{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-rep-ro-khanna-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-letter-president-trump-urging-and/", "Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Ro Khanna Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter to President Trump Urging and Supporting Troop Withdrawal from Syria", "2019-04-03", "2019", "2019-04", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nApril 3, 2019\n\nContact: Sergio Gor (Paul), 202-224-4343\n\nHeather Purcell (Khanna), 202-225-2631\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced they are sending a bipartisan, bicameral letter to President Donald Trump in support of his decision to bring U.S. troops home from Syria and urging the completion of the withdrawal process \u201cwithin the next six months,\u201d demonstrating that the cause crosses a wide range of ideological and political boundaries to unite lawmakers.\n\nSenator Mike Lee (R-UT) and U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA), Justin Amash (R-MI), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN), and Bill Posey (R-FL) joined Senator Paul and Representative Khanna on the letter.\n\n\u201cOne of the things I have always admired about President Trump is his willingness to take on a foreign policy establishment that has failed to make America safer. As he said during the State of the Union, \u2018Great nations do not fight endless wars,\u2019 and I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump to change course and bring more of our soldiers home,\u201d said Sen. Paul.\n\n\u201cThe president cannot pursue a foreign policy agenda without the advice and consent, let alone the support, of the Congress. Thanks to Sen. Paul for joining me in bringing an end to these wars \u2013 The Constitution isn\u2019t partisan,\u201d said Rep. Khanna.\n\n\u201cThe 2015 introduction of U.S. military forces into hostilities in Syria was never approved by Congress, in violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973. We believe that the stated intention of withdrawing our forces is appropriate, and we look forward to the orderly return of our service members from this theater of conflict,\u201d the signers wrote in their letter to President Trump.\n\n\u201cWhile it is essential to accomplish the announced withdrawal, we urge your Administration to couple the process of a phased removal of U.S. troops with an increased focus on diplomacy to ensure minimal disruption and prevent needless loss of life,\u201d they continued.\n\nYou can read their letter below:\n\n***\n\nDear Mr. President:\n\nWe write in bipartisan support of your announcement of the start of a \u201cdeliberate withdrawal\u201d of U.S. military forces in Syria, and we welcome the completion of this process within the next six months.\n\nThe 2015 introduction of U.S. military forces into hostilities in Syria was never approved by Congress, in violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973. We believe that the stated intention of withdrawing our forces is appropriate, and we look forward to the orderly return of our service members from this theater of conflict.\n\nWhile it is essential to accomplish the announced withdrawal, we urge your Administration to couple the process of a phased removal of U.S. troops with an increased focus on diplomacy to ensure minimal disruption and prevent needless loss of life.\n\nAdditionally, we recommend direct, robust engagement and coordination with both U.S. allies and other regional governments to ensure the safety of Syria\u2019s civilian populations and avert the resurgence of ISIS. We agree with your aim of averting a Turkish military assault on Syria\u2019s Kurds, and U.S. leverage\u2014such as conditioning weapons sales to Turkey\u2014can achieve this outcome.\n\nIt is long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization, and we look forward to pursuing this longstanding bipartisan objective with your Administration. Finally, we hope this will serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future \u2013 in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:23:17Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-sen-rand-paul-rep-ro-khanna-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-letter-president-trump-urging-and/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8894188795238733, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}