[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5931-S5932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TURKEY AND SYRIA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on another matter, I opposed 
President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria so I am 
encouraged by press reports that his administration is considering 
retaining a military presence in that country to keep the pressure on 
ISIS.
  Since September 11, our Nation has learned several key lessons about 
the fight against radical Islamic terrorism.
  The terrorist threat cannot be wished away. The terrorists mean us 
harm, and we cannot allow them to establish safe havens and solidify 
their networks. When they do, the bloodshed ends up right here on our 
shores.
  American leadership is essential. We have seen our partners and 
allies step up and take on important roles. In fact, as we speak, 
France is playing a leading role in the African Sahel, but just about 
every place President Obama tried to ``lead from behind'' provides 
tragic reminders that there are

[[Page S5932]]

certain kinds of leadership only America can contribute.
  Fortunately, we are not in this alone. The huge progress we have won 
in recent years against ISIS and the Taliban has come by partnering 
with local forces, with support from a broad international coalition. 
America has only provided limited specialized capabilities to reinforce 
the local partners that do the heaviest lifting. This approach is 
sustainable.
  Unfortunately, we know exactly what happens when America forgets 
these lessons and simply decides we are tired of sustaining the fight. 
Abandoning Afghanistan in the 1990s helped create the conditions for 
al-Qaida's ability to grow and plan the September 11 attacks from a 
safe haven far from our shores. President Obama's retreat from Iraq 
allowed ISIS to rise from the still-warm ashes of al-Qaida in Iraq.
  If not arrested, withdrawing from Syria will invite more of the chaos 
that breeds terrorism and creates a vacuum our adversaries will 
certainly fill.
  It will invite the brutal Assad regime to reassert its oppressive 
control over northeastern Syria, repressing Sunni Arab communities and 
creating the same conditions that led to ISIS's growth in the first 
place.
  Russia will gain more leverage to amass power and influence 
throughout the Middle East, project power into the Mediterranean, and 
even promote its interests in Africa.
  Iran-backed forces could have access to a strategic corridor that 
runs all the way from Tehran to the very doorstep of Israel.
  So where do we go from here? Many of us in the Senate were ahead of 
the game on the need to reaffirm American global leadership in the 
ongoing fight against radical terror. At the beginning of this year, a 
bipartisan supermajority of Senators warned about exactly this course 
of events. The McConnell amendment to S. 1 earned 70 votes back in 
February. We specifically warned against a precipitous withdrawal from 
either Afghanistan or Syria and noted the need for an American 
presence. Congress should affirm--actually, reaffirm--the same truths 
today, and we should do so strongly.
  Unfortunately, the resolution crafted by House Democrats is simply 
not sufficient. It is not so much wrong as it is badly insufficient. It 
focuses solely on the Kurds, ignoring the critical Sunni-Arab community 
that suffered under both Assad's regime and ISIS and vulnerable 
minority communities like the Christian Arabs of Syria. The House was 
silent on the key matter of maintaining an actual physical U.S. 
military presence in Syria.
  Perhaps the goal was to paper over disagreements within the 
Democratic Party. After all, our colleague, the senior Senator from 
Massachusetts, recently told a national television audience--this is 
the senior Senator from Massachusetts--``I think that we ought to get 
out of the Middle East.'' ``I think we ought to get out of the Middle 
East,'' said the senior Senator from Massachusetts, and almost all of 
our Democratic colleagues currently running for President refused to 
sign on to the McConnell amendment that earned 70 votes earlier this 
year.
  We can't afford to dance around the critical question of a U.S. 
presence in Syria and the Middle East for the sake of Democratic 
Presidential primary politics. The Senate needs to speak up. We cannot 
effectively support our partners on the ground without a military 
presence. Senators who thought we should withdraw from Syria and 
Afghanistan in February do not get to criticize President Trump for 
withdrawing from Syria today unless they go on the record, admit they 
changed their minds, and say it is too dangerous to quit.
  So, today, along with Chairman Inhofe, Chairman Risch, Chairman Burr, 
and Senator Graham, I am introducing a stronger resolution that 
acknowledges hard truths and focuses on our strategic interests in the 
Middle East.
  Our resolution acknowledges the vital role our Kurdish and Arab 
Syrian partners have played in rooting out and destroying the ISIS 
caliphate. It condemns Turkey's decision to escalate hostilities in 
Syria, warns against the abandonment of our allies and partners in 
Syria, and urges President Trump to rethink his invitation for 
President Erdogan to visit the White House.
  It also acknowledges Turkey's legitimate national security concerns 
emanating from the conflict in Syria and the significant risks to the 
United States if such a strategically consequential ally were to fall 
further into Moscow's orbit. It recognizes the grave consequences of 
U.S. withdrawal: the rising influence of Russia, Iran, and the Assad 
regime and the escape of more than 100 ISIS-affiliated fighters 
detained in the region.
  We specifically urge the President to end--end the drawdown, 
something that, fortunately, appears to be underway. We urge a 
reengagement with our partners in this region. We highlight the need 
for international diplomatic efforts to end the underlying civil wars 
in Syria and Afghanistan on terms that address the conditions that have 
allowed al-Qaida and ISIS to thrive. We cannot repeat this mistake in 
Afghanistan.
  I am aware there is some appetite on both sides of the aisle to 
quickly reach for the toolbox of sanctions. I myself played a critical 
role in creating sanction regimes in the past, but I caution us against 
developing a reflex to use sanctions as our tool of first, last, and 
only resort in implementing our foreign policy. Sanctions may play an 
important role in this process, and I am open to the Senate considering 
them, but we need to think extremely carefully before we employ the 
same tools against a democratic NATO ally that we would against the 
worst rogue state.
  Do we know what political impacts such sanctions will have inside 
Turkey? Will they weaken President Erdogan or rally the country to his 
cause? Do we know the impact sanctions will have on U.S. companies or 
on the economies of our closest allies that have deeply integrated 
their economies with Turkey?
  If we are going to use sanctions against a democratic ally, we are 
going to have to be careful. We are going to have to be smart. We are 
going to have to be thoughtful and deliberate. We don't want to further 
drive a NATO ally into the arms of the Russians.
  Serious conversations about the use of sanctions must involve our 
colleagues on the Foreign Relations, Banking, and Finance Committees to 
ensure that this tool is used correctly.
  The most important thing the Senate can do right now is speak clearly 
and reaffirm the core principles that unite most of us, Republicans and 
Democrats, about the proper role for American leadership in Syria, in 
the Middle East, and, for that matter, in the world.
  We hope the damage in Syria can be undone, but perhaps, even more 
importantly, we absolutely must take steps so the same mistakes--the 
same mistakes are not repeated in Iraq or Afghanistan.
  I feel confident that my resolution is a strong and sorely needed 
step. I feel confident my colleagues will agree, and I urge them to 
join me.

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