Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my thoughts and, frankly, some concerns about the President's proposal that we will vote on today to train and arm the Free Syrian Army forces to fight ISIL. We are sort of in a ``damned if you do, damned if you don't'' situation. I have always said that our country needs a comprehensive plan, policy, and strategy to defeat the radical Islamists terrorizing Iraq and Syria. Certainly, ISIS represents the antithesis of American ideals, and they have gruesomely demonstrated their disgust for our Nation with the beheadings of two American journalists in recent weeks. What we are considering today is a partial plan, one of which I remain uncertain as to whether it will have the desired outcome. In fact, since 2011, the administration has consistently resisted any major efforts to arm and train the moderate opposition forces in Syria even when, I believe, a window existed to effectively do that some time ago. At a hearing in the Appropriations Committee in February of 2012, I questioned then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about why we were not doing more to help the moderate Syrian opposition. She flatly rejected providing support then. Now, however, I fear we may have effectively missed the time in which arming the FSA will impact the barbarism of ISIL in the region.…”