I rise today to invoke the War Powers Act the War Powers Act requires that upon a request from a member of the Senate or a member of Congress that there will be a vote on whether or not troops should be uh put into Harm's Way or into a conflict without the approval of this body our founding fathers felt very clearly on this that we should not go to war without a vote of the legislature they wanted to make sure that the executive or the president was Pro prohibited from going to war without the authority of the legislature we've drifted away from that really hasn't been a valid declaration of war since World War II we have at times taken votes to authorize the use of military force they call them an aumf we did when we went into the Iraq War so we did the Voting properly it was still a disastrous mistake to go there but we never have voted on being in Syria we never have voted on having troops in the middle of the the Syrian Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of people have died millions of people have been displaced and we owe it to the soldiers that are in Syria the US soldiers the young men and women in Syria to have a debate and have a vote now the Senate doesn't want to do this they're only doing this under duress because I forcing them to vote on this issue I have the power because it's called a privilege vote they can't deny me this Vote or this debate this will put the Senate on record are you for having troops in Syria if so why what are they doing in Syria I fear that they are merely a tripwire to a greater war or to a tragedy should a terrorist attack occur they have become the target for the Iranian proxies will we ever learn as the fire of War spreads across the Middle East the Biden Administration sends aircraft carriers strike groups into the region without a debate of Congress about whether the United States should be further me in these regions conflicts will there be a debate at all for the past two decades the wisdom of Washington foreign policy the establishment has embroiled our country in one war after another impervious to the catastrophic consequences resulting from this adventurism some 7,000 US service members lost their lives in post 911 conflicts tens of thousands more live with missing limbs burn scull cars or are confined to wheelchairs to say nothing of the mental wounds of War more than 30,000 veterans committed suicide since Washington's misguided project to re remake the Middle East while our soldiers carried out their missions with honor the Washington establishment has consistently failed them both Democrat and Republican commanders and chief repeatedly have ordered our troops into ill-advised conflict s with no vital National interest and no possibility of Victory Syria is but one example in 2014 the Obama Administration entangled the United States and yet another endless war in the Middle East without Congressional authorization without a definition of Victory and without an exit strategy operation inherent resolve was ostensibly intended to destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Isis an abhorent terrorist organization and was only that was only able to thrive because of the chaos created by the Iraqi War by Bush's foolish invasion of Iraq the us-led Coalition carried out a significant air campaign against Isis targets conducting more than 11,000 air strikes in Syria alone but of course our intervention didn't stop there President Obama unilaterally deployed boots on the ground ground sending 300 Special Forces into Syria my comments at the time were who goes to war with 300 people who sends 300 soldiers to a battle of thousands and thousands of troops it was a terrible military strategy and still is by the end of 2017 the Pentagon revealed that we had in fact 2,000 American troops stationed on the ground in Syria there were tens of thousands of Turkish troops there's Syrian Kurds there's a God's troops there's Russian troops and we've got a couple thousand troops sitting ducks in the middle of this chaos Congress enacted the War Powers Act in 1973 to prevent this exact type of situation at the time the nation was emerging from the national tragedy of the Vietnam war that war was never declared as such yet it cost the lives of 58,000 Americans Vietnam started with a few hundred US military advisor but subsequently escalated to a point where there were over 540,000 troops US troops in Vietnam the Calamity of Vietnam prompted Congress to resolve that the President should never again be permitted to enter the United States into a prolonged War without Congressional Authority the president doesn't have this constitutional Authority the president does not have the Constitutional authority to unilaterally declare war anywhere at any time for any reason it is the prerogative of Congress the Constitution is clear Congress must heed the lessons of the past and sees abdicating their constitutional War making power to the Executive Branch if we are going to deploy our young men and women in uniform to some far-flung corner of the planet and ask them to fight and potentially give their life for some supposed cause shouldn't we as their elected representatives at least have the courage to debate the merits of sending them there shouldn't we debate if the mission is achievable shouldn't we debate what the mission actually is what the purpose for having the troops actually is and if it is possible for them to accomplish that mission the Syrian Civil War is one of the greatest tragedies of our time for the past 12 years the Syrian people have endured unimaginable suffering that country has been torn apart bes set by conflict from within and without the Syrian Observatory for human rights estimate estimates that the War cost the lives of 600,000 people the United Nations claims that more than 6.8 million people are internally displaced and another 5.2 million people live as refugees abroad it's a disaster today some 90% of the Syrian population lives in poverty the war which began as a civil uprising of the Syrian people against the regime of Bashir Assad quickly transformed into a global catastrophe as other countries militias and terrorist groups turned Syria into their own proxy Battlefield like Vietnam Syria should serve as a powerful warning of the dangers of presidential overreach and the dangers of mission creep the American people are told that the United States is in Syria to fight Isis but we're not fighting Isis Isis is gone we're also have been there and been directly attacked by the Syrian government and pro Assad forces it's a much more complicated situation we've targeted Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard and Iranian back pries we've targeted every stripe of jihadist and militia group that we can find in the region which is lots in 2018 then CIA director Mike Pompeo admitted to the senate for for Relations Committee the United States has even killed a couple hundred Russians who were in Syria as part of the Wagner group we've also had American troops take fire from our own NATO Ally turkey and just this past September we returned the favor by shooting down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 yards of US forces it's obviously a conflict it's obviously a war and it's obviously a dangerous place to have a few hundred troops with no clear-cut Mission none of these conflicts were debated or authorized by Congress nine American Service members have been killed in Syria and not once is this body debated the merits of our troops being deployed In Harm's Way there the only reason the debate occurs today