10/18/19 - Rep. Rutherford posted the following to Facebook: "Earlier this week, I voted against H.J. Res. 77, a resolution of disapproval regarding President Trump’s decisions in Syria. I would like to share with you my reasons for doing so.

As you know, President Trump recently made the decision to remove around 50 U.S. military personnel from Northern Syria and apply further diplomatic and economic pressure on Turkey’s President Erdogan. I believe President Trump’s course of action to expand the use of our diplomatic and economic force will keep American troops safer and advance American interests in the region.

As we have seen in the past few months, our operations in Syria are extremely sensitive and rapidly evolving. This week members of Congress were asked to take a vote on American national security policy in that region without first receiving a classified briefing from military and intelligence leaders. I believe this was misguided and merely a politically-motivated attempt to create discord with our Commander-in-Chief. The resolution that came to the floor holds no weight of law to make policy changes, force actions, or resolve conflicts.

I have been and will continue to be an unwavering supporter of the Kurdish people. For many years, including this fiscal year, Congress has provided substantial funding to train, arm, and equip the Kurds. However, to truly help our allies, we must continue to focus on President Erdogan of Turkey, who remains the violent aggressor targeting the Kurdish people. For this reason, I cosponsored H.R. 4692, legislation to impose harsh sanctions on Turkey for their actions. Additionally, I have spoken with senior leaders of Special Operations Command who said the U.S. remains in constant communication with our Kurdish allies.

For far too long, we have relied on our military forces to carry the fight, putting them in harm’s way, when we have other tools at our disposal. As we move forward, I will continue to support our servicemembers, our military leaders, our allies, and American interests across the globe." View the Facebook post here.