Date: 2014-09-17
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker. today. we had a hearing in Homeland Security with the Secretary of Homeland Security. There is no doubt that what we are doing today is to protect the homeland. What Americans say is they want the homeland protected. They want no more of their journalists beheaded by this heinous group. Mr. Speaker. I close by simply saying we organized this Nation to form a more perfect Union. The Constitution says that Congress must declare war even as the President indicates that he has the authority under article II. I believe if Congress is to do its job. we must have another debate on the authorization for military forces which we do not approve. but this is responding to the viciousness of ISIL. building up those regional forces. and making a difference. I ask my colleagues: Can we do nothing? I think not. We must rise in support of this resolution today. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the amendment offered by the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee to H. Res. 124. the resolution making continuing appropriations for Fiscal Year 2015. Specifically. the "McKeon Amendment": 1. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense. in coordination with the Secretary of State. to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition and other appropriately vetted Syrian groups or individuals. 2. Purports to strengthen congressional oversight by requiring detailed reports. including progress reports. on the plan. vetting process. and procedures for monitoring unauthorized enduse of provided training and equipment. 3. Require the President to report on how this authority fits within a larger regional strategy. The McKeon Amendment does not authorize additional funds. but it would allow the Department of Defense (DOD) to submit a reprogramming request to Congress should the President request Defense Department funds to execute this authority and permit the Secretary of Defense to accept foreign contributions. Finally. the McKeon Amendment states that nothing in it is to be construed to constitute a specific statutory authorization for the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations wherein hostilities are clearly indicated by the circumstances. It is important. Mr. Speaker. to be clear about what the McKeon Amendment does and does not do. The amendment does not authorize the use of military force or deployment of United States combat forces to Syria. Let me be clear: I am not voting today to authorize the use of military force or to put American combat boots on the ground. Let me also be clear on this point: Before American armed forces may be deployed to conduct combat operations in Syria or elsewhere in the region the President must come to the Congress and request and receive from it either a declaration of war or resolution authorizing the use of military force. This is not a political nicety but a constitutional requirement. clearly specified in Article I. Section 8. clause 11 of the Constitution. which by the way. was approved by the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 227 years ago this very day. September 17. The McKeon Amendment simply authorizes the Secretary of Defense. in consultation with the Secretary of State. to provide assistance. including training. equipment. supplies. and sustainment. to appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition and other appropriately vetted Syrian groups and individuals for the following purposes: 1. Defending the Syrian people from attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). and securing territory controlled by the Syrian opposition. 2. Protecting the United States. its friends and allies. and the Syrian people from the threats posed by terrorists in Syria. and 3. Promoting the conditions for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict in Syria. The McKeon Amendment cannot be construed as giving the Administration a blank check or carte blanche in achieving these objectives. Rather. the McKeon Amendment requires that not later than 15 days before providing assistance to a vetted group for the first time. the Administration shall provide a report to the Congressional leadership and committees of jurisdiction describing in detail the assistance to be provided and the bases for the determination that the action contemplated are consistent with the objectives stated above. Additionally. the McKeon Amendment requires that not later than 90 days after the Secretary of Defense submits the first report required by the McKeon Amendment. and every 90 days thereafter. the Secretary of Defense. in coordination with the Secretary of State. shall provide the appropriate congressional committees and leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate with a detailed progress report. In short. the McKeon Amendment only authorizes the Administration to identify. vet. and provide assistance to those opposition Syrian forces that can be relied upon to defend the Syrian people from attacks by the murderous ISIS jihadi. Mr. Speaker. there is little doubt that the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS). is a violent extremist movement. It grew out of the remnants of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Syrian civil warwhich has claimed the lives of 191.369 persons. tens of thousands at the hands of ISISand has spread its reach across the border between Iraq and Syria and is now seizing military bases and holding territory throughout the region. In response. and at the request of the Iraqi government. President Obama has sent over 1.500 military advisors into Iraq and conducted over 150 airstrikes there to break the ISIS momentum. to protect U.S. personnel and save thousands of Iraqs religious minorities. In his September 10. 2014 address to the nation. the President announced a fourpart strategic plan to degrade and defeat ISIS. The strategy outlined by the President involves the following elements: 1. a systematic campaign of airstrikes against ISIS. 2. increased military assistance and training for allied forces on the ground. 