Bob Corker: “It is my understanding the leader is on his way down. I have a unanimous consent request that I would like to offer. I…”

“It is my understanding the leader is on his way down. I have a unanimous consent request that I would like to offer. I know that he wants to say a word. I will preliminary make some comments. When he gets here, out of respect for his time, I will ask that unanimous consent request. Let me move on by saying that the President gave a speech a week ago. We have a hearing today in the Foreign Relations Committee. Secretary Kerry and others will assess our strategy in Iraq and Syria related to ISIL. I just want to say these obviously are very important decisions. One of the pieces of this strategy is that instead of the President coming and asking for an authorization for the use of military force--which, in my opinion, is the sound judgment, to come and ask us for that support so the American people are behind this effort, by virtue of the House and Senate taking that up. They are not going to do that. Instead they are asking for the authority to do a very, very small piece of that, which is to train and equip some members of the moderate, vetted Syrian opposition and to do so in the country of Saudi Arabia. So they are asking for an authorization to do that overtly. It is something about which many people have questions. It is something that for many years, for some time, I have supported and actually been disappointed that the administration has left hanging the people of Syria whom we encourage now to take on Assad.…”