Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. My colleagues, there are only bad choices left in Syria and Iraq, but, in my opinion, the worst choice of all would be to do nothing. This is an attempt to do something. I want to commend Chairman McKeon. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the McKeon amendment which would authorize a train-and-equip mission for the vetted moderate Syrian opposition. Again, the worst choice would be to do nothing. This is an attempt to do something. It is urgent that we do it now. Every day we wait is a day longer that ISIS gets stronger and the opposition gets weaker. Now, I think it should be plainly stated that this is a separate issue from an AUMF. This is separate. This is talking about aiding and abetting the vetted Syrian opposition. Now, I was in favor of doing this 2 years ago. For 2 years, I have been working to assist the moderate opposition. In early 2013, I introduced the Free Syria Act to provide the Syrian opposition with the weapons they need to fight the Syrian regime and the extremists that now control large parts of Syria and Iraq. This is authorizing a train-and-equip mission for the vetted moderate Syrian opposition. It isn't perfect, but it is a step forward, and it is far, far better than doing nothing. Mr. Speaker, since I introduced that legislation, the situation in Syria has gotten much worse. More than 200,000 people have died, and millions have been driven from their homes.…”