3. a regional political effort to work with allies. and 4. a humanitarian assistance to populations targeted by ISIS. Mr. Speaker. I agree with the President. Ranking Member SMITH. and Chairman MCKEON that ISIS poses a significant threat to American interests. requiring an effective response. I also believe that the President should be commended for the forceful but deliberate and steady but calm leadership he has displayed to date. But we must act in a careful. measured. balanced. and limited way to assist the Iraqi and Syrian people most directly and immediately threatened by ISIS because left unchecked. ISIS will grow to threaten the United States. ISIS presently controls about 13.000 square miles (about the size of Massachusetts). spanning territory in Iraq and Syria. and a fighting force estimated to be between 20.000 and 31.500 fighters. ISIS also commands substantial resources. including cash reserves estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and daily revenue of $3 million from largely criminal activities. Mr. Speaker. after its gains in Syria and Iraq. ISIS stands as one of the most dangerous jihadist groups. It was formed in April 2013. growing out of alQaeda in Iraq (AQI). which has since condemned and disavowed the group for its barbarity. It speaks volumes about any group that is too barbaric to be associated with alQaeda in Iraq! Unlike other rebel groups in Syria. ISIS aims to establish an Islamic emirate that straddles Syria and Iraq. Since March 2013. ISIS has seen considerable military success. beginning with its takeover of the Syrian city of Raqqathe first provincial capital to fall under rebel control. In January 2014. ISIS took control of Fallujah. the predominantly Sunni city in the western province of Anbar. It also seized large sections of the provincial capital. Ramadi. and has a presence in a number of towns near the Turkish and Syrian borders. However. it was its conquest of Mosul in June that captured the worlds attention because with the conquest of Mosul came control of oil fields in northern Iraq and Mosuls branch of Iraqs central bank. from which ISIS took hundreds of millions of dollars. The international community received a wakeup call on August 2. 2014. when ISIS fighters pushed further into northern Iraq. overwhelming lightlyarmed Kurdish Peshmerga forces that had moved into areas abandoned by the Iraqi army and seized the strategically important Mosul Dam. which supplies water and electricity to much of Iraq. Knowing ISISs reputation for unmatched brutality. tens of thousands of people fled their homes. particularly members of religious minorities. and 50.000 of them were trapped on Mount Sinjar without food or water. until their rescue was secured by the air strikes ordered by President Obama providing cover for the Kurdish forces who wrested back control of the Mosul Dam. Mr. Speaker. ISIS derives significant revenues from the oil fields it controls in eastern Syria and from the sale of antiquities it looted from historical sites. Today. ISIS is considered to be the most cashrich militant group in the world. controlling assets estimated to exceed $2 billion. ISIS has shown no restraint in dealing with civilian populations. acting with heinous violence and savagery. ISIS fighters have murdered and kidnapped civilians throughout the territory under its control. including the grisly beheadings of two American journalists. James Foley and Steven Sotloff. and British aid worker David Haines. More ominous. Mr. Speaker. is the fact many fighters recruited by ISIS have European or American passports. making it easier for them to return home. That is also why I introduced H.R. 5488No Fly Foreign Fighters Act to protect the homeland. To his great credit. President Obama has not rushed to judgment. He has been thoughtful. He has consulted with the Congress and the international allies. And the President has been adamant that the planned assistance and training to rebels fighting ISIS will not involve. or lead to. American ground forces fighting a war that must be fought by the Iraqi people and Syrian rebels. The threat posed by ISIS in Iraq presents the United States with a conundrum about what to do about ISIS in Syria. On the one hand. we do not want to strengthen the barbaric Assad regime that is opposed by Syrian rebels and opposition parties and by ISIS. On the other hand. if we provide assistance only to antiAssad opposition forces. we indirectly strengthen ISIS. The challenge is to identify. vet. and support those prodemocracy forces in opposition to both the Assad regime and ISIS. The defeat of ISIS should be prioritized over the removal of Assad. though the latter should remain a longterm U.S. objective. And U.S. assistance to opposition groups should be designed and delivered with this sequencing in mind. Finding. vetting. and equipping capable and reliable Syrian partners who are poised to fight ISIS and the Assad regime is the central strategic challenge facing the United States in countering the rise of ISIS. On June 26. and again on September 10. the Obama administration announced additional assistance to vetted moderate opposition forces that are fighting both the Assad government and ISIS and asked Congress to authorize $500 million to train and equip these fighters. But a major effort to arm. train. equip. and enable possible U.S. partners inside Syria is no easy task because potential partners are weak. causing the Obama administration to hold back additional meaningful support. But part of the reason these potential moderate alternatives to Assad and ISIS remain weak is because they do not have organized and wellcoordinated assistance. These potential partners include the Syrian National Coalition. the interim Syrian government. the Supreme Military Council. the Free Syrian Army. and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. The necessary vetting to find capable and reliable partners must be thorough. rigorous. and meticulous because we cannot afford to provide training. equipment. and materiel to opposition forces that in turn combine. or enter into a nonaggression pact. with ISIS. Mr. Speaker. now is the time for the Members of this body to be thoughtful. deliberate. and wise. This debate today is healthy and reflects and enduring strength of our democracy: open debate. deliberation. and decision. I urge all members to reflect carefully on the threat posed to the United States by ISIS and to vote their conscience on the McKeon Amendment. guided by their best judgment as to what is the best course of action to take to protect our homeland and keep our nation and its people safe. For my part. I will not vote to authorize the use of military force or to deploy American combat forces in Syria. Instead. I will vote for the McKeon Amendment.