Political Quotes

“I rise today to discuss briefly the fight against ISIS and the sources of its financial support. As the administration accelerates the coalition military campaign against ISIS, I believe the administration must continue to intensify efforts to dismantle the financial networks that support this vicious terrorist organization. We know that ISIS operates like a criminal syndicate and profits from the illicit sale of oil, antiquities, and other items through the black market, all while extorting civilians it has under its control. ISIS uses this funding to conduct terror attacks and control territory in both Iraq and Syria. They use it to buy more weapons, ammunition, and components for improvised explosive devices, which we know by the acronym IEDs. They also use this funding to pay for salaries for fighters and to develop propaganda materials to spread their hateful ideology. Already, we have seen evidence that both U.S. and coalition efforts against their financial networks, including airstrikes on oil trucks and cash storage sites, have had a meaningful impact on their finances--the finances of ISIS. There is evidence that ISIS has had to reduce the salaries they pay their fighters in recent months. That is good news. I believe that if we can cut off their money, we can significantly diminish their ability to operate. Members of Congress should support this effort in any way we can.…”