[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  (Ms. GABBARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Speaker, our troops, our country, and our 
communities deserve far better than the defense bill that passed today. 
The hidden provision in the amended H.R. 3979 to authorize training and 
arming the so-called moderate Syrian rebels for the next 2 years with 
no limit on how much money can be spent has seriously polluted this 
critical piece of legislation.
  I could not in good conscience vote to support the so-called moderate 
forces who often work hand in hand with al Qaeda or ISIS and whose 
personnel and weapons often end up in the hands of those terrorists. 
This bill continues the same failed practices of undeclared war, regime 
change, and nation building that have held us mired in the Middle East 
for over a decade.

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