 Thank You senator Shaheen appreciate the fact that you and senator mccain worked very hard to put this study group together with with obvious Significance and and results which are helpful to all of us Thank you also to Michael and Dana for the work that you've done in leading the study group I had the privilege of listening to you in your testimony before our subcommittee this week they are extremely expert and and thorough in their analysis and I think made very compelling cases for a way forward in Syria The great debate which is going on that relates to Syria, but also to our affairs throughout the world is What it means to pursue our national interest and what our national interest? Means with regards to Syria and other places in the world and There is certainly a stream of thought which is there's all sorts of bad stuff going on throughout the world including in Syria And if we're really caring about America, we should just get the heck out of there and let them do to each other what they're going to do That frankly was the attitude in our country before the second world war to a certain degree Which was you know, let's just get out of these messes over there Let those people who've been fighting for centuries keep on fighting and let us come back to a place where we have enjoyed a great deal of peace relatively and And following the second world war as you know Harry Truman and Dean Atchison sat down and and described a new American foreign policy in the in Dean Atchison's book present at the creation It basically said there are three major elements of American foreign policy going forward number one We're going to be involved in the world Because when we're not involved in the world things happen which ultimately draws in Because no nation is truly an island well, I guess there are some that are literally island but but But from an allegorical standpoint no nation is truly an island and we are Connected to the rest of the world and if we're not involved bad things will happen that influence us number two We should share our values with others throughout the world and and encourage them to adopt Human rights that we find acceptable and and various freedoms and so forth and then the number three we should be strong and We should be strong so that our influence in the world is as great as it can possibly be and by the way our strength is Enhanced by linking arms with other nations that we can only be so strong Today based upon our own scale, but ultimately other nations are going to be large China Conferences will have a much larger economy than ours someday Unless there's some kind of discontinuity that occurs there They'll have a much larger economy large larger military than our someday so Linking arms with our allies becomes essential. That's been the foreign policy for well up until more recently And now the question is well should that continue to be our foreign policy or should we just get out and come home Now the study group looked at the circumstances in In Syria and said we got to look at this carefully and And and and Senator Shaheen I think very thoroughly described those circumstances hundreds of thousands died about a half a million people died 5.6 million people refugees around the world. It's an unthinkable number 5.6 million six million displaced within Syria itself. I mean these are just unthinkable numbers and 86 deaths of our own men and women in uniform whose memory we hold very dear And and these facts are not just Devastating from a human standpoint a humanitarian standpoint. They also have dramatic foreign policy implications and impact us So when six million people become refugees throughout the world better than going into Europe and in nations Turkey and others that are friends of ours It either strengthens them or weakens them. It makes them in many cases weaker And and subject to a greater burden and if they're weaker and there are allies then our effort is weaker These things have an impact on us when they go into Turkey and Turkey is Upset with us linking with the Kurds and we're working with the Kurds to try and fight forces within Syria If Turkey which has been our ally at a member of NATO is angry with us again. We weaken ourselves It's remarkable how things going on in Syria Impact our capacity to stand up our interests here and around the world Now what was interesting as I read the study report and I'm sure you've had the chance to do so is an underlining of things which I think has not been foremost in the American psyche one is that ISIS is not defeated its territory has been removed, but that ISIS continues to be active Two is that it's not just active spread out throughout the population and in in one corner or another but instead it's active in some of these refugee camps one camp 70,000 people in the camp and Overwhelmingly becoming radicalized. I was in Iraq Earlier this year and they've got ISIS fighters in Iraq They're in various communities in Iraq and the Iraqi government wonders What do we do with these people as they go back to their homes? Will they radicalize these communities and go after Iraq? We're obviously we have a huge interest Assad Continues to use chemical weapons against his people What does that say about what's going to happen in the world that we're going to live in it? Does it become acceptable for nations to use chemical weapons? Is there no consequence on the global stage of people using chemical weapons? What does that mean for Americans and our friends around the world if it is acceptable not punishable to be using chemical weapons? 2500 Iranian troops in Syria Clearly Iran looks at Syria as a key part of its global strategy to dominate become the hegemon of the of the Middle East That has consequence for us because of our trade there and also our relationships with nations like like Israel and Iraq and so forth So Iran clearly plant continued to play a very key role there Russia Russian Mercenaries, I mean do Americans know that Russian mercenary troops attacked American troops in a battle About a year ago a little over a year ago Idlib a province of Syria where there are some three million people which are surrounded by or Have been infested by various terror groups Not just Al Qaeda, but ISIS and other groups of various kinds So you got three million people a humanitarian disaster on the making But if they rush into Turkey will have an additional refugee problem It's I mean there are extraordinary Elements that the study group went through that that suggests there's a lot going on there That will have an impact not just on the lives of the people there Which is an enormous concern for any human being? But they will have an impact on America's interests And I think that the key recommendation of the study group was this matters to us It doesn't just matter to them. We're not involved in the world just because We're only concerned about them. We're also concerned about us and in my view being Dramatically concerned about the interests of the people of the United States of America Means that we need to be involved in the world And we need to promote our values in the world And we need to strengthen ourselves every way we can Stronger economy here stronger balance sheet stronger relationships with other nations if we're really in favor of America and focusing on American future then we want to be involved in the world and Syria is a case in point where being involved is Absolutely critical and to say gee let's save the cost of 2,000 soldiers We have some 600,000 fighting men and women But let's get those 2,000 home to save that money and say we got out of Syria With the consequence of doing so could be so dramatic not just on them, but on us Given that fact we need to be shouting for the roost rooftops. Don't pull out. Don't look at such a narrow Analysis of what it means to have American interest at the forefront Think about what our interests are long term and what the implications will be of these decisions So I applaud the work that you're doing I I look forward to being part of those Voices that will continue speaking about this and Senator Shaheen and I as we were sitting getting ready for this conversation said we got to see what we can do To actually get the administration and Congress to to buy into this and to promote some of these policies I don't think we have an answer as to how to make Syria all nice and neat I mean, I appreciate the work that this group did but you know They're saying here's the next step and and don't do that and don't do that and do do this But how we make this all work out. I don't know But I do agree that just walking away is not the right answer not for Syrians Not for our fellow human beings that are children of the same God and certainly not for the United States of America Thank you so much