Latest news with #Stutzman
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP bill takes aim at Congress' 'no rules apply' emergency spending
FIRST ON FOX: A House fiscal hawk wants to create a payment plan for congressional emergency spending to create accountability for the "no rules apply" funding stream. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., is set to introduce the Emergency Spending Accountability Act that would add guardrails to last-minute funding meant for national emergencies, like natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic or other spending meant to fill the gaps in the appropriations process. Senate Weighs Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' As Policy Group Backs Cbo, Projects $3 Trillion Debt Increase Stutzman told Fox News Digital that lawmakers will go about the usual budgeting process, passing stopgap spending bills or colossal, omnibus spending packages, but that "somewhere in between" there's always extra money pushed out the door for emergencies. "Whenever there's an emergency, Congress always overreacts," he said. "And I believe they pass these big spending bills under the guise of an emergency, national emergency, and spend money that we don't take into consideration through our budget process." White House Insists Fema Is Taking Hurricane Season 'Seriously,' Blasts 'Sloppy' Reporting Read On The Fox News App He said that when he first came to Washington in 2010, the national debt was $9 trillion. After leaving the House and returning during last year's election cycle, that number has since ballooned to more than $36 trillion. And since the early 1990s, more than $12 trillion in emergency spending has added to the ever-growing deficit. The lawmaker said that the money dedicated for emergency use was rarely ever paid back, and he argued that the taxpayer dollars were sometimes not used for actual emergencies. 'He's Not A Big Factor': Trump's Senate Allies Dismiss Elon Musk's Calls To 'Kill The Bill' Stutzman's legislation, which so far has seven House Republican co-sponsors, would require the federal government to pay off the balance of future emergency spending by 20% each year for five years after an emergency following a green-light from lawmakers to open up the cash flow. His bill would also stipulate that any emergency spending would have to comport with the criteria laid out by the Balance Budget and Emergency Control Act of 1985, which laid out a five-point roadmap to justify that emergency spending be necessary, sudden, urgent, unforeseen and not permanent. He understood that there is always a need for emergency spending, giving the examples of the pandemic and of Hurricane Sandy, which blasted through the East Coast more than a decade ago, but he noted there should be offset cuts to account for the spending and better planning on how the taxpayer dollars would be used. "Most companies and family budgets, they always have a rainy-day fund or an emergency fund that they can tap into if they need it for unexpected costs and expenses, but that's not the way Washington works," Stutzman said. "So that's the idea."Original article source: GOP bill takes aim at Congress' 'no rules apply' emergency spending
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Syria's new leader ‘open' to joining Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with Israel, two reps who met him say
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has privately expressed openness to joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with Israel in a move that would dramatically shake up the Middle East, according to two congressmen who met with him last month. In exchange, al-Sharaa wanted assurances that Israel would stop bombing Syria, stop fomenting sectarian divisions and reach a renegotiated arrangement regarding the Golan Heights, Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Martin Stutzman (R-Ind.) told The Post. 'He said, 'We're open to not only recognizing Israel, but also to try and join the Abraham Accords, but they must stop bombing within our nation,'' Mills recounted. Advertisement Trump made waves last week during his Mideast trek when, after meeting with the Syrian leader, he boldly predicted that the 'young, attractive' al-Sharaa would join the Abraham Accords, a signature foreign policy breakthrough of his first term, which saw the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalize relations with Israel. Prior to that prediction, al-Sharaa conveyed his openness to the Abraham Accords to both Mills and Stutzman during separate one-on-ones with the two reps, who were the first sitting members of Congress to visit Syria's new leader since the abrupt collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December. 6 Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is grappling with major stability concerns in his war-torn country. REUTERS Advertisement 6 The two Republican reps believed that Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa seemed open to Christians. REUTERS Stutzman claimed that al-Sharaa told him 'he would be open to the Abraham Accords' on two major conditions. '[For] the first one was, he said that Israel had a plan to divide the country up into separate parts. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what he told me, and he said that that would be a deal breaker,' Stutzman explained. 'He wants to keep Syria unified…any effort to divide the country into regional parts or sectarian parts was not acceptable.' 