Syria War Powers Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H. Con. Res. 21.

Now, I have been one of the most vocal proponents in this Congress on reasserting congressional authority in matters of war and peace, because the Constitution delegates to this body the decision to debate and decide when to send our men and women into harm's way.

Now, Congress after Congress has abdicated that authority to both Republican and Democratic administrations. Yes, it is time to pull it back, and it is time to reassert our authority and to have the debates that have been long overdue for many, many years. I join my bipartisan colleagues in that endeavor, because it is a right, true, and just endeavor, and we owe our constituents nothing less.

There is a good way to do it, and there is a wrong way to do it. I rise in opposition to this concurrent resolution, because it is the wrong way to do it for three reasons.

Many of us have spent the morning in the Foreign Affairs Committee rehashing the disaster of the 20 years in Afghanistan and hearing about the moral stain of our partners and allies that we have left behind in Afghanistan. I am not willing to make that mistake again, of saying that we will leave behind the Kurds and the Syrian Democratic forces and our other partners who have fought side-by-side with us in years past and again today.

Number two, the dangers that ISIS poses to the American people are well documented, and we are not prepared yet to abdicate and turn our back on that threat.

Number three, any military person knows that retrograde operations or withdrawal operations are the riskiest operations that you can conduct. Setting an arbitrary timeline on a retrograde that is not tied to defined benchmarks or operational requirements is the wrong way to do it and puts our men and women at risk.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this measure.

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