{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/kilili-statement-syria", "Kilili Statement on Syria", "2013-09-04", "2013", "2013-09", "Independent", "Senate", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan released the following statement today regarding the upcoming debate in Congress about US military action in Syria:\nLast Thursday, together with 60 other Members of Congress I wrote to President Obama condemning the apparent use of chemical weapons in Syria.\u00a0 We also urged the President to seek the agreement of Congress before taking any military action.\u00a0 I thank the President for heeding our call.\nNext week, Congress returns to Washington and the Syria debate will be front and center.\u00a0 The Northern Marianas will not have a vote in any resolution approving military action.\u00a0 Yet our men and women in the military could be put in harm\u2019s way by a decision to use force in Syria.\nSo I will be examining the intelligence carefully to be certain that we know chemical weapons have been used \u2013 and who used them.\u00a0 There will continue to be classified briefings for Members of Congress from the National Security Agency and the White House that I will attend next week.\nI will be looking closely at what alternative responses there may be, short of the U.S. taking unilateral action against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.\u00a0 And I will be questioning what the outcome is likely to be if the U.S. does strike against Assad in retaliation for the chemical attack.\nThe Northern Mariana Islands has lost 18 fine young men and women during the wars of the last decade.\u00a0 Before putting any more lives at risk, I want to know that we are certain of why we are acting and we have an endgame.\u00a0 Most important of all, I want to be certain that we have looked at every alternative before the U.S. commits its military forces or limited financial resources.\nWe cannot stand by, while chemical weapons are being used in violation of international law.\u00a0 But we cannot send Americans to war without clearly defined goals that make the risk worthwhile.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/kilili-statement-syria"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9785930160433054, "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"}