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Who Supports The U.S. Strike Against Syria?

Jacqueline Jackson |
September 3, 2013 | 9:23 p.m. PDT

Managing Editor

Syria Chemical Attack | Creative Commons
Syria Chemical Attack | Creative Commons
As the U.S. prepares for congress to respond to President Obama's statement that the U.S. must use military action against Syria not everyone is agreeing.

Over the Labor Day weekend some members of congress spoke to the media to declare their current position on Syria and how the U.S. should respond.

1.Nancy Pelosi - House Minority Leader Pelosi, a Democrat,  from San Francisco was already on board with President Obama carrying out a military strike against Syria before this week's meetings. However, she's concerned that the American people aren't ready to get behind the strike. According to the New York Times she said Tuesday, "In my district, I don’t think people are convinced that military action is necessary. The American people need to hear more about the intelligence,” she said. 

2. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland - House Democrat
Hoyer released a statement saying, “I support the President’s call for authorizing limited but decisive military action in response to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons in Syria. While recognizing that the details of the authorization language have yet to be finalized, the use of chemical weapons, including against innocent children, is intolerable and cannot go unanswered." 

The response from Congress and citizens throughout the nation has been mixed. Although there were numerous protest last week to stop the U.S. from becoming involved in the Syrian conflict, for some, the fear of future use of chemical weapons is reason enough to do something to prevent this from occurring again whether outside or inside of the U.S. The response from congress continued to grow as days went by.

John Boehner
John Boehner
3. John Boehner - Republican Speaker of The House of Representatives said he'd support military action after Tuesday's meeting with Secretary John Kerry. Although there are further issues that need to be resolved when Obama reviews the most recent resolution, Boehner, is confident that they can come to an agreement on the U.S.'s military campaign. According to the Wall Street Journal Boehner said Tuesday,

 

"This is something that the United States as a country needs to do—I'm going to support the president's call for action." He continued, "I believe my colleagues should support this call for action. We have enemies around the world that need to understand that we're not going to tolerate this type of behavior. We also have allies around the world and allies in the region who also need to know that America will be there and stand up when it's necessary."

Eric Cantor
Eric Cantor
4. Eric Cantor - House Majority Leader also said that he'd support military action which would be a response to Syria's use of weapons without ground troops in the country. He also partnered with John Boehner and others to produce a resolution that would only allow 90 days of military action with 60 days being the inital limit and a 30 day extention for extreme circumstances. He also stated that America's credibility is on the line, "A failure to act when acting is in America's interest and when a red line has been so clearly crossed will only weaken our ability to use diplomacy, economic pressure and other nonlethal tools to remove Assad and deter Iran and other aggressors." he said.

5.Diane Fienstein - Chairwoman and California represenative Diane Fienstein said before Tuesday's hearing that she is "fully supportive of Obama's decision" of action against Syria. Her support came before many others jumped on board with the president after it was verified that traces of chemical weapons were used in Syria.

 

Although, these members of congress have made their statements about the U.S. responding to Syria there's many representatives of congress who's votes are unknown and some who aren't supportive of a strike against Syria. One of them, Congressman Alan Grayson doesn't see that there is vital American interest to enter into Syria. Watch the video below for his point of view.

WATCH: Rep. Alan Grayson's Repsonse Below

Despite Republican Alan Grayson's point of view many top U.S. officials are backing the Obama administrations decision to attack Syria and as the president speaks Wednesday to gain international support for the strike the chances of it passing through congress could grow.

For more information visit the Wall Street Journal.

Reach Managing Editor Jacqueline Jackson here. Follow her here.



 

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