Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, the attacks in Paris were an unconscionable act of terrorism. America stands with the people of France and people of Paris, as we support those grieving and those working to deliver justice to the people involved. Make no mistake; the heinous terrorist attacks in Paris were an act of war. ISIL has barbarically killed and tortured innocent civilians, including Americans, not just in Paris but also recently in Beirut and routinely in Iraq. They operate around the globe, are well funded, well armed, and have no intention of stopping until their radical goals are realized. They continue to prey upon the innocent and manipulate the vulnerable. In some areas ISIL operates freely because of the instability created by persistent ethnic, sectarian, and religious conflicts in Iraq and Syria. But this crisis is not limited to Iraq and Syria, and the world's powers and their interests are quickly aligning in the urgent need to wipe the map clean of ISIL and its affiliates.

To be clear, there are smart ways that we can destroy this barbaric terrorist organization without entangling American troops in another endless and bloody ground war in the Middle East. America has a critical role to play in that effort, but it must be part of a larger strategy and coalition, employing a full range of military might, as well as economic and diplomatic power.

We can further engage in this fight in the following ways. First, we must relentlessly target ISIL headquarters in Raqqa and Mosul through air power and destroy ISIL's large oil infrastructure and refineries. Second, we must strangle the flow of foreign fighters on Syria's northern border. Third, we must compel Russia and other governments to reach a political end to the Syrian civil war so that we can unify and focus on fighting the Islamic State. Fourth, we need new measures to crack down on those who finance this terrorism and this extremism. Finally, it is time to drive a much harder bargain with an Iraqi leadership that still refuses to build a state that is politically inclusive and decentralized.

Defeating ISIL cannot be solely an American solution nor should American ground troops be on the frontlines. It is past time that our Arab allies began focusing their efforts, with our support, on ISIL, militarily and economically. Ultimately, local Arab ground forces are the only lasting solution to defeating ISIL because they will be the ones left to ensure peace and stability once the more immediate military operations are concluded.

Some say that we should deploy 10,000 American troops to Syria. However, we know that this strategy would require significantly more troops and would not permanently eliminate ISIL or kill their ideology. Instead, doing so may well exacerbate the conflict and further ISIL's recruitment efforts. We can say this because we have a historical reference, and that historical reference is not from some distant land or from another century.

For nearly a decade, our brave men and women in uniform were deployed in Iraq and were asked to clear and hold multiple large cities. At the peak, in 2007, nearly 170,000 Americans were deployed on the ground, providing security in communities all across Iraq. Nearly 4,500--4,494 to be exact--gave their lives. More than 32,000 were wounded.

These tragic losses happened in the very same area where ISIL now occupies a major city in Iraq, Mosul, and a major city in Syria across the border, Raqqa. The point of my bringing up the Iraq war is not to relitigate the past but to keep in mind a very important lesson--that even when deploying nearly 200,000 American men and women to stabilize one country, the strategy of clearing and holding large territory is only a bandaid. It is not the permanent solution.

This is especially true when the political leadership in these countries is unwilling to create an inclusive representative government. The calls for sending 10,000 American troops to fight ISIL and to provide security both in Iraq and Syria would mean asking our sons and daughters to remain in these countries fighting year after year for decades into the future.

We know that when American forces are placed in the heart of these regional conflicts, it will only further delay the more lasting solution of having local partners on the ground and our allies in the Persian Gulf taking responsibility for this region, economically and militarily.

Lastly, I wish to talk a little bit about the issue of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Every single Syrian refugee must be subject to the highest levels of vetting and scrutiny, including repeated biometric screenings, before ever entering the United States of America. Syria is a war zone, and we have a duty to ensure that our own homeland security is intact.

The real priority, however, should be addressing the real security gaps that currently exist under the Visa Waiver Program--something on which Democrats and Republicans agree. Currently the Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of countries that qualify--38 countries, including 31 from Europe--to travel freely and stay in the United States for up to 90 days. Individuals who have purposefully traveled to Iraq or Syria, who have joined training camps or sympathized with ISIL's cause--that is where the real risk to the homeland lies.

The victims who have suffered at the hands of ISIL are not the problem, and we should instead be working to close the loopholes that allow dangerous individuals with violent intentions to potentially enter our country today.

In the coming days, I will be calling for reforms to our Visa Waiver Program so that we can focus on the real threats to our homeland. There is a difference between terrorists and victims of terrorism. The implicit assumption that Syrian refugees--many of whom have suffered brutally at the hands of ISIL--are a threat because of their country of origin is a rejection of American values and represents giving into our worst ethnic and religious prejudices.

I am grateful that when my own father and my grandparents fled Germany in the years leading up to World War II, this country chose to see them for what they were--enthusiastic American immigrants seeking to escape the dangerous politics gripping their former nation. Had this brand of twisted anti-immigrant logic been applied to them, I can only wonder how very different my life would be today.

Let's remember that the enemy in this current scenario is ISIL, not the refugees who flee from their destruction. We simply will not have the moral standing as a nation to lead this international scenario if we ignore those who have lost everything at the hands of these barbaric terrorists.

ISIL has killed and tortured many innocent civilians and is actively plotting to do more harm. We should all agree that ISIL must be eliminated from this Earth, but let's learn from our past mistakes and set to this work in a way that is both strategic and effective.

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