[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7893-S7896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 SYRIA

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am in distress to be on the floor of 
the Senate today with my colleague, Senator Graham, to express our deep 
and profound disappointment in President Trump's decision to withdraw 
U.S. troops from northeast Syria.
  We had the opportunity to visit Syria this summer, and we saw what a 
difference our troops had made there in the fight against ISIS in 
stabilizing Syria along the northern Turkish border. We saw the 
response from the Syrians we talked to, both the Kurds and Arabs, as we 
drove along the road. We saw children and people in the area flashing a 
victory sign at our troops, and you can see from this map the land that 
is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, our partners in Syria, 
so this is the United States and Syrian Democratic Forces.
  We have a significant piece of Syria that is now peaceful and 
stabilized and ISIS has been thrown out of that part of Syria, but the 
President's decision--which was announced by a tweet--is dangerous, 
premature, and wholly inconsistent with the facts on the ground in 
Syria and our own military's advice.
  I was listening to Senator Rubio earlier today talking about what is 
the plan? What is the plan if we withdraw? Well, I will tell you what 
the plan is. There is no plan. There is no follow-on to what we are 
going to do if we withdraw from Syria. What we know is, the work of our 
combined joint task force, Operation Inherent Resolve, and its partner 
forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces, is truly remarkable. Again, we 
can see it. We can see it in this brown section of the country where we 
have control and there is peace and stability.
  Senator Graham and I, when we visited this summer, we went to Manbij, 
which was controlled by ISIS for 3 years. We walked through the market 
in Manbij without any body armor, with no guards. We talked to people 
in that community about what life was like under ISIS.
  I talked to one woman who told me she did not go out of her house the 
entire time ISIS controlled Manbij, for 3 years. She went out of her 
house once to visit the doctor.

[[Page S7894]]

