House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she joined forces with Sen. Lindsey Graham in a push to overturn President Trump’s “dangerous decision” on Syria.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she and GOP Senator Lindsey Graham have agreed Congress needs a resolution to “overturn” President Trump’s decision to hastily pull troops from northern Syria, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement saying he’s “gravely concerned” by what’s happening in Syria “and by our nation’s apparent response so far.”
The California Democrat announced on Monday that she and Graham agreed to “a bipartisan, bicameral joint resolution” on the president’s controversial decision to pull U.S. troops from northern Syria.
Pleased to have a conversation with Senator @LindseyGrahamSC this morning. Our first order of business was to agree that we must have a bipartisan, bicameral joint resolution to overturn the President’s dangerous decision in Syria immediately.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 14, 2019
Senior Republican lawmakers have harshly criticized Trump’s decision and have been warning of the dangerous consequences of the vacuum that would be left behind as U.S. troops depart, as well as condemning the apparent abandonment of Kurdish allies who helped the U.S. defeat ISIS.
McConnell in his statement said that he looks forward to talking with his colleagues in the Senate and with senior administration officials about “what the United States can do to avoid a strategic calamity.” He went on to say that while Turkey is a NATO ally, its offensive against the U.S.’ Kurdish partners “is jeopardizing years of hard-won progress in the fight against ISIS,” and he argued that the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria now would “re-create the very conditions that we have worked hard to destroy and invite the resurgence of ISIS.” More broadly, he said, withdrawal would create a power vacuum that Iran and Russia would exploit, which is “a catastrophic outcome” for U.S. strategic interests.
Graham confirmed the conversation with Pelosi, but only seemed to focus on the sanctions. He said he had spoken with Nancy Pelosi and they agreed also on the additional sanctions against Turkey which began its offensive into Syria soon after Trump’s announcement last week.
The President also talked of heavy sanctions.
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Just spoke with Speaker Pelosi regarding congressional action on Turkey’s incursion of Syria. Speaker supports bipartisan sanctions against Turkey’s outrages in Syria. She also believes we should show support for Kurdish allies and is concerned about the reemergence of ISIS.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 14, 2019
I will be working across party lines in a bicameral fashion to draft sanctions and move quickly, appreciating President Trump’s willingness to work with the Congress. The Speaker indicated to me that time was of the essence.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 14, 2019
Pelosi called for “a stronger sanctions package than what the White House is suggesting,” in additional tweets following her talks with the South Carolina Republican.
The rumor is that President Trump gave Turkey the green light and the Allies think so too. However, there is no evidence and the President said Turkey was planning to invade. That’s true. Erdogan has had troops lined up on the Syrian border for months. The U.S. cannot go to war with a NATO ally with an enormous army.
The President’s actions in Syria are not impeachable and are well within his purview. That doesn’t mean Democrats won’t roll it into their impeachment strategy because they disagree.
He is the Commander-in-Chief and doesn’t need their approval to withdraw troops. Let Lindsey watch the flag-draped coffins come in to Langley.
THE PRESIDENT MADE A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
The President will bring tariffs up to 50% and immediately stop trade talks. The President is more concerned about our borders.
Statement from President Donald J. Trump Regarding Turkey’s Actions in Northeast Syria pic.twitter.com/ZCQC7nzmME
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019
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