[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          THE FIVE MERCENARIES

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, Secretary of 
Defense Ash Carter stunned Congress and the country when he admitted 
that the administration's $500 million program to train and equip so-
called moderate Syrian rebels had resulted in the training of 60 
individuals. The original goal was to have 5,000 within the first year, 
but they only had 60.
  The information gets worse. Today, most of those 60 mercenaries have 
been killed, captured, or just gone missing.
  Mr. Speaker, where, oh, where have the fighters gone? Where, oh, 
where could they be? Have they gone to fight with the enemy--which just 
leaves us how many? It is four or five, according to General Austin. 
Four or five fighters for a cost of $500 million, is that the plan for 
the war in Syria to defeat ISIS?
  The lack of a plan in Syria has created chaos. Thousands of people 
have panicked and are running from the Syrian turmoil. The U.S. needs 
to lead.
  Expecting five mercenaries to defeat ISIS is disgraceful. The United 
States needs an aggressive strategy to defeat the enemy of 
civilization, ISIS.
  And that is just the way it is.

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