Clawson on NDAA: "Our Troops' Safety and Well-Being Must Always Come First -- Funding Bad Wars and Untested Allies Is Irresponsible."

Press Release

Congressman Curt Clawson (FL-19) today opposed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA) on the grounds that it continues to fund untested allies, in the form of Syrian rebels, and its failure to put more constraints on foreign deployments that have no clear strategy for victory.

Following the vote, Clawson stated:

"It is important and personal to me, as the son of a veteran and one who has family members and constituents readying to deploy, that they have all the resources they need to complete their missions. This is why I supported the maximum funding levels in the DOD budget earlier this year. However, in recent history, our country has found itself alone in the funding of endless bloody wars, with countless loss of life and suffering.

"Additionally, history has taught us that when we arm untested allies, in the name of saving American lives, many of the weapons we supply eventually turn on us, or our proven allies, like Israel. The NDAA process offered Congress an opportunity to get it right for the future of our military, but the bill we voted on today fell short."

Earlier this week Clawson introduced an amendment before the House Rules Committee to reallocate the future funding for the Syrian rebels to our own military's Overseas Contingency Operations fund. The amendment was not accepted.

Last year, one of the reasons Clawson opposed the Congressional "Cromnibus" legislation was also due to its funding of the Syrian rebels who, according to press accounts, have often switched sides in the complex civil war.

"Eight months ago, the President asked for $500 million to fund and train Syrian rebels. This program was supposed to train over 15,000 fighters. To date, according to U.S. News & World Report, "3,750 Syrian fighters have volunteered for the training, and about 400 have completed the prescreening.' Now the President has asked Congress for another $600 million. Congress needs to revisit the issue of the Syrian rebel funding immediately for an accounting of where the first $500 million was spent, determine what was accomplished, if anything, and what the specific plans are for the next $600 million," Clawson concluded.

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