U.S. POLICY IN SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 5

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U.S. POLICY IN SYRIA

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from

Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for 5 minutes.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I was delighted to read that

President Trump has reflected on his initial instinct to pull our 2,000

soldiers out of eastern Syria based on his conclusion that ISIS is

defeated, and, instead, he is ordering a withdrawal at a proper pace

consistent with American objectives.

To meet our goals of a safe American homeland and progress towards

regional stability, America must first develop a strategy to eliminate

ISIS from northeast Syria along the lower Euphrates valley at the

border of Syria and Iraq.

This plan must include a productive role for our partner and ally,

the Kurds. It is not in America's interest to abandon our long friends,

the Kurds, to Turkish treachery and annihilation.

Recent open-source data suggests there are 30,000 ISIS-related

fighters in the lower Euphrates valley. With our allies, we must press

this villainous band to its inglorious end.

Our leaving with no plan will squander our immense success in cutting

off funding and winning back hard-fought territorial gains from the

occupation of ISIS.

Second, America must block Iran. A key here is a small base and

deconfliction zone at al-Tanf, a small force of 200 anchors that base

along the key highway between Damascus and Baghdad. Not only is this a

strategic imperative, Mr. Speaker, but 50,000 refugees are tenuously

housed in this deconfliction zone at Rukban. Withdraw, and death awaits

them.

Neighboring Jordan can take no more. We must ensure that an allied

force remains at al-Tanf, blocking the Iranian-planned autobahn being

considered from Tehran to Damascus. Withdraw, Mr. President, and you

will leave Israel fully encircled by its greatest enemy, the Ayatollah

in Tehran.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, America must achieve peace and stability in

Syria. Our small elite presence, our supply lines, and our air

superiority offer pressure on the murderous regime in Damascus to reach

a settlement to return Syria to peace and return millions of refugees

to their towns and ancestral homes.

Leave, Mr. President, and you will squander the great moral victory

of your strategic strikes against Assad from his illegal use of

chemical weapons and barrel bombs.

Your early decisive actions made our friends, villagers huddling in

fear and from the Euphrates to Idlib, shout with joy. \\\`\\\`America is

back,'' they shouted.

Leave, Mr. President, with no plan and no strategy, and they will

hang their heads as they did during President Obama's shameful

abandonment.

Mr. Speaker, this unfortunate chapter unfolding in the tragedy known

as Syria foreshadows an unflattering flashback to a time long ago when

Great Britain abandoned a role of stability in the Holy Land and India.

In 1948, Churchill rose in the House to oppose Prime Minister Atlee's

own unplanned precipitous withdrawal from the Holy Land, saying:

A time limit imposed--a kind of guillotine--will certainly

prevent the full, fair, and reasonable discussion of the

great, complicated issues that are involved.

Indeed, as Churchill foresaw, mayhem, terror, and destruction were

the result of Britain's precipitous withdrawal.

It is said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Mr.

President, let's not repeat this historical mistake nor let our actions

even result in a rhyme.

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