As President Donald Trump continues to face fierce bipartisan criticism over his move to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday announced that congressional Democrats will soon offer a resolution urging Trump to "undo" his decision.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Sunday afternoon, Schumer said that lawmakers from both chambers will offer a joint resolution demanding Trump "undo his decision, to do everything he can to protect the Kurds, to do everything that we must do to prevent [Islamic State] terrorists from escaping, and make sure that Turkey respects existing agreements related to Syria and with the United States."
We believe the resolution will garner "strong bipartisan support," Schumer added, noting that Republican congressman Michael McCaul, the top GOP member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had indicated he would support the resolution. "I'm going to work hard to pass this resolution, this joint resolution, this bipartisan resolution to try and get the president to undo what he has done."
Schumer's remarks came shortly after Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper confirmed that the U.S. is withdrawing nearly all of its troops "as safely and quickly as possible" from the region amid Turkey's military advances against the Kurds during an appearance on CBS' Face the Nation.
Trump has defended the move as one that would protect the U.S. from "endless wars" in the region. The argument has been heavily rebuked by some congressional Democrats and Republicans, with one saying that it will "diminish the character of our great nation."
GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran and one of the most vocal critics among the Republican Party of Trump's move, condemned the president's justification in an appearance on CBS' Face the Nation. "You hear the president and people like Rand Paul talk about endless wars all the time, and it's kitschy. But actually, we were preventing an endless war," the lawmaker said. "For me—as a guy that served in the military and really got into politics because I believe in the role America plays—to see this yet again, you know, leaving an ally behind... is disheartening, depressing."
Kinzinger added: "The Kurds found out on Twitter, for goodness sake... We have left them to the wolves. And the message this is sending to our allies around the world, I think, is really going to be bad."
Republican Senator Bob Corker also rebuked the decision on Sunday, tweeting: "Recent decisions by the administration regarding Syria are a strategic error and further diminish the character of our great nation."
