WASHINGTON – Late Thursday night news broke that President Donald Trump authorized airstrikes in Syria. Now Minnesota’s Senators are speaking out about the attack.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) went on Fox News this morning to explain her stance.
“I think it was the right thing to do, but that being said, going forward I think we should have an authorization of military force if in fact there are going to be additional actions taken,” Klobuchar said.
She followed up the interview with a tweet, calling the chemical attack an “atrocity.”
Briefing today at 1. Using chemical weapons is an atrocity & that's why attack was on airbase. Going forward admin must consult w/congress
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) April 7, 2017
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) also released a statement echoing Klobuchar’s viewpoint on the attack.
“President Bashar al-Assad’s horrific use of chemical weapons on his own people is a grave violation of international norms, and I believe the administration’s strike on a Syrian military installation was an appropriate response,” Franken said. “But any further military escalation should not be done unilaterally and needs the approval of Congress.”
Franken also used the opportunity to take a shot at President Trump’s stance on refugees who are trying to escape “this kind of horror.”
“This incident underscores the brutality of the Assad regime and I hope it prompts President Trump to reconsider his position on accepting carefully vetted Syrian refugees who are trying to escape this kind of horror,” he added.
The airstrike was in response to President Bashar Assad’s chemical attack on his own people, killing scores of innocent civilians including children earlier this week. Missiles were launched at a Syrian airfield that was home to the warplanes that carried out the deadly attack.
According to the Syrian Armed Forces General Command, six people were killed in the airstrike. While Trump called for prayer for those injured or killed in the attack, he stood by the decision saying the attack was in “vital national security interest.”
“We ask for God’s wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world,” Trump said Thursday night following the attack. “We pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed and we hope that as long as America stands for justice then peace and harmony will in the end prevail.”