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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 159 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 No. 118 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was are flooding into neighboring coun- Let’s use the fall to identify and called to order by the Speaker pro tem- tries. move forward on the vast array of pore (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN). We face a looming budget showdown things where we actually agree we can f and a debt ceiling crisis. While we have work together and they won’t cost very futile votes to defund ObamaCare, the much. America will be the better for it, DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO rest of the country is in the midst of a and so will Congress. TEMPORE dramatic change in health care, per- f haps the most profound in half a cen- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- THE WAR ON SYRIA fore the House the following commu- tury. The health care reform train has nication from the Speaker: left the station. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from WASHINGTON, DC, What if we took a break from sabo- September 10, 2013. taging ObamaCare and creating a debt California (Mr. MCCLINTOCK) for 5 min- I hereby appoint the Honorable ILEANA ceiling crisis to do our job as represent- utes. ROS-LEHTINEN to act as Speaker pro tempore atives of the people and as leaders? Mr. MCCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, on this day. What are we for? Russia’s diplomatic intervention in the JOHN A. BOEHNER, We might start with Syria. I have Syrian crisis is indeed welcome news. Speaker of the House of Representatives. deep reservations about the use of But whether it is real or illusory, the f force, but as one of the people who President needs to step back from the dangerous precipice that he has MORNING-HOUR DEBATE called upon the President to involve Congress in this decision, I think we brought us to. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- have an obligation to at least hear him Certainly, he’s made his case for war ant to the order of the House of Janu- out. Let’s work to refine the Russian with Syria very clearly, that the ary 3, 2013, the Chair will now recog- proposal, which appears to have had United States must punish the use of nize Members from lists submitted by some American origins. chemical weapons, and if we don’t, the majority and minority leaders for What about the 2 million refugees they’re more likely to be used again. morning-hour debate. who need our help, to say nothing of He assures us that the strike will be The Chair will alternate recognition their host countries? limited and that it will aid moderates between the parties, with each party Let’s seize upon some of the prom- fighting the regime. He warns that limited to 1 hour and each Member ising signs out of Iran, from their new American credibility is at stake. The other than the majority and minority leadership, to make progress, both in case is quite clear: it is simply not con- leaders and the minority whip limited Syria and with the Iranian nuclear vincing. to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall question. It’s possible that an attack on Syria debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. Domestically, let’s spend our time re- will convince Assad not to use chem- f building and renewing America, not ical weapons in the future. But it is just lamenting the poor shape of our just as likely to convince him that, LET’S WORK TOGETHER infrastructure. Let’s work together to being in for a penny, he might as well The SPEAKER pro tempore. The support the vision and the resources to be in for a pound and unleash his entire Chair recognizes the gentleman from rebuild and renew the country and put chemical arsenal. Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- Americans back to work. It is just as likely that an American utes. Internationally—I see my good friend strike on Syria will produce a retalia- Mr. BLUMENAUER. Congress re- and colleague, Congressman TED POE, tory strike, possibly by Hezbollah turns to Washington this week after a on the floor. Why don’t we zero in on against Israel, requiring a retaliatory month connecting with people at home, the efforts with our international strike by Israel, possibly on Iran, in a hopefully with a little time with fam- Water for the World legislation to help catastrophic chain reaction. ily and friends. deal with sanitation and safe drinking We don’t know where it will lead, but Some think our overwhelming agen- water for poor people around the globe? we can be sure that the morning after da was made nearly impossible with Think about those 200 million hours the attack we would confront a most the Syrian question, which no one ex- women will spend in sub-Saharan Afri- uncomfortable irony. In retaliation for pected when we recessed—somewhat ca gathering water today, time that Assad killing Syrian civilians with ironic—even though 100,000 Syrians they won’t spend in school or working chemical weapons, the United States have been killed and 2 million refugees for their families. will have killed Syrian civilians with b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H5437 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Sep 12, 2013 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD13\RECFILES\H10SE3.REC H10SE3 bjneal on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE H5438 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 10, 2013 conventional weapons, for civilian cas- is stalemate. That is self-defeating. It dent’’ wants to fire missiles into Syria ualties are an unavoidable tragedy of is immoral. because tyrant Assad is violating the war. The President has already made his rules of war by allegedly using chem- Well, who would be our new allies in case very clearly, and he is very clearly ical weapons. The President’s goal is this war? wrong. not to remove Assad, not to destroy They’d be the Islamic forces that are f the chemical weapons, but to send responsible for their own litany of Assad a message. THE SYRIAN CRISIS atrocities, including the massacre of To be clear, there is no imminent na- Syrian Christians, the beheading of po- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The tional security threat or interest for litical opponents, summary executions Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the United States by us starting this of war prisoners and acts of barbarity Ohio (Ms. KAPTUR) for 5 minutes. war. And make no mistake, shooting too depraved to be discussed in this Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I’d rockets into another country is an act forum. We would be aiding and abet- like to thank President Obama for his of war. ting those forces. considered judgment in the matter of War has consequences. What if the We’re told that al Qaeda’s not more Syria, and for not headstrong rushing outlaw Assad chooses then to use than a fourth of our new coalition and the United States to military action. chemical weapons again or chooses to that the rest are moderates. Well, we I thank him for his consultations shoot back? He could retaliate against were told the same thing about Libya. with Members of Congress in both the United States, one of our embas- We were told the same thing about the Chambers, and for allowing the Amer- sies, the Navy that fired the rockets, or Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. ican people time to express their views. other U.S. military installations, or The problem with moderates in the We must all weigh the consequences even specific troops, or retaliate Middle East is that there aren’t very and repercussions of unilateral U.S. ac- against his neighbor, Turkey, or Israel, many of them, and they’re quickly tion. using our aggression as an excuse. In overwhelmed in any coalition they at- As the world’s greatest military any of these situations, this limited tempt. power, we must employ our power wise- war escalates with more U.S. response, Nor can such an attack be limited in ly, and only with good measure. I have intervention, and involvement. duration or scope. The fact is, once you every confidence that our U.S. military Now, who are the players in this war have attacked another country, you can perform any task to which they are that is taking place already? On one are at war with that country and its al- ordered successfully, and we owe them side you have Syria, tyrant Assad, with lies, whatever you wish to call it, and our deepest respect and gratitude. the aid of Russia, with the aid of Iran whatever you later decide to do. I also want to thank and acknowl- that news reports say has 10,000 Iranian And wars have a very nasty way of edge the government of Russia for troops in Syria, and Hezbollah. taking turns that no one can predict or early reports we are learning about re- Hezbollah, as you remember, Madam control. World War I began with a se- garding discussions under way to rid Speaker, is a terrorist group.

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