr. Speaker, the crisis has only just begun. We must act today because the President has taken the side of dictators and butchers. The President has never put his life on the line for our country, like our Special Forces soldiers who have been fighting terrorists in Syria, whom he mocked earlier today by saying they are shooting each other. Perhaps if he had not dodged the draft by lying about his feet, sending another American in his place to Vietnam, he would know something that all veterans know well, that there are a lot of ways you can fail in battle. You can fail physically. You can fail to summon the mental courage. You can have a bad strategy or bad tactics. But nothing is worse, nothing is more evil, than betrayal. Yet, betrayal is exactly what this President has done. It sends exactly the wrong message to our allies, to our troops, and to our enemies. Our Commander in Chief should lead with American values. He should lead by the idea that there is no better friend and no worse enemy than the United States of America.…
