"I support the President's air strikes and commend him for putting together this coalition, which includes Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. With their barbaric attacks against journalists, women, children, and other innocent civilians, ISIL is a terrorist group. If left unchecked, they have the potential to be a threat to our homeland.

“The President did the right thing by bringing together a broad coalition to address this potential threat. As I said on the House floor last week, I support air strikes and other counterterrorism measures. And I support the men and women of our armed services. What I cannot support is overly broad authorities where we try and arm the ‘Good Guys’ without inadvertently making the ‘Bad Guys’ stronger too. The crisis in the Middle East is complex and requires purposeful engagement with our coalition partners in the region without becoming entangled in a civil war, and without the introduction of U.S. ground troops."


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