[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13303-13304]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 SYRIA

  (Mr. VARGAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VARGAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on Syria.
  The real issue is that the Assad regime gassed more than 426 children 
and their parents. Those who perished died a horrific, merciless, and 
completely unnecessary death. We must come together and act with the 
President to create a credible threat of force and, thereby, deter the 
future use of chemical weapons.
  Now, I am somewhat optimistic that, as recently reported, Syria is 
willing to place its chemical weapons under international control. This 
solution could possibly bring a peaceful resolution. But we must 
remember that Iran is also watching. The Ayatollah is looking to see if 
the U.S. is willing to stand up against those who gas their own people. 
Will they really stand up then against the plan to build nuclear 
weapons?

[[Page 13304]]

  We need to stand with the President and send a message to the world 
that we mean what we say: that we won't allow Assad to keep gassing his 
own people and that we won't allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

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