Seth Moulton: “I thank the chairman and the ranking member for including this amendment in the en bloc package, because I remain…”

“I thank the chairman and the ranking member for including this amendment in the en bloc package, because I remain concerned about the lack of a clear plan or strategy in Syria. As the Syrian opposition supported by U.S. and coalition forces fight to liberate Raqqa from ISIS control, we are confronted with the complex and critical question of what comes next. Freeing Syrians from the brutality of ISIS is but one part of a complex, grinding civil war that began with the Assad regime's heinous violence against civilians and has endured for over 6 years, with over 400,000 Syrians killed, 6 billion Syrians displaced within Syria, and over 4.5 million forced to flee as refugees. We now have over 500 U.S. troops deployed to Syria to advise and assist Syrian opposition forces. However, we have yet to have a clear, comprehensive political strategy that describes what the end goals are for U.S. involvement and how we hope to achieve those goals. This amendment requires just that, and follows a similar effort I led with General and Representative John Bacon on Iraq that received bipartisan support in the Armed Services Committee last year. This amendment requires a comprehensive political and military strategy for U.S. policy in Syria to be submitted by the Departments of Defense and State to Congress and the American people within 90 days of enactment.…”