Sen. Gillibrand: Obama's Syria strategy won't work long-term
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, leveled sharp criticism at President Obama's evolving strategy in Syria during an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation."
When asked about the president's decision to put 50 special operations troops in the war-torn country, the New York Democrat said that Obama would need permission from Congress to carry out his plans.
"Well, I think he needs an authorization from Congress," Gillibrand said in an interview that aired Sunday. "If he wants to put boots on the ground in Syria, he does not currently have an authorization to do that."
The Senate Armed Services committee member has also disapproved of other White House tactics in Syria, including providing weapons to regional rebel forces in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS.)
"I did not support his strategy to arm the rebels, I didn't think that would work. I thought those arms would end up in the hands of ISIL," she said, referring to an alternative acronym for ISIS. "And so I was very concerned about that strategy and voted against the armed services bill because of it.
"But I do think he needs to come back to Congress if he wants to create this new strategy of 50 advisers who will be on the ground in some missions, and I think it's important that he gets permission from Congress to do so," she said.
Pressed about the overall wisdom of the strategy, Gillibrand said, "I don't think it's a strategy that will work long-term."
"I think ISIL is a grave threat to the region," she added. "It's causing extraordinary instability."
Instead, the Democratic senator would prefer to focus more on dealing with Syria's humanitarian crisis.
"I wish we were focused on how we could create relief for millions of families that are streaming out of Syria," she said. "I've seen our European partners really pick up the pace and take significant responsibility for these families. What Germany has done is outstanding. I think America should be doing more."
Gillibrand also did not put agree with the administration's consideration of putting a no-fly zone in place over a humanitarian purpose.
"No-fly zones require -- if it's a humanitarian no-fly zone -- they require boots on the ground and that is not something that I support right now," she said. "It's not something that I think the American people want to see - thousands of troops in Syria."
But, Gillibrand conceded, "we need to do something about the humanitarian crisis."
The junior senator proposed receiving more refugees before the year 2017, when the U.S. is expected to raise the limit from 70,000 to 100,000.
"I think we should be stepping up," Gillibrand said. "We should be receiving more families. We should be receiving before 2017. We should be doing it now. And we should be helping. I see pictures of children dying, crying, suffering and we should be doing more."
The Armed Services committee member also addressed the threat of ISIS in the recent news of a downed Russian airliner over Egypt. While the senator had no intelligence "beyond what the president has," Gillibrand said the possible issue of terrorism still "really weighs on the American people."
If the extremist group was involved with downing the Russian plane, she added that "it would seem to be a change in profile" for how ISIS attacks.
"It would seem to be a different level of capacity that we've not seen in the past," she said. "And obviously that would cause grave concern for many of us who focus on national security. As a New Yorker, we are often the number one terror target. We've been able to subvert attempts in the past. And it's very important that we do this full investigation so that we are knowledgeable."
The senator representing New York also touched on an issue close to home: legislation to get funding for the first responders on 9/11.
Gillibrand called it a "moral outrage" that Congress allowed the bill to expire.
"I think it's a moral outrage that members of Congress are not doing the right thing and standing by this," she said. "We need to reauthorize the program, it needs to be permanent. We've had this program up and running for five years."
She added that "there's been no fraud, it's been seamless, and we've treated cancers and other diseases that are now directly caused by 9/11 toxins."
"So there's no reason that anyone should stand in the way and if they do they're putting politics before people and I think it is a grave mistake to not support them," Gillibrand said.
The New York senator also touched on a prominent theme of the 2016 Democratic primary: income inequality and Wall Street.
"I think in terms of Wall Street and banking, the worst thing in the world for America is to have another financial collapse," Gillibrand warned. "So there are legitimate issues that need to be reviewed to make sure we have the right oversight and accountability over our banking institutions, to make sure the rating agencies are being held accountable for how their play in the financial collapse."
When pressed about whether large banks should be blamed for the gap between the wealthy and the poor, Gillibrand responded that "Wall Street" is often used as a "shorthand for the larger picture."
"I think people will target Wall Street specifically because they're talking about income inequality, specifically because they're talking about a lack of opportunity," she said. "Those are issues that trouble people, and so often times it's summarized into some negative talking point about banking or Wall Street. But I think the substantive issues are very legitimate, and should be debated. And we do need more reforms to continue to keep our markets stable."