RUSSIA'S ATTACK ON SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 161, No. 142

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RUSSIA'S ATTACK ON SYRIA

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from

Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger) for 5 minutes.

Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I had no intention of coming

to the floor and actually speaking this morning--I have a committee

hearing, in fact--until I saw the news.

Now, let me paint a picture just briefly. Every day there are men,

women, and children that live in a nation called Syria that wonder if

the next barrel bomb is going to come and drop in their neighborhood.

Now, this isn't a barrel bomb targeted, by the way, at any real

opposition. It is targeted at inflicting the maximum amount of pain on

innocent civilians so that a brutal dictator by the name of Bashar al-

Assad can ruthlessly, heartlessly keep power for himself in a country

that does not want him.

We know that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own

people. Young kids were choking and gasping for air, knowing that this

was their last breath and knowing that their dreams of becoming a

doctor, a police officer, maybe a teacher was cut short by this

ruthless, heartless man, Bashar al-Assad.

You know, Mr. Speaker, the President said a few years ago, almost

divisively, that the opposition to Bashar al-Assad is just a bunch of

doctors, lawyers, and pharmacists, as if that were a bad thing.

{time} 1030

I believe that a bunch of doctors, lawyers, and pharmacists in charge

of Syria today would be a very good thing. Mr. Speaker, about 2 weeks

ago I stood in this Chamber and gave just a 1-minute address and said:

Let me be clear. There is one reason and one reason only that Russia

finds itself in the Middle East and one reason and one reason only that

Russia finds itself in Syria, and that one reason is to prop up this

brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Now, let me remind people that ISIS would not exist in Syria had it

not been for Bashar al-Assad brutally cracking down on the opposition,

the peaceful opposition of his own people, but today we see that ISIS

calls Syria home and we find ourselves engaged--albeit halfheartedly--

in a war against ISIS because of this brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad.

I stood in this Chamber and warned that the reason Russia is there is

to prop him up.

Now, I told you that this morning I had no intention of coming onto

the floor, Mr. Speaker, except this morning I saw the news that Russia

has begun airstrikes in the Middle East. Now, if they were striking

against ISIS, some could maybe argue that, hey, this is an opportunity

to unite a world coalition. But it appears that, actually, the Russians

have struck the doctors, lawyers,

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and pharmacists that are the loyal opposition for a free Syria against

Bashar al-Assad.

This is not a Russia interested in defeating ISIS for the sake of the

peace of the world. This is a Russia interested in rebuilding the

Soviet empire and propping up their dictators in the Middle East,

regardless of that dictator having killed a quarter million of his own

people. This is not a choice between Bashar al-Assad or ISIS. Mr.

Speaker, to defeat ISIS, you must defeat Bashar al-Assad. The two

choices are not separate. They are one and the same.

Sometimes in my party's Presidential debate I hear candidates, one or

two in particular, that say Assad is our best choice in the Middle

East. Mr. Speaker, if you would allow me, as a Christian, to say, as a

follower of Jesus myself, no Jesus Christ I follow would call a man who

brutally murders 250,000, at least, of his own people, especially women

and children--no Christ I follow would call that man an ally or a

friend in any way.

This is not a choice that is just one layer deep. This is a

complicated situation in the Middle East that must be handled with

American leadership. Mr. Speaker, I hope that the President sees this

as an opportunity to reassert America's role in the Middle East. It

doesn't mean he has to send 300,000 troops back into the Middle East.

Not a single person I have heard on either side of the aisle has

suggested even once another 300,000 troops in the Middle East.

What is being suggested is that, in the absence of American

leadership, chaos, violence, death, and poverty follow suit. What we

are seeing in the Middle East is a lack of American leadership and a

situation spun out of control.

Mr. Speaker, I know George W. Bush has taken his licks for his policy

in the Middle East, but at the end of the George W. Bush

administration, if you looked at the Middle East then compared to the

Middle East today, it is no comparison.

Mr. Speaker, I hope I wake up tomorrow and hear on the news that

President Obama has said that America will reassert its leadership in

the Middle East, but I won't hold my breath.

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