WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today announced her opposition to the amendment currently being debated by the House of Representatives that would arm Syrian troops. Her speech on the House floor can be viewed here.

“I want to be clear: We need to take action against the threat posed by ISIL and I support the President in the use of air strikes,” DeLauro said on the House floor. “But our response must also be appropriate to the complexity of the situation on the ground in Syria.”

DeLauro’s statement on the President’s speech regarding action against ISIL can be read here.

“We must make sure that any response to the threat we face does not plunge us deeper into a complicated and sectarian civil war. I fear that this amendment may lead to that,” DeLauro said in explaining why she will vote against the amendment.

“Syria is a deeply complex situation. It is a nation in the midst of a civil war, splintered between Shia and Sunni, authoritarians and al Qaeda, and along countless other points of fracture

“We need to take action against ISIL, and I support air strikes and other counterterrorism measures. But I believe that the amendment before us today provides much broader authority, and I cannot support it.”

DeLauro supported the air strikes ordered by President Obama last month to protect American personnel and security interests from ISIL, as well as the humanitarian air drops. At that time she reiterated her belief that the region’s problems cannot be solved by the American military, they must be solved by people in Iraq and across the region.


###