,,iii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #gda  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december 
#bb1 #bjah ,mr4 ,warner 7for himself1   
,mr4 ,menendez1 ,mr4 ,coons1 ,mr4 ,reed1
 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,carper1 and    
,mr4 ,van ,hollen7 submitted the        
following resolution2 which was referred
 to the ,committee on ,foreign          
,relations  ,,resolution  ,expressing   
the sense of the ,senate on the letter  
of resignation of ,secretary of ,defense
 ,james ,mattis and on the decision of  
,president ,trump to rapidly withdraw   
,united ,states forces from ,syria4     
,whereas ,james ,mattis served the      
,united ,states with distinction over   
the course of a long career in the      
,united ,states ,marine ,corps and as   
,secretary of ,defense2 ,whereas the    
,senate concurs with the following      
sentiments expressed in the letter of   
resignation submitted by ,secretary     
,mattis to ,president ,trump3  7#a7 ,the
 strength of the ,united ,states is     

inextricably linked to the strength of  
our system of alliances and             
partnerships4  7#b7 ,the ,united ,states
 cannot protect our interests or serve  
as the indispensable nation in the free 
world without those alliances and       
partnerships4  7#c7 ,maintaining that   
system of alliances and partnerships    
requires that the ,united ,states       
demonstrate respect for our allies4     
7#d7 ,while the ,armed ,forces of the   
,united ,states cannot serve as the     
world's policeman1 the ,united ,states  
must use all tools of ,american power to
 provide for the common defense1        
including providing effective leadership
 to our alliances4  7#e7 ,those         
alliances and partnerships have assisted
 the ,united ,states in increasing our  
national security1 for example when all 
,north ,atlantic ,treaty ,organization  
7,,nato7 nations fought alongside the   
,united ,states following the attacks of
 ,september #aa1 #bjja1 and when #gd    
nations joined the effort to defeat the 

threat from the ,islamic ,state of ,iraq
 and ,syria 7,,isis74  7#f7 ,the ,united
 ,states must demonstrate resolve and be
 unambiguous in our approach to         
countries whose strategic interests run 
counter to our own4  7#g7 ,the ,russian 
,federation and ,china wish to shape a  
world order consistent with their       
authoritarian model1 allowing them to   
veto other nations' economic1           
diplomatic1 and security decisions1 and 
to promote their own interests at the   
expense of other nations1 the ,united   
,states1 and our allies4  7#h7 ,the     
,united ,states must do everything      
possible to advance a rules-based       
international order that is most        
conducive to our security1 prosperity1  
and values1 and our efforts in that     
regard are strengthened by the          
solidarity of our alliances4  7#i7      
,united ,states military pressure has   
demonstrated considerable1 but          
incomplete progress against global      
terrorist groups1 particularly al       

,qaeda1 the group responsible for the   
,september #aa1 #bjja1 terrorist attacks
 on the ,united ,states and the ,islamic
 ,state of ,iraq and ,syria1 who        
threaten the stability of the ,middle   
,east and the safety of the ,american   
people and the citizens of many of our  
closest allies2 ,whereas there are a    
small number of troops on the ground in 
,syria to train1 equip1 advise1 and     
assist ,united ,states partners in the  
,syrian ,democratic ,forces fighting the
 ,islamic ,state of ,iraq and ,syria2   
,whereas the governments of the ,russian
 ,federation and ,iran are fighting     
alongside the ,assad regime against     
,united ,states allies and interests2   
,whereas the abrupt decision of the     
,president to remove all ,united ,states
 forces in ,syria without consultation  
enables ,iran and the ,russian          
,federation to expand their influence   
and presence in ,syria and beyond and   
threatens ,united ,states partners in   
,syria and ,israel and other allies in  

the region2 and ,whereas the decision of
 the ,president to precipitously        
withdraw ,united ,states troops will    
leave the people of ,syria even more    
vulnerable to violence from terrorist   
groups and provide time and space for al
 ,qaeda and the ,islamic ,state of ,iraq
 and ,syria to reconstitute and launch  
attacks against the ,united ,states and 
our allies3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that
 the ,senate--  7#a7 expresses its      
gratitude to ,secretary of ,defense     
,james ,mattis for his decades of       
honorable service to the ,united ,states
 in the ,united ,states ,marine ,corps  
and at the ,department of ,defense2     
7#b7 expresses strong support for       
,united ,states alliances and           
partnerships with allies around the     
world2  7#c7 expresses concern with     
,president ,trump's decision to rapidly 
withdraw ,united ,states forces from    
,syria1 a decision taken without        
consultation with ,congress or our      
allies and partners and without apparent

 concern for our national and collective
 interests2 and  7#d7 believes that     
these decisions could further undermine 
,united ,states leadership in the world1
 weaken our alliance and partnership    
structure1 and make it harder to achieve
 a world more conducive to ,united      
,states interests1 including support for
 democracy4