'The second one was the Golan Heights, and the encroachment around the Golan Heights — that they would have to negotiate with Israel further on that.' The Golan Heights — a major sticking point Advertisement The Syrian leader didn't specify whether joining the Abraham Accords would be contingent on getting back the Golan Heights, but simply stipulated that 'they would have to come to some agreement,' according to Stutzman's recollection. The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau in Syria's southwest region nestled between Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Israel took over the strip of land during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981. During the 1970s, Syria unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim the land during the Yom Kippur War. The brutal Assad family came into power in 1971 shortly before that war. The Trump administration formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019. Advertisement Historically, Syria has been adamant that no peace arrangement can be made with Israel until it relinquishes the Golan Heights, which the Jewish state views as a critical security buffer zone. 6 Rep. Cory Mills stressed the importance of trying to court Syria in this moment of upheaval. AP 'I don't think the Syrian government would abandon the sovereignty over the Golan Heights,' an incoming assistant minister for the Americas in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Syria told The Post. 'The Golan Heights are for all Syrians. They're not for President al-Sharaa to give away to anyone.' Qutaiba Idlbi, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Middle East Programs who leads its Syria work and was a refugee of the Assad regime, suggested the two sides could look to 'creative solutions' to address Israel's security concerns. 'I know some of the mediators, for example, have pushed for the idea to provide a long-term lease to Israel over the Golan Heights to kind of allow some time for confidence-building,' he said, 'and then have a conversation later after that lease is over about the future of that region.' Idlbi said he doesn't 'expect that President al-Sharaa would link a deal with Israel to a change in this situation in Palestine,' but noted that Syria is also already making overtures to Israel with efforts to crack down on terrorism. 'The issue of the Palestinian militias that are already in Syria have been raised in different meetings,' he said. 'The [Syrian] government has made it very clear that there will be no presence for any sort of military movement — whether Palestinian or not — on the Syrian land. 'That is already something that Syria is working on, regardless of whether you know there is a deal or not.' Advertisement 6 The Abraham Accords were one of President Trump's signature foreign policy achievements of his first term. AP 'A regional hero' While there are big hurdles in the way, Syria hypothetically joining the Abraham Accords would mark a monumental foreign policy breakthrough in the region. 'It's extremely significant,' Mills said, 'You're talking about the possibility of continual stability in the region and further recognition and protection of the great state of Israel.' Additionally, al-Sharaa's purported openness to a deal with Israel comes as he is seemingly trying to mend Syria's frayed relations with the West and Arab countries in the region. Advertisement 'As long as I've been alive, Syria has been under the Assad [family] regime,' Stutzman reflected. 'Al-Shara mentioned that he's already pushed Hezbollah out of Lebanon. He's pushing the Iranians out of Syria, and he's talking with the Qataris, Saudis and UAE to further trade and commerce.' 'He would be a regional hero if he were able to pull off the vision that he has for Syria.' Iran and Russia had long helped prop up the brutal Assad regime, which al-Sharaa fought against. Tehran has been heavily involved in Syrian telecommunications infrastructure, for example. During his meetings with Mills and Stutzman, al-Sharaa claimed that he had an offer from Russia on business and military support, but wanted to talk with the West first. Advertisement 6 President Trump met with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh last week. via REUTERS Sanction relief and concerns about Syria's potential collapse Last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman helped coordinate a meeting between al-Sharaa and Trump. The president then quickly decided to implement a 180-day waiver on sanctions against the war-torn country, a move that happened so quickly that his Treasury was reportedly caught off guard. 'Their economy is in the toilet,' Stutzman said. 'Letting the Syrian people rebuild their country is really important. And I also think that it keeps al-Shara open to the west, rather than being pushed back into the arms of the Russians or the Chinese.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio ominously warned the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday that Damascus could be on the brink of another civil war and argued that Congress may need to provide support. Advertisement 'It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks — not many months — away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up,' Rubio said during the committee hearing. 6 The nonprofit Syrian American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity organized the reps' unofficial visit to Syria last month. Photo Courtesy of Rep Cory Mills' Office Past ties to terrorism and elections in Syria There are plenty of skeptics of al-Sharaa in US foreign policy circles, given his past ties to Islamic extremism and affiliation with Al Qaeda, including during its activity in Iraq in 2003. Director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who met with Assad in 2017, ripped al-Sharaa as an 'Islamic extremist' who 'danced on the streets after 9/11.' 'I think, which is very important, is not to look at people's history and where they were,' Idlbi said. 'I think the question that we need to look at is who are the people now.' Another concern among observers has been Syria's push to wait five years before holding elections. Stutzman argued that al-Sharaa made a compelling case for the delay. 'He said that first of all, they needed to rebuild the government, or they needed to build a government there that could handle the elections,' the congressman recalled. 'It is going to take time for them to rebuild their country, find some sense of normalcy for them, and then they'll focus on the elections.' Their visit was unofficial and organized by the nonprofit group Syrian American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity.
