Government Funding
Floor Speech
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Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to talk for a few minutes today about America's foreign policy, I want to talk about interests, and I want to talk about values.
As you know, Congress is about to consider our foreign policy priorities in the Middle East. As we do that, I want to draw attention to some of our most vital allies in the Middle East. These allies have stood by America and we have stood by them for decades, through thick and thin. As a result, American interests in the Middle East have been protected, and their people have been protected as well. I am talking about the Syrian Kurds. I am talking about Israel. I am talking about Jordan.
In my judgment, America must now stand by the Syrian Kurds, Israel, and Jordan--all of whom have paid a heavy price for the destabilization in Syria over the past 5 years--to make sure that this fight stays won.
Once the Senate turns our attention to S. 1--and we will eventually-- I plan to offer an amendment to S. 1 that will allow the U.S military to defend the Kurds in Syria, if need be. It would give the President the authority to use the U.S. Armed Forces as he deems fit to keep our promise and to protect our allies. That is all my amendment would do. It wouldn't require anything, but it would give the President of the United States the authority to protect one of our allies in the Middle East--the Syrian Kurds--because, after all, the Kurds contributed mightily to the fight against ISIS, and we owe them. We owe them some peace of mind as we draw down our presence in the region.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces--better known as SDF--have been another set of boots on the ground in our fight against ISIS. In the words of former Secretary Mattis, Kurdish fighters ``shredded'' ISIS. We couldn't have done it without them. With the help of coalition supplies, weapons, and airstrikes, the SDF--the Syrian Kurds--have been able to recapture large parts of both northern Syria and eastern Syria from ISIS's iron grip. That is just a fact. Four years ago, there were nearly 100,000 ISIS fighters. Thanks to our Kurdish allies and others, including American blood and treasure, those numbers have now dwindled to just 5,000.
Today, ISIS has surrendered 99 percent of its territory. Let me say that again. Today, ISIS has surrendered 99 percent of its territory, including its former capital of Raqqa. To put that accomplishment in perspective, in January 2015, ISIS controlled more than 34,000 square miles of Syria and Iraq. Thirty-four thousand square miles of Syria and Iraq was ISIS-controlled territory. The world looks a lot different today. Less than 3 weeks ago, the so-called caliphate--the ISIS caliphate--withdrew from their last major urban stronghold in Syria. They are now being held to a small sliver of territory on the eastern border with Iraq, near the Euphrates River.
I think it is plain to see that the Syrian Kurds have been indispensable in our fight against the Islamic State. Today, the SDF-- the Syrian Kurds--control nearly a quarter of Syria. That land no longer belongs to ISIS. That land is being lived in peacefully by the Syrian Kurds. It doesn't belong to Russia, and it doesn't belong to Iran. It is land where the Kurds know they will be free from persecution and slaughter.
There are 30 million Kurds in the world, as the Presiding Officer well knows. They are living in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. In each country, the Syrian Kurds have been subjected to discrimination, massacres, forced relocation, and countless other human rights violations.
The Kurdish people are one of the largest, if not the largest ethnic minority in the world that doesn't have a state or a country to call its own. After World War I, when Western interests carved up the Middle East, the Kurds were left without a state, despite President Woodrow Wilson's argument that this would be--and indeed is--unfair.
The truth is that the Kurds in the world today, no matter where they are, are not completely safe anywhere. The Turkish Defense Minister made that clear just this last December when he said that when the time comes--when the time comes, the Turkish Defense Minister said, the Kurds ``will be buried in the ditches they dug. No one should doubt this.'' That is a direct quote.
Just last week, Secretary of State Pompeo said that ``ensuring that the Turks don't slaughter the Kurds [and] the protection of religious minorities there in Syria'' are ``still part of the American mission set.'' Secretary Pompeo is a wise man.
Our troops there in the region who stand beside our Kurdish friends do more than simply offer supplies and logistical support to the Kurds; they are a visible sign of our solidarity in the fight against Islamic terrorism. Without assurances of our support, the Kurds will be left to fend for themselves. Without the Kurds, we cannot be certain who will step in to fill the power vacuum in the areas of Syria that they currently control. We just cannot. We can only guess, and the answers aren't good.
The threat of U.S. military force has been a major deterrent for the reemergence of jihadists like ISIS and al-Qaida. We know that. Our presence has held back Assad, Turkey, Russia, and Iran from gaining stronger footholds in the area. If the Kurds are vulnerable to attack from Turkey or Syrian rebels, I fear they may turn to our enemies for protection. Even if the Kurds didn't, they can't fight off Turkish troops and pursue the remnants of ISIS at the same time. For America to abandon the Kurds in Syria now would compromise the security of our allies, would compromise the security of Israel and Jordan, and would risk exposing the region to more turmoil.
I think it was the late, great Ambassador George Kennan, writing, of course, during the Cold War, who said: ``If the policies and actions of the U.S. government are to be made to conform to moral standards''--not self-interest, to moral standards--``those standards are going to have to be America's own, founded on traditional American principles of justice and propriety.'' The Ambassador was correct.
As I read his words, as I have read his words, and as I have studied his words, I thought long and hard about what he meant by ``American principles of justice and propriety.'' If justice is getting what you deserve, as C.S. Lewis said, and propriety is doing what is right, as I think most of us believe, then we should give the President the authority to protect the Kurdish people. That is what my amendment would do. We have to do it because they are our friends. We also have to do it because it is the right thing to do for America's interests and for the Middle East peace process.
Once we take up the bill, I want to urge my colleagues in the Senate to consider my amendment and to help me make sure that American foreign policy continues to have that important moral component. Standing with our friends in the face of evil despots and dictators is just as important today as it was during the Cold War.
I understand President Trump's decision with respect to Syria. I understand his concern about mission creep. I understand his concern about America's failure in our efforts at nation building. I think all of the American people are frustrated with the Middle East. All of us want a prosperous America, but all of us in America want a prosperous world. And we have been disappointed time and again by totalitarian governments in the Middle East.
I don't want any of my remarks today to be construed as critical of the President's decision with respect to Syria. Frankly, I don't know whether he is right. I am still listening to both sides. I know this: American foreign policy never has been and never should be based solely on self-interest. Certainly, self-interest is part of it, but American foreign policy also has to have a moral component. Morality in this case dictates that if we withdraw from Syria, we do not allow our Kurdish allies in Syria to be butchered and gutted like a fish.
Thank you.
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