Good morning. The Committee Meets today to receive testimony on u. S. Strategy in the middle east, and i want to thank our distinguished witnesses for appearing this morning and for their service to our nation. Before i proceed, id like to remind our witnesses this committees rules require written testimony be submitted 24 hours in advance of a hearing, and id like to try from now on for our witnesses to adhere to that. The tragic loss last week of Master Sergeant joshua walker, a veteran of 14 combat deployments reminds us of the high stakes of our mission in the middle east and how grateful we are to americans serving there. We need a strategy worthy of those who carry it out and, unfortunately, we dont have that. Whats worse it appears the administration has not even defined the problem correctly. A policy of isil first fails to understand that eye significant for all of the threat it poses is actually a symptom of another power thats now raging across the middle east. The epicenter
There is no military solution to this problem. That is misleading. The real problem is will achieve nothing. Changing those conditions is what the administration is consistently failed to do. Instead it is assumed our nation could withdraw from the middle east and avoid the conflict. On those occasions where the administration has felt compelled to respond after the use of chemical weapons or with the rise of isil, and now amid the ii, the administration has address the symptoms of the problem rather than the problem itself and made that problem worse. There no clearer example than this than the syrian train and equip program. The fighters can only fight isil, not assaults forces which have slaughtered more syrians then isil has. The Administration Made no commitment until only recently to provide these forces with any meaningful military support was they returned to syria. After millions of dollars and months of effort the Program Failed to come to the department original expectations
The 114th congress of the United States. Floor strength yen and inspired by the support of our colleagues. The constituents and the love of our families. My special thanks to all of you my children en, nine grandchildren, and the family for their support. The people of san francisco. The continued honor to represent them here. My heartfelt thanks to my colleagues for extending to me the honor of being nominated to the speaker of the house. Thank you very much. Said to his constituents and this congress with honor for 25 years. Peaker john boehner. In his story we are reminded of the enduring exceptional promise of america. This hardworking son of an ohio bartender and owner who grew up to be the speaker of the house of representatives. John boehner talked about the American Dream. John boehner, you are the personification of the American Dream. As youall know, Speaker Boehner was a formidable spokesman for the republican agenda. My republican colleagues, im sure you know and i can atte
Flights from India to Europe/US are facing delays due to geopolitical tensions and safety concerns, resulting in longer routes. While some relief may be possible as airlines consider resuming flights over Iran, but conflict escalation could disrupt plans.