Rep. Huffman Backs Obama on Syria, Blasts Republicans for Obamacare Repeal Attempts

The few days since Larkspur and Corte Madera's Congressman Jared Huffman returned to Washington, D.C., after the August recess have been busy ones.

Just minutes after President Barack Obama finished telling the nation Tuesday night that a suitable alternative to U.S. military action in Syria would be that country's leader turning over his alleged chemical weapons, Huffman issued a statement backing the president.

In it, Rep. Huffman, D-San Rafael, said that diplomatic action is a far better choice than military action:

“The President did the right thing by postponing the vote in Congress and acknowledging that we have a new diplomatic channel that deserves pursuing," Huffman said. "Getting Assad’s chemical weapons stockpiles into international custody and destroying them is a far better solution than military action, which should always be a last resort. I support the administration’s efforts through the United Nations to eliminate these chemical weapons stockpiles. I will also continue to work in Congress to hold perpetrators of war crimes in Syria accountable.

Toward that end, I am co-sponsoring legislation introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-VA) directing the President to seek a special war crimes tribunal through the United Nations, as we saw in the wake of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, to show that chemical weapons and other crimes against humanity will not be tolerated by the international community.”

Huffman represents the Second Congressional District, which includes all of Marin and stretches north along the coast to the Oregon border.

One day later, on the heels of House Republicans’ 41st attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, Huffman issued another statement:

“Instead of finally passing a five-month-overdue budget, passing a farm bill, comprehensive immigration reform or ending sequestration, House Republican Leadership has decided to waste even more time on the 41st pointless attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act,” Huffman said.

With mere weeks left to avoid a government shutdown, this is no time to dither away our time with tired partisan stunts that have no chance of bipartisan support, let alone a chance of being signed into law. This is no way to govern, and the House must stop wasting time and get back to work.”

Do you agree with Congressman Huffman on each of these issues? Is trying to get chemical weapons out of the hands of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad without military action the right move? And should Obamacare, signed into law three years ago and not yet implemented, be repealed? Tell us in the comments section below.