By Tim Canova

Besides being a U.S. House Representative from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard has also served a 12-month tour in Iraq and is currently a Major in the Hawaii Army National Guard.

Since 2011, nearly half a million Syrians have been killed, 6.3 million have been displaced, and millions more have been reduced to utter destitution, according to Christian Solidarity International (CSI-USA), an international human rights organization. The Syrian war has also led to the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II and one of the largest humanitarian crises of all time.

U.S. policy should not be providing money, training, weapons, intelligence, and anti-tank missiles to terrorist groups allied with Al-Qaeda, Islamic State in Iraq & Syria (ISIS), or other offshoot groups. If we have learned nothing else from the failures of the Bush administration’s war in Iraq and the more recent war of regime change in Libya, it’s the folly of overthrowing secular regimes, however repressive, in the heart of the Middle East. As we’ve seen in Iraq and Libya, the resulting power vacuum will be filled by the most violent extremists supported by competing regional powers, particularly Saudi Arabia and Iran. The resulting chaos is never contained within the region. Instead, we’ve seen growing terrorist attacks and threats all over the world, including in the U.S. and Europe.

Congressional action is needed. That’s why I support a bipartisan proposal, the “Stop Arming Terrorists Act of 2017” (S. 532 and H.R. 608), introduced by Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) to prohibit the U.S. government from using taxpayer dollars to provide arms or any kind of support to terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, or the countries that are providing direct or indirect support to such groups.

I am not waiting to be elected to Congress to take a stand on this issue. In addition, I have called for arms control and arms reduction agreements, not just for weapons of mass destruction, but also for all kinds of conventional weapons sold to dangerous regimes around the world. We do not need more huge weapons sales to belligerents or more covert programs that arm terrorist groups.

According to James Lyon, Retired U.S. Navy Admiral and former commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, “There is no such thing as a moderate Jihadi terrorist arming one group of terrorists to fight another group of terrorists, which can only have one outcome: more terrorism. It’s time to slam the door on a wrong-headed and self-defeating policy.”

“This madness must end, we must stop arming terrorists,” said Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a veteran of two tours of duty in Iraq. “The government must end this hypocrisy and abide by the same laws that apply to its citizens,” Tulsi added while introducing this bill on the House floor.

This legislation would do the following:

Make it illegal for U.S government funds to be used to provide assistance to terrorists, including with weapons, munitions, intelligence, logistics, training, or cash;

Prohibit the U.S. government from providing such assistance to any nation that has given or continues to give such support to terrorists;

Instruct the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to determine the individuals and groups that should be considered terrorists, including those affiliated or cooperating with Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Faten Al-Sham, or ISIS;

Instruct the DNI to determine the countries that are providing assistance to such terrorist groups or individuals;

Require the DNI to work with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, House Armed Services Committee, and the Select Committee on Intelligence to review and update the list of prohibited countries and terrorist groups every six months.

I believe a strong America has an obligation to be the leader for peace in the world. This must be a bipartisan priority, to work for arms control and arms reduction, including for conventional weapons, to ensure a safer America and a safer world.

Building a more peaceful world will require the political will in all major arms producing countries to convert some significant portion of weapons manufacturing to useful civilian industries — to beat swords into plowshares and for people and nations to finally reach peaceful resolutions to their age old conflicts. These efforts will require all of our support everyday.