  We saw women strolling through the market. We saw children playing. 
We saw people who were happy to be back in their own communities. They 
said to us: Please stay. We are worried about what will happen if the 
Americans leave Manbij.
  We also flew over Kobane, right here on the Turkish border. I 
remember all of the TV coverage of the fight for Kobane and what it 
looked like.
  We could see it was being rebuilt, not with money from the United 
States but with money from the region. We could see all the building 
going on. We flew over a center where they were holding some of the 
most dangerous foreign fighters who had been captured in the fight 
against ISIS, being held right here in Kobane. Then we went down to Ayn 
Issa, where we saw, directly, the difference certain forces had made in 
helping to guard our outposts where our troops were stationed. We saw 
detention facilities where they were holding, again, fighters from 
Syria who had fought for ISIS.
  We then went over to Al-Hasakah where we saw a prison that was being 
built to hold the most dangerous of the foreign fighters. Those foreign 
fighters who--we don't know what will happen if we withdraw our troops. 
There will be nobody there to support the Syrian Democratic Forces that 
are holding hundreds of those fighters. What happens? Do they get 
released?
  Do they come back to the United States and to Europe where they can 
engineer terrorist attacks? Do they go back into the villages and 
restart another terrorist group? There is no--we don't know what is 
going to happen there because there is no follow-on plan.
  Again, we heard from people everywhere we went how important it was 
to have American troops stationed in Syria--about 2,000 American troops 
who have made such a huge difference there. They serve a vital shield 
against ISIS cells that are still operating in Northeast Syria. While 
the President claims that the threat of ISIS within Syria has 
dissipated, the conditions on the ground paint a very different 
picture. So working with our partners we have achieved gains against 
ISIS because we have partnered with the Syrian Democratic Forces that 
are partly Kurd and partly Arab. If those Syrian Democratic Forces lose 
the support of the United States, we run the risk of a resurgence of 
ISIS and the possible capitulation or all-out destruction of Kurdish 
resistance in the region.
  What does that mean? That means those ISIS elements are emboldened. 
They may go underground, but they may reemerge. If we don't remember 
history, we are destined to repeat it. That is what happened in Iraq. 
We left al-Qaida, moved to Syria, and they reemerged as an even bigger 
threat. If we leave, it is not at all clear what is going to happen.
  These are hard-fought gains that are critical to ensuring that we win 
the fight against terrorism in the Middle East. If we leave, we are 
going to cede influence in that region to Russia, to Iran, to Assad. In 
fact, just moments after this decision was announced this morning, we 
heard the chair of Russia's State Duma, the chair of the Defense 
Committee, Vladimir Shamanov said: ``U.S. plans in Syria had failed,'' 
and he added that we, the United States, had decided to make this 
knight's move in order to avoid a ``shameful end.''
  Make no mistake. They are celebrating in Moscow tonight after the 
President's announcement, just like they are celebrating in Tehran 
tonight because of the President's announcement because we are going to 
leave the field in Syria to those countries that are aggressors against 
the United States.
  I urge President Trump to listen to his military and diplomatic 
advisers before he goes any further on this shortsighted decision.
  It is important to understand that U.S. leadership is essential to 
completely defeating ISIS and to bringing an end to the violence in 
Syria. It is also important to reassure our allies that America keeps 
its word; that when partnering with us, we are there to support you. If 
we leave now, what does that say to anybody else in the future who may 
want to partner with the United States on any conflict? It says: You 
can't count on the United States because we may just pull out on you 
tomorrow if the President suddenly thinks it is in his interests--not 
in the interests of the United States but in his interest to withdraw.
  This is a reckless decision, and it is undoubtedly going to have 
consequences for years to come for our military and for our ability to 
partner with others internationally. The only ones who are going to 
benefit from this decision are our enemies.
  So I am pleased to partner with Senator Graham on a resolution that 
would express the sense of the Senate that we should not be withdrawing 
our troops from Syria, that there is too much at stake here for us to 
take this reckless action and send the wrong message to our partners in 
the rest of the world.
  I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Graham, and we will do 
everything we can to urge the President to reverse this reckless 
decision.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. GRAHAM. I thank my colleague from New Hampshire.
  Let me ask the question, when we went to Syria and Iraq together, did 
anyone in the military suggest to you that withdrawing in the 
foreseeable future was a good idea?
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Absolutely not. In fact, they talked about how pleased 
they were with the gains we had made, with the partnership, with the 
SDF, with what they were seeing in terms of stabilizing those 
communities, people coming back to their homes, rebuilding, and how 
important it was for us to stay there.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Did they also not say that the Syrian Democratic Forces 
were some of the best allies we had since 9/11?
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Without a doubt, and we saw that firsthand, as you 
remember. When we saw them guarding our outposts, when we saw them in 
the communities, when we saw them in the detention facilities, trying 
to abide by international standards with respect to the foreign 
fighters they were guarding, it was very impressive.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Did anyone suggest to you that the war against ISIS in 
Syria was over and had been won?
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Not at all. In fact, if you look at this map, you can 
see this orange color. That is one of the pockets that remains of ISIS. 
Right here. We have not yet eradicated ISIS, and that does not account 
for some of the cells that exist throughout this area.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Do you remember being told that thousands of ISIS 
fighters had gone back into the fabric of Syria and that they will 
reemerge under the right conditions?
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Absolutely, and it is what we saw in Iraq.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Well, I just want to state that this has been a long 
struggle. Most Americans, all things being equal, would like to get all 
of our troops home.
  The Middle East is a very complicated place. I share the President's 
desire to withdraw our forces when it makes sense. As to the public at 
large, I want to stress that having been in the military for quite a 
while, I am very aware of the sacrifices required to go overseas and 
serve in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. I have come to conclude that a 
presence over there is still necessary to keep us safe here.
  There is a division in this body about whether we should have a wall 
as part of border security. I think we need a wall as part of border 
security to secure our southern border. Every Democrat is for border 
security; we just maybe have a different way of doing it.
  What I tried to tell the President, with apparently very little 
effect, is that you are right to want to secure our border because 
drugs are coming across, criminals are coming across, and illegal 
immigration is a problem in the country, and securing the border is 
part of the solution, but I told him I don't know of any way to defend 
the Nation from radical Islam by building a wall.
  There is no wall we can build between us and the forces of radical 
Islam that reside in Africa and the Mideast--places like Syria and 
Iraq. I tried to convey to him that our deployed forces, in partnership 
with others, is a virtual wall. It is the best hope we have of stopping 
another 9/11, protecting ourselves and our allies; that a forward 
deployed presence gives us eyes and ears on the ground, working with 
others to protect the homeland

