[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 186 (Wednesday, November 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Turkey and Syria

  Mr. President, on Syria, the Defense Intelligence Agency--it is like 
the CIA, but it is for the Defense Department; it is very well 
respected and very nonpartisan and is great in many ways--released a 
new assessment yesterday that confirms, unfortunately, many of our 
worst fears. If people haven't seen this assessment, it is really 
important. I would urge people to look at it.
  What did the assessment indicate?
  President Trump's own Defense Department wrote that President Trump, 
by his precipitously withdrawing our troops from northern Syria, has 
given ISIS a lifeline.
  In the chaos that has followed Erdogan's military offensive--an 
offensive, unfortunately, that President Trump green-lit, much to the 
consternation of people on both sides of the aisle--ISIS has had room 
to rebuild. Not only did the assessment suggest that the Islamic State 
is ``postured to withstand'' the recent death of its leader, Abu Bakr 
al-Baghdadi, but it concluded that the Islamic State ``exploited the 
Turkish incursion and subsequent drawdown of U.S. troops to 
reconstitute capabilities and resources within Syria and''--my emphasis 
but their words--``strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad.''
  By President Trump's giving in to Erdogan, ISIS has been able to 
``strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad.'' Every American 
should hear that. Let me repeat. Because President Trump abruptly 
withdrew U.S. troops from northern Syria, ISIS has been able to 
strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad. That is not an 
assessment from some outside group or agency; that is the assessment of 
the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is part of the Pentagon. The 
Trump administration needs to get a handle on this situation fast.
  Despite this new damning assessment, we still have no idea what the 
President plans to do to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. President 
Trump has welcomed President Erdogan to the White House, but he hasn't 
produced a plan to defeat ISIS. This is an administration run amuck. 
This is security. This is vital to America. There is no plan about 
ISIS, but there is the greeting of Erdogan--a dictator whose desire to 
go after ISIS isn't close to ours. He would much rather go after the 
Kurds--our main protector from ISIS other than the United States 
itself.
  Meanwhile, there are now reports that Russian forces have taken 
control of the former U.S. military base in northern Syria. The 
pictures of Russia's entering that deserted base because American 
soldiers were told they had to leave by the President is not a picture 
Americans want to see. It is incredible. The President continues to 
demonstrate an uncanny ability to get steamrolled by autocrats like 
Erdogan and like Putin without getting a thing in return.
  It has been nearly 2 months since the President announced the 
withdrawal of U.S. troops, and we still don't know what comes next. We 
all know that a small band of terrorists far away is more than capable 
of inflicting great damage on our shores, and the intelligence 
assessments have now confirmed that ISIS has been able to strengthen 
its ability to do just that.
  President Trump, what is your plan to defeat ISIS and protect the 
United States?