Politics & Government

NH Delegation Reacts to US-Russia Agreement on Syria

U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter all issued statements Saturday.

By Marc Fortier
NH Patch Regional Editor

U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter all issued statements hailing the agreement reached Saturday on a framework for Syria's chemical weapons to be destroyed.

Ayotte had this to say:

"While the world would be safer if the Assad regime verifiably relinquishes its chemical weapons into international custody so they can be destroyed, and we all hope this agreement can be successful, I remain deeply skeptical of Putin and Assad's motives and the UN's ability to help facilitate such an outcome.

The Syrian government can't be allowed to use the cloak of diplomacy to bide time, and the details of any agreement should include strict verification and enforcement provisions.It is important that any agreement also seek to identify, transfer, and destroy Assad's formidable biological weapons arsenal."
Shaheen offered this statement:

"Syria’s use of chemical weapons is a serious threat to our national security and the elimination of their weapons stockpile is in our best interests. The agreement with Russian officials to accomplish this goal is a welcome development and Secretary Kerry should be commended for his efforts. Now, Russia and Syria must take immediate and concrete steps to abide by the terms of this agreement.

"The fact is that it was the credible threat of force that helped push Russia to the negotiating table to strike this deal. But moving forward we must renew our focus on our nonproliferation efforts in the Middle East and northern Africa. We should start by considering my legislation, Middle East Cooperative Threat Reduction, which aims to address the threat of chemical and biological weapons in this region. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction present one of the gravest international dangers our country can face and we must provide the resources and focus to address this potential threat for the future."

Kuster
 had this reaction:

"From the beginning of this debate, I have expressed grave concerns about the unintended consequences of U.S. military intervention in Syria, including the likelihood of Syrian civilian casualties and the prospect of being drawn into a broader conflagration in the Middle East. After attending multiple classified and unclassified briefings and listening to the thoughtful analysis of literally thousands of constituents, I reached the conclusion that proposed unilateral military strikes by the United States would not be in the best interests of Americans, Syrians, or our allies in the region.

"Today we have learned that diplomatic efforts by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have resulted in an agreement to secure and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles. This a very encouraging development, and I am hopeful that we are now en route to achieving our goal of containing the chemical weapons and securing a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria."

Shea-Porter
 discussed the framework for elimination of Syrian chemical weapons and the need to avoid a government shutdownwith MSNBC’s Alex Witt. Here's an excerpt of what she had to say:

"I'm very hopeful and I want to thank the President and Secretary Kerry and the arms negotiators and everybody who was involved in bringing us to this point," Shea-Porter said. "Of course, you know, we have to verify. We know that Assad has lied before, in the past. But I do feel optimistic now that we've got so many parties engaged in this, and so, you know, we'll have to wait and see. But the timelines are very important right now to make sure that Assad plans to do what he said he's going to do."


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