[[Page S7895]]

and to destroy over time the scourge called radical Islam.
  The partnership between us and the Syrian forces, which has been 
mostly Kurds, has been very successful.
  I want to compliment the Senator from New Hampshire for taking the 
floor and expressing a resolve to maintain a fairly small military 
footprint in Syria and having connected to that our own national 
security interests. Maybe the good news--if there is any from today--is 
that Democrats and Republicans, after 16 or 17 years of looking at this 
war, are beginning to come together--that troops are necessary 
sometimes in some places where military action alone will not win the 
war but is certainly necessary, and that partners are a good thing.
  I have come to conclude that when it comes to the war on terrorism, I 
would rather fight it in the enemy's backyard than ours. I would rather 
have partners than do it alone. I think the decision today by the 
President--and I think it was his alone--is disastrous to our own 
national security and those 2,200 whom Senator Shaheen talked about and 
the great job they have done; that by withdrawing them, we have 
basically taken a part of the wall down and have now an open-border 
policy when it comes to ISIS in Syria; that the consequence of this 
decision makes it far more likely that there will be a corridor from 
Tehran into Lebanon and to Hezbollah. Our presence there made it more 
difficult to the Iranians.
  Who would be celebrating this decision? Everybody whom we hate likes 
what is going on. The Russians are up to no good all over the world. 
Their statement says everything you need to know about this decision. 
The only reason they are not dancing in Tehran and ISIS camps is they 
just don't believe in dancing. They are as happy as they will ever be--
and they are not into being happy.
  To the President, you won the election. You beat me and many others. 
You have the right to make this decision, but the Congress has the duty 
to hold you accountable. I wish we had done more of this in a 
bipartisan fashion when President Obama withdrew from Iraq. If I am 
nothing, I am consistent. I want this President to be successful. I 
will help him at every turn.
  Generally speaking, I am very pleased with his domestic policy and 
most of the time his foreign policy. I am shocked by this. I think this 
is a decision that is against sound military advice. I intend to do our 
part as a Congress to make sure that history records how this decision 
was made.
  There is a clear record that President Obama's decision to withdraw 
from Iraq and not leave a residual force proved to be wrong and was 
against military advice at that time. I have yet to find one person in 
the administration of the national security team who thinks this 
decision was a good decision. This was made against sound military 
advice.
  I don't think ``General Trump'' is going to be any better than 
``General Obama.'' I don't think ``General Graham'' is the answer to 
this problem. I think those who are in the fight, who have been doing 
it for 17 years--the national security team the President has--are the 
experts. Mr. President, if you don't like them or trust them, fire 
them. What you have done, in my view, is set us back.
  The chatter out there is pretty disturbing. I talked with General 
Mattis today. It is pretty clear that the ripple effect of this is 
going to be as bad as we think it will be.
  To our Kurdish partners, I am sorry. I don't support this decision, 
and I am hoping it will change.
  President Trump, leadership is about adjusting and being able to 
change your mind when circumstances warrant it. I am not saying we need 
to be in Syria forever. I am saying now is not the time to leave, and 
Senator Shaheen made a very compelling case about conditions on the 
ground.
  The winners are Russia, Iran, ISIS, and Assad. The losers are the 
Kurdish people, who came to our aid when almost nobody would. The Arabs 
who are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces are big-time losers. I can 
only imagine what it is like tonight in Manbij.
  I saw in the eyes of the people that we were partnered with, hope and 
trust: America is here. America is good. Maybe our suffering is over.
  When I look at the flag and the soldiers who wear it on their sleeve, 
we are not a perfect country, but we are a damn good country. What 
makes us a good people is that we do the hard things.
  We are not the policemen of the world. I understand that, but we are 
the glue that holds this world together. We have betrayed our Kurdish 
allies if this decision stands. If it is reversed, I will be the first 
one to applaud the President because that is true leadership. To those 
who say that we have defeated ISIS in Syria, that is an inaccurate 
statement. They have been hurt. They have been degraded.
  I give the President all the credit in the world for changing our 
policies regarding the fight against ISIS, but I will not buy into the 
narrative that they have been defeated in Syria and Iraq.
  I just got back from Afghanistan and haven't slept in 2 days. I 
really appreciate the chance to visit our troops and talk to our 
generals, but, sure as hell, ISIS is not defeated in Afghanistan. So to 
say they are defeated is an overstatement, and it is fake news. It is 
not true. They have been severely damaged, but they will come back 
unless we are there to stop it.
  I don't intend to outsource our national security to any foreign 
power. This idea that Turkey is going to be the good guy, that Turkey 
is going to come into Syria and protect us against the rise of ISIS, is 
just crazy. What Turkey is going to do is unleash holy hell on the 
Kurds. In the eyes of Turkey, they are more of a threat than ISIS.
  This decision is a disaster on multiple fronts, and I hope it can be 
changed. There is a resolution urging the President to make a 
withdrawal decision based on conditions on the ground after a vigorous 
interagency process.
  Mr. President, I, too, want our troops to come home, but I don't want 
to tell the American people that we are secure when I don't believe we 
are. And what is odd is that the troops who are actually doing the 
fighting believe in this more than anybody. They were proud to be 
partners with the Kurds. Most of them had been to Iraq and Afghanistan 
numerous times and were heartbroken when we left Iraq and all of the 
gains lost. Many of them went back to the fight to take it yet again.
  So to the body who loves the troops, that is good. The American 
people respect our troops. If you truly love them, let them win. They 
are not asking to come home. They do this voluntarily. They understand 
why they are there. They understand the benefits of being there.
  I know it must be tough as Commander in Chief to write a letter to 
the family of the fallen. I know it is a hard decision for any 
President to make to put people in harm's way, but I just want the 
President to understand that the troops who do this embrace their 
mission and believe they are defending their Nation and protecting 
their families. They accept the risk. If we do follow through with this 
withdrawal, I am afraid Americans all over the world and here at home 
are going to be more at risk, not less.
  I can't imagine winning this war without allies. If this decision 
stands, I can't imagine being able to sign up many people in the future 
to serve with us to defeat enemies that threaten us after today. What 
hurts so much is to have been on the ground--to see it get bad, to see 
it get better--and to look into the eyes of the people who are willing 
to fight with us and see the hope they have that we are finally here.
  It hurts so much to know that everybody that we talked to in Manbij--
many of them--are going to get killed. They did the honorable thing to 
come to our aid, to help destroy a common enemy of mankind, ISIS. We 
have been dishonorable. This is a stain on the honor of the United 
States.
  I hope and pray the President will reconsider this. I know that every 
National Security Advisor understands that the time is not right to 
withdraw, that the situation described by Senator Shaheen as to what 
will happen is more likely than not.
  If he does not decide to reconsider, then it will be incumbent upon 
the Congress to speak and hold him accountable. If you are concerned 
about today's decision as a Member of the Senate, please join this 
resolution. It is

