Contact: Destiny Edwards or Jessica Cahill, 202-225-4576

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2015 /Standard Newswire/ -- Upon hearing reports of Russia conducting airstrikes in Syria, Vice Chairman of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee released the following statement:

"This is how wars begin. Nations are choosing sides. In the past, there was great reluctance to side against the United States, but under the leadership of this President that dynamic is changing. As Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Russia formalize their allegiances to one another, this Administration continues to stare blankly across the negotiating table hoping radical, violent hatred for America will disappear into thin air.

"Weakness is provocative. Whether it's a KGB thug like Vladimir Putin or Ayatollah Khamenei, our adversaries are preying on the weakness that the Obama administration projects around the world.  President Obama traveled to the Middle East in 2009 to apologize for - what he thought was - the malign influence of the United States in the region over the past decade.

"Today, Russian fighter planes bomb and kill innocent Syrian civilians and prop up one of the most brutal dictators the world has ever known, and warn the US to remove our military aircraft out of Syria, while ISIS kidnaps five-year-old girls and traffics them for as little as 50 cents US.  It is easy to understand why our friends do not trust us and our enemies do not fear us as a nation with Barack Obama at the helm."

Congressman Franks is serving his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives and is a member of the Judiciary Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. He is also a member of the Armed Services Committee, where he serves as Vice-Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, and Capabilities and a member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.