Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Arizona for working so closely. This does not have to be a partisan issue. In fact, it should not be a partisan issue. My sense is that in this Congress, in both Houses, 80-plus percent of the Members believe strongly that the United States should be engaged in military action under some circumstances against this horrible threat of ISIL. Yet, despite that overwhelming consensus and despite the clear constitutional command in article I that we should not be at war without a vote of Congress, there has been a strange conspiracy of silence about this in the legislative branch for the last 16 months. The Senator from Arizona and I introduced a resolution in January to authorize military force, building upon previous efforts in the Foreign Relations Committee, the President's submitted authorization. We did it knowing that it is not perfect, knowing that not everyone would agree with every word, but we did it to show that we can be bipartisan and stand up against a threat such as ISIL. As the Senator did, let's review what has happened since August 8, 2014. The President on that day started airstrikes against ISIL and said he was doing it for two reasons: first, to protect American personnel who were jeopardized at a consulate in Erbil, and second, to provide humanitarian support for members of a minority religious sect, the Yazidis, who were basically being hemmed in by ISIL in Sinjar in northern Iraq. Those were the two reasons.…”