Turkey and Syria

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on an entirely different matter, I was encouraged to see yesterday's display of bipartisan concern in the House of Representatives for sustaining America's global leadership and, specifically, over the damaging impact of hastily withdrawing that leadership from Syria.

Back in January, I led a forward-looking debate here in the Senate on these very issues. I sponsored an amendment to S. 1 that earned the support of a bipartisan supermajority--70 Senators. We went on the record as opposing a premature exit from Syria or Afghanistan and emphasized the need for sustained American leadership in the fight against terrorism.

I was disappointed when a number of leading Democrats, including my counterpart, the Democratic leader, and most of our colleagues who are running for President, voted against this bipartisan consensus, but, overall, a huge majority of the Senate spoke up strongly.

I know many of us are keen on engaging in these important issues further in light of recent events. As the Senate debates our Middle East policy and contemplates what action to take, I believe it is important that we make a strong, forward-looking, strategic statement.

For that reason, my preference would be for something even stronger than the resolution the House passed yesterday, which has some serious weaknesses. It is so narrowly drafted that it fails to address the plight of imperiled Sunni Arab and minority Christian communities in Syria. It is backward-looking, and it is curiously silent on the issue of whether to actually sustain a U.S. military presence in Syria, perhaps to spare the Democrats from having to go on the record on this key question.

So my first preference is for something stronger than the House resolution. I look forward to continuing to engage with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we chart the right course, and I expect many of us will have much more to say on the subject very soon.

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