Arab Times
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Syrian president meets US Congress member on an unofficial visit to Damascus
DAMASCUS, Syria, April 20, (AP): Syria's president on Saturday received a Republican member of Congress in the first visit to the country by American legislators since the ouster of former leader Bashar Assad in December. State news agency SANA did not give details about the meeting between President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Rep Cory Mills of Florida in the capital Damascus. It said the meeting was attended by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, and comes in the wake of calls by Syria's new rulers for the lifting of sanctions imposed by the US and other Western nations early in the conflict. Since arriving in Syria on an unofficial visit Friday, Mills and Rep Marlin Stutzman of Indiana toured parts of Damascus, including the old quarter as well as one of the oldest synagogues in the world that was badly damaged and looted during the country's 14-year conflict that killed half a million people. On Saturday, Stutzman visited the country's notorious Saydnaya Prison near Damascus, where tens of thousands of people were subjected to killings and torture during the 54-year rule of the Assad family. Al-Sharaa's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group led the offensive that captured Damascus in early December, forcing Assad and his family to flee to his ally Russia, where he was given asylum. Days after Assad was removed from power, the then-Biden administration decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for the capture of al-Sharaa, a former leader of al-Qaida's branch in Syria. The announcement in December followed a meeting between al-Sharaa and then top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into post-Assad Syria. The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government and Washington has not yet lifted harsh sanctions that were imposed during Assad's rule. After visiting the prison, Stutzman told reporters that he saw that the people of Syria now have energy and optimism, adding that as the country's new government makes decisions, "it will be very helpful having the United States understand what the changes are here and that the sanctions lifted would be a huge economic boom.' Any move to lift sanctions "would be President Trump's decision,' he said.
LBCI
19-04-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
US congressmen visit Syria in first trip since Assad's ouster
Two U.S. Congress members landed in Damascus on Friday to meet Syrian officials, the first visit by American lawmakers to the war-ravaged country since Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power by an Islamist-led rebel offensive in December. The two are U.S. Representatives Cory Mills of Florida, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana. Both are members of President Donald Trump's Republican Party. Mills met new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday night, said a person in the delegation. They discussed U.S. sanctions and Iran during a 90-minute meeting. The source said Stutzman was set to meet on Saturday with Sharaa, still under U.S. and UN sanctions for his previous ties to al Qaeda. Asked about meeting a leader still sanctioned by Washington, Stutzman cited examples of Trump's administration engaging with Iranian and North Korean leaders. 'We shouldn't be afraid to talk to anybody,' he said, and said he was eager to see how Syria would deal with foreign fighters and rule the country's diverse population inclusively. Mills and Stutzman toured parts of the Syrian capital destroyed by the war, met with Christian religious leaders and plan to meet other Syrian government ministers. 'There's an opportunity here - these opportunities come around once in a lifetime,' Stutzman told Reuters. 'I don't want Syria pushed into the arms of China, or back into the arms of Russia and Iran.' The congressmen's visit was organized by the Syrian American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity. Stutzman said Syrians in Damascus spoke to him about Israel's strikes on the country, which have targeted military sites in the south as well as around the capital. Israel has also sent ground troops into parts of southern Syria, and has lobbied the U.S. to keep Syria weak and decentralized. 'My hope is that a strong government is established in Syria that is supportive of the people of Syria, and the people of Syria support the government - and that the relationship between Israel and Syria can be a strong relationship. I think that's possible, honestly I do,' he said. Reuters
National News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- National News
US congressmen visit Syria in first trip since al-Assad's ouster
NNA - Two US lawmakers, Representatives Cory Mills of Florida and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, arrived in Damascus on Friday—marking the first visit by American congressional representatives since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. A member of the delegation said Mills met with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) on Friday evening. The two held a 90-minute discussion focused on US sanctions and Iran. The source added that Stutzman is expected to meet with Sharaa today, despite the Syrian leader remaining under both US and UN sanctions. When questioned about engaging with a sanctioned figure, Stutzman pointed to the Trump administration's previous outreach to Iran and North Korea. 'We shouldn't be afraid to talk to anybody,' he said. 'There's an opportunity here—these opportunities come around once in a lifetime,' Stutzman added. 'I don't want Syria pushed into the arms of China, or back into the arms of Russia and Iran.' --- (Reuters)
