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Gillibrand, Schumer split on arming rebels

Sep 19, 2014 12:45 am
Tom Brune in Newsday reports that New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, split their votes on arming Syrian rebels against the so-called Islamic State. Schumer, voted with President Barack Obama, and the Republican and Democratic leadership, to fund the rebel force. The Senate voted 78-22 to fund the government through mid-December, including the Syrian aid."I don't think arming the rebels in this instance is necessarily going to be productive," Gillibrand said in an interview on "Face the Nation" on Sept. 14. "We spent years training the Iraqi forces, the Iraqi police forces, the Iraqi military forces, and ISIS was able to cut through them like butter." On Sept. 17, Rep. Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook) voted against the funding, which passed the House 273-156. Read the full story in Newsday.