Statement regarding the President’s request for an “Authorization for Use of Military Force”

When we send our soldiers into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation to back them with the full might and resources our country can muster and to give them the widest possible latitude for action. MacArthur was right, "In war, there is no substitute for victory."

The President proposes something very different: war by half measure, war on the cheap, war with no clear objective other than to pull out in three years.

I will not vote for the authorization as the President proposes. Given his obvious irresolution, I think the best immediate course for the United States is to assure that the regional powers currently engaged against the Islamic State have the material support they require.

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