Dear Romy,
Thank you for your earlier email to me
on the violence in Syria and the possibility of U.S. military
intervention. I appreciate having heard from you and I want to share
with you my thoughts as the situation continues to develop.
As I wrote in my previous message to you
and have said in my public comments, I have had serious reservations
about the proposed military action in response to Syria's chemical
weapons attack on its citizens.
I have spent hours meeting with the President, Vice President, and
officials from the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence
services, and those discussions have not resolved my concerns about the
wisdom of the proposed plans. If the Senate votes on
the resolution (S.J.Res.21) authorizing that proposed plan, I will
oppose it.
I share the President's belief that the use of chemical weapons by
Syria is horrific. But it demands a strong international diplomatic
response incorporating an array of political and economic actions. The
goal should be to deter any additional use by
Syria or any other nation. The international community should hold
Syria to its promise to transfer its chemical weapons stockpile to
international control. While achieving this goal will be challenging, I
applaud the progress the administration has made towards
its goal in the last few days.
Thank you, again, for sharing your thoughts with me. I hope that
you will continue to reach out to me about the issues that are most
important to you.
Jeffrey A. Merkley
United States Senator
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