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Diaz-Balart Responds to President Obama's Announcement to Seek Congressional Authorization

August 31, 2013

MIAMI, FL –Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) offered the following statement on President Obama’s announcement to seek Congressional authorization for military action in Syria:

“President Obama stated earlier today that he will be seeking Congressional authorization for a military strike. The many gaps in his short and insufficient statement include what the military objective would be, what effect it would have in the outcome of the Syrian conflict, and what steps are being taken to protect our allies in the region.

“As I previously stated, while I would like to wholeheartedly support our Commander-in-Chief in the event of military action in Syria, any use of force must be purposeful, overwhelming, and in furtherance of specifically enumerated national security interests. Unfortunately, the President has failed to provide a coherent policy on Syria to date. His poorly conceived ‘red line’ unnecessarily leveraged U.S. credibility, and placed him in the regrettable position of either following through on the promised retaliation or confirming that his threat was a hollow one.”

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