SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 161, No. 78

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SYRIA

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from

Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger) for 5 minutes.

Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I remember a few years ago

visiting Israel, standing in the Golan Heights and looking to the

border of Syria. At this time, our guide began talking about the

peaceful protests in Syria, the beginning of an era of discontent.

As I looked into the seemingly peaceful area, I never imagined the

carnage that was to come: children who on that day attended school,

filled with hope for the future and with dreams of becoming a

businessman, a policeman, an architect, or any of the host of things

building in the minds of such a young person at that age; children and

parents who did not know that in a few short years, their lives would

be cut down by a ruthless dictator, bent on keeping power at all cost.

As the peaceful protests built in strength, Bashar al-Assad responded

in violence. And so began what history will likely judge to be the

start of among the most brutal times in Middle East modern history.

Bashar-al Assad began using barrel bombs indiscriminately against

innocent people and infamously gassed thousands who struggled to get

that last breath of life, only to choke to death, completely aware that

that breath would be their last.

As family members died, others joined a group later dubbed the Free

Syrian Army, a group the President referred to as a bunch of

pharmacists, lawyers, and businessmen, all standing up to reclaim what

was theirs rightfully, which was a free Syria. And they fight bravely

for a free Syria today.

Through the carnage of this terrible war, a more nefarious group

began to assemble, a group not concerned with human carnage but

inspired by it; a group not fighting to protect life but fighting to

cut it down; and a group not inspired by freedom of religion but

inspired by a hollow and a shallow world view. The group today is now

known as ISIS.

{time} 1030

Mr. Speaker, before the world paid any attention, this group occupied

not just parts of Syria, but also Fallujah, an area fought with

American blood and treasure to bring peace and stability to the people

of Iraq. The border of Syria and Iraq was torn down, and the world

continued to sleep.

I called for America to lead airstrikes against this fledgling group

at that time numbering in the low four figures. The reaction I received

was not unexpected: people angry that I was interested in starting

\\\`\\\`Iraq War III.'' Yet as this cancer continued to grow, the carnage

became worse, and today we find ourselves engaged in limited action

against a group growing in numbers faster than they are being

dispatched by our airplanes.

Americans feel saddened that the areas that our brave military

members fought so hard to win was being thrown away to political

expedience, and I am one of those people. I spent a little bit of time

in Iraq, on behalf of the United States Air Force, flying airplanes,

and I just saw a week ago or a few days ago that Ramadi, the capital of

Anbar province, where we saw so much success in the Sunni awakening,

has fallen to ISIS.

Now, by the way, Anbar and Ramadi serve as a transportation center

for getting goods from Jordan and Syria into Baghdad and are resupply

routes for ISIS. So we are seeing not overmuch success in Iraq. But

lest we think this fight is limited to just Iraq, all we have to do is

look all over the world and all over the Middle East and see ISIS'

influence, from folks arrested near my district in the United States

attempting to join and support ISIS, to the problems we see in Lebanon

and in Saudi Arabia, and as we see ISIS grow and develop in Libya. This

is something that, Mr. Speaker, the President has got to get a control

on and reassert American leadership.

We also see that these terrorist groups, these jihadist groups, are

coming under the umbrella of ISIS, whether it is al Shabaab, Boko

Haram, or al Qaeda in Yemen, or we see the Taliban beginning to join

under this supposedly successful group.

What is it we need to do to push them back? In Iraq, I believe we

need to use the number of troops and the amount of military force

necessary to destroy ISIS and not just necessary to follow the

President's promise of no troops on the ground. I don't think we need

another 200,000 troops in Iraq, and I haven't heard a single person

actually ever suggest that, but we need to use what is necessary to

push this back.

By the way, the American military is fierce and desperate to do what

needs to be done, and they are ready to do what the American people and

the President calls on.

Lastly, ISIS must be destroyed in Syria; and you can not destroy ISIS

in Syria without destroying the incubator of ISIS, who is the evil

dictator, Bashar al Assad. There are negotiations in progress now, but

until the Syrian people know that the American people stand behind them

through a no-fly zone and other means, ISIS will not be destroyed in

Syria until that point.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the President to stand up.

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