Roger Wicker

When I think of the benefit that we could have had in the United States not to be faced with this refugee crisis, the benefit to Europe if we had given Syrians a place where they could live in their own country safely, away from these…

If we want to get it behind us and defeat ISIL and get peace in Syria, I think that's going to be necessary, yeah.

Is the President steadfast in having a goal that includes Mr. Assad being removed from power?

Most will agree that there can be no future for Syria with Assad in power.

Moderate Syrian Opposition forces require significant external support if they are to generate the required combat power.

The option of Coalition boots on the ground should be retained as we seek to build our understanding of opposition groups.

This appearance of success only enhances ISIL's ability to radicalize, recruit, and grow.

Many of us believe that the goal the President laid out, quote, "to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL" is right.

If you're not winning in this kind of warfare, you are losing. Stalemate is not success.

We do not want to have a debate and vote because we do not want to put our names on it.

Congress to this point has decided that the budget caps enacted in August 2011 is a higher national priority than defeating ISIL.

Ultimately, it's not that we are doing nothing to counter ISIL, it is that there is no compelling reason to believe that anything we are currently doing will be sufficient to achieve our strategic objective.

If the President had not started a bombing campaign on August 8th near Irbil, we might not be here today.

I think the real reason is, we don't have the backbone to take it up and do the job that Congress is supposed to do.

We've been at war since August 8.

It's just not supposed to be that way.

There has not been a declaration of war, there's not been an authorization for use of military force.

The fact is that what matters is that the strategy is failing.

There is no evidence that Congress is concerned at all about ISIL.

This is now a war, into the 10th month, without a clear legal basis.

I harshly criticize the administration for not sending in a draft authorization over right when they started this legal action.

It's Congress that's the spectators.

This is a group that conducts mass murder.

I do not believe that there is any reasonable prospect that it will be possible to retake Mosul this year.

This is unacceptable, from a moral perspective and from a U.S. national security perspective.