is because I'm forcing them to have the debate they would rather wash their hands of this and just say president Republican president Democrat whoever you are you take care of it we're washing our hands of this we have no responsibility but today the Senate will take responsibility those who vote against my motion will be voting to have troops in Syria and it will be their responsibility of Calamity occurs there is a bipartisan agreement that the executive branch does not have authorization for military action or at least there has been in the past in 2017 the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in an interview he's a Democrat said the president does not have authorization from Congress to use Force against the Syrian regime he should come to Congress and get the authorization for the use of military force he has to come to Congress and the American people and tell them what the game plan is how do we get a resolution this was Democrats in 2017 fast forward to Democrats today and they say no big deal we've got a Democrat President we don't want to be appear to be critical of him so even though we used to say there used to be Congressional Authority when there was a Republican president we no longer say that now we're just peachy keen with whatever happens if it was true in 2017 it's still true in 2023 Congress should either authorize a war or we should come home the Biden Administration continues to say that we're there to defeat Isis well the Isis caliphate was completely eradicated in 2019 four years later we still have 900 troops in Syria the administration claims it seeks an enduring defeat of Isis not surprisingly they don't Define what enduring means obviously enduring doesn't mean complete destruction of the Isis caliphate because the Isis caliphate no longer exists they hold no land our intelligence folks have said they don't even have the capacity to attack us much have the desire to attack us now the administ ministrations quarterly combined State and defense department Inspector General reports states that the majority of Isis branches lack likely lack the intent or capability to have direct attacks on the US Homeland the only way they can get at us is if we're there so Isis hasn't controlled territory in for four years they lack the capability and intent to attack the US and those remaining members of Isis there are indeed still radically extremist they're surrounded by numerous State and non-state actors that also seek to eradicate him between the Turks the Syrian Kurds the Syrian government none of them are happy to have Isis there if it should try to arise again it seems to me though that our 900 troops have no viable mission in Syria that they're sitting ducks they're a tripwire to a larger war and without a clear-cut mission I don't think they can adequately defend themselves yet they remain in Syria and they remain vulnerable to attack by other groups our troops in Syria regularly come under attack not from Isis but from Iranian back militias since Joe Biden took office Iranian backed proxies have attacked US forces in Syria and Iraq more than 160 times they attack us because we are in close proximity to them and they couldn't attack us frankly if we weren't there these attacks have accelerated following in hamas's monstrous October 7th attack on Israel since October 17th the US troops have been attacked at least 76 times 40 times in Syria and 36 times in Iraq according to the Pentagon a total of 60 US military were injured in these attacks of those at least 32 were at the at at the Alan Garrison in Southeastern Syria where our soldiers suffered various injuries including traumatic brain injuries the US responded with a series of strikes on facilities used by the Iranian revolutionary guard and its proxies in Syria and Iraq during his time in office President Biden has carried out strikes on Iranian proxies on at least eight separate occasions each time the White House claimed that the strikes were necessary to deter further attacks how many times do our troops need to be attacked for the administration to realize that we're not deterring anyone does anyone believe the ninth air strike will do the difference or do the trick we are actually a Target we are a tripwire we are a place they can actually reach by being there with no clear-cut mission in 2019 Joe Biden as presidential candidate compromised to end the forever wars in the Middle East saying staying entrenched in unwinable conflicts only drains our capacity to lead on other issues that require our attention I wish he still had the same belief 900 troops sitting in the middle of the Syrian desert does not Advance us interest or provide deterrence in fact their presence does the exact opposite their presence invites the Iranian proxies to be able to reach them with attacks this is the only way these groups can strike at the United States it's the only way they can get attention they kill each other no one seems to pay attention if they kill Americans they pay attention so why would we plop Americans down in the desert within a few dozen miles of these folks and allow them to be attacked we actively are providing Iran leverage to direct proxies to attack US forces this is a sort of strategic genius so-called genius that the Washington establishment parades around as prudent foreign policy our troops presence also risks getting us dragged into a wider Regional War imagine if these recent attacks resulted in the deaths of 60 of our service members not injuries but deaths how would the Biden Administration read react to that history is replete with major Wars breaking out for Less President Biden would do well to channel the wisdom of President Ronald Reagan in 1984 Ronald Reagan withdrew US troops from Lebanon following the Beirut Marine Corps Barracks bombing that killed 241 US military personnel remarking on the decision in his autobiography Reagan wrote in the weeks after the bombing I believe that the last thing we should do was to turn tail and leave yet the irrationality of the Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there if there would be some rethinking of policy before aen die we would have been a lot better off if that policy had changed more of a neutral position that policy had become more of a neutral position and neutrality those 241 Marines might still be alive President Reagan made the right decision in 1984 and we now have a chance to make the right decision in 2023 without any more American Service members being injured or killed the American people have had enough of endless wars in the Middle East the American people have had enough of the unip party the demop puican party directing their sons and daughters to fight and risk their lives in these interessing conflicts when the United States is not directly threatened and no vital us interest is at stake my War Powers Resolution that I put forward today offers the American people an opportunity to see how clearly their elected Senators view our unconstitutional unnecessary and dangerous presence in Syria this vote makes it POS possible for senators makes it impossible for senators to avoid voting or stating their opinion on having troops in Syria today's vote essentially puts every Senator on record as being either for or against having US troops in Syria I urge all my colleagues to muster the courage to reclaim their constitutional responsibilities by voting to remove US troops in Syria let's finally bring our troops home with that I move to discharge Senate joint resolution 51 from the committee on Foreign Relations motion is pended
