[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17332]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             DEFEATING ISIS AND PRESIDENT'S SYRIA STRATEGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Young) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of 
countless Hoosiers who are concerned for our troops. Like many 
Americans, we are increasingly dismayed by the Obama administration's 
incoherent strategy to defeat ISIS and protect American interests 
around the world.
  As someone who served this country in the United States Marine Corps, 
and now as an elected Representative, I take seriously our 
responsibility here in Congress to demand war strategies that put 
American military personnel in a position to successfully complete 
their missions. This responsibility to our troops--to set them up for 
victory--has contributed to a new level of frustration felt by many of 
us over President Obama's disjointed foreign policy decisions in the 
Middle East.
  Just last Friday, without any input from Congress, and absent any 
form of public debate, a White House spokesperson announced to the 
world that President Obama was authorizing the deployment of U.S. 
special operators directly into the fray in Syria.
  Rather than hear it straight from our Commander in Chief, it took 
President Obama 3 full days to appear publicly and discuss his decision 
to escalate U.S. involvement and put more American boots on the ground.
  On the one hand, I applaud the administration for any attempts to 
degrade the capabilities of ISIS and stabilize a war-torn Syria. 
However, it remains unclear what these brave special operators have 
been asked to accomplish. And, what strategy will enable a few dozen 
U.S. special operators to decisively drive ISIS from their stronghold 
in Raqqa?
  To be clear, I know many of these valorous special operators 
personally. I am familiar with their remarkable ability to accomplish 
seemingly impossible missions, even with the odds stacked against them. 
But these warriors are not magicians. They are not a magic elixir 
capable of turning the tide of a 4-year, multifaceted civil war. They 
must be empowered to win.
  President Obama tells us the U.S. mission is to degrade and defeat 
ISIS. But for that to succeed, he must articulate a broader strategy 
for the remaining 15 months of his tenure as Commander in Chief.
  As it currently stands, limited airstrikes and a handful of special 
forces operators will not sufficiently empower the United States and 
our partners to initiate change in the region.
  Unfortunately, I fear that this marks yet another instance of the 
President dictating U.S. defense policy by popular opinion. This is 
unfair to our men and women in uniform, their families, and it is 
unfair to all Americans.
  My fervent hope is that during the close of this administration, a 
coherent, longer-term strategy is developed that empowers the greatest 
military in the world to protect American interests and to bring 
stability to a region desperately in need of peace.

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