Lee Zeldin: “Only in Congress do you have a resolution presented to deauthorize the use of force because you want to authorize the…”

“Only in Congress do you have a resolution presented to deauthorize the use of force because you want to authorize the use of force. It is, quite frankly, pretty insulting that you would present a proposal to this body to withdraw troops and then accuse the other side of having moral cowardice for opposing the resolution. There needs to be more mention of the President's strategy to defeat ISIS--or lack thereof. We have a duty here in Congress to set our troops up to succeed, not to fail. There has been a lot of debate with regard to the Authorization for Use of Military Force. I am proud to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Chairman Royce has had multiple hearings discussing the Authorization for Use of Military Force. Secretary Kerry was before the committee. He was asked: ``Does this authorization authorize offensive action?'' He said: ``No.'' There was a five-paragraph letter since--with the authorization request--talking about the need to use Special Forces. We can't get a straight answer from this administration as to whether or not he is referring to ours. Yes, we have a duty to set our troops up to succeed, and not fail. We had a Marine general in front of the Foreign Affairs Committee.…”