[[Page S7896]]

very evenly worded. We all want the troops to come home, but we want to 
make sure they come home with honor and that the conditions warrant 
them leaving.
  Right now, we are withdrawing in a dishonorable fashion. We are 
putting our own Nation more at risk. Just as sure as I am on the floor 
of the Senate, ISIS will reemerge, and all those who helped us are 
going to be in jeopardy. It will be harder to get allies in the future. 
As for these 700 prisoners who were captured on the battlefield, we 
will hear from them again.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Will my colleague yield for a question?
  Mr. GRAHAM. Yes.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. You talk about those 700 prisoners. A number of them 
are foreign fighters. A number of them are ISIS fighters from Syria and 
Iraq. What do you think will happen to those detainees who are being 
held by the Syrian Democratic Forces if we withdraw and there is no 
support for what they are doing?
  Mr. GRAHAM. One of two things will happen. No. 1, the Syrian 
Democratic Forces had a very ethical view of treating prisoners. I was 
astonished at the compliance with law and their desire to take their 
enemies and treat them better than they were treated. The jail was, 
quite frankly, very impressive.
  Here is what is going to happen. They are going to shoot them or they 
are going to get out. If Assad takes over before Turkey gets there, 
they will kill everybody in the jail. So what does it matter if a bunch 
of ISIS fighters get killed? It is about us. Once they are captured, it 
matters how we treat them. I want them tried. I want them held off the 
battlefield. We are not executioners. But the most likely scenario is 
that ISIS reemerges and they break out.
  I promise the President this--and I told President Obama the same 
thing--if you will stick with it and listen to the generals, no matter 
whether it hurts me or not, we will be with you. We will give you the 
political support a Republican can give a Democrat to see this thing 
through. I promise the President one thing: I will help you where I 
can, but I am going to hold you accountable. I am going to do 
everything in my power--if you don't change this decision--to make sure 
you own it, so the next President will learn from your mistakes.
  I yield.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Texas is recognized.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I have a number of consent requests and 
wrapup as we make our way toward the conclusion of the 115th Congress.

                          ____________________