U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave several interviews today to explain both the Syria chemical attacks situation and the President’s decision to seek authorization for military action against Syria from Congress.

Here are full transcripts of those interviews.

For the sake of (a little) brevity, introductions, pleasantries and interruptions have been deleted.

Source: State Department

Interview With Major Garrett of CBS Face the Nation

QUESTION: Now, Mr. Secretary, I know you believe the President’s decision to seek congressional authorization is courageous, but isn’t it bowing to a political reality that had been communicated to the President later, late this week, that there would be significant congressional backlash if he didn’t give Congress a role and that backlash in part reflected the inability of the Administration to make its case this past week?

SECRETARY KERRY: Major, I just disagree with that premise in all accounts. The fact is that the President clearly had a sufficient case presented to the American people that Assad had engaged in an outrageous crime against humanity and that it was vital to take steps. But I think the President realized in consultations with the Congress that people wanted to weigh in, and he believed after thinking about it that the United States of America is much stronger when we act in concert. Rather than have the debate after an attack be all about our constitutional process or did the President abuse his power or was it correct, and have weeks of sort of being torn apart about that, the President felt it was much more important for us to act with unity of purpose and in a concerted way.

I think this is not just a courageous decision, I think it’s the right decision. Since when is it wrong for the President of the United States to ask the Congress, the elected body that represents the people of America, to weigh in? I think it’s important and I think we will be stronger for it.

QUESTION: But as you, Secretary Kerry, at the White House all week there was this intense sense of urgency about a response and about a punishment and about immediately upholding what was said over and over again is an international norm. Now that has been delayed for a couple of weeks at least. Are you in any way disappointed that your advocacy for a swift response was overridden?

SECRETARY KERRY: Wrong. I did not advocate that the response had to be swift. In fact, I often said we needed to take time to do certain things. I think that – I’m not going to go into the deliberative process and tell you what I said or someone said to the President of the United States, but I will tell you that there was an appropriate, deliberative process by which we made – we had a discussion as to whether or not there ought to be some kind of military action. The question of when and how is entirely the President of the United States’, and until he makes that decision, no decision is made.
So I didn’t feel – no, on the contrary. The President called me on a Friday evening – or I can’t remember, he called me in the evening and went through his thinking. He looked for different points of view from people and he made his decision. And I think it’s the right decision. The President has decided to take military action.

Now, he also decided that it would be much stronger for our country and have much greater impact and allow us much greater latitude going forward in terms of how we address Syria if we have the Congress of the United States backing it. He also felt that that was a very important message, if you will, to Iran, to North Korea, and to others not only about our democratic process but most importantly that we are prepared to uphold the norms of international behavior as a country and that we are united behind that, and that that gives greater impact to whatever choices we might face in other places in the future.

QUESTION: From now until this vote is conducted, will this be your top priority and will it be the President’s top priority to get this vote won in Congress?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, of course, it is critical that we go through the process of explaining to Congress. But each day that goes by, Major, this case is getting stronger. I mean, today I’m at liberty to tell you that we now have samples back from first responders in east Damascus. Those samples of hair and blood have been tested and they have reported positive for signatures of sarin.

So we are now getting a stronger case each day, and I think that makes even more compelling that the Congress of the United States be counted with the President in this effort so that Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, all of our friends and allies in the region will know that the United States is acting in concert in a way that really sends a powerful message about our credibility, about our intentions to uphold international norms, and that will have an impact on other decisions down the road – and I’m very explicit about it – with respect to Iran and North Korea or others. The credibility of the United States is on the line here, and I believe that Congress will do the right thing.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Elizabeth Palmer, who is with us in Damascus, has talked to some on the Syrian opposition, and she talked with a spokesperson for the Syrian Military Council, who told her yesterday, and I quote, “We no longer count on America or any other country. We only count on ourselves and our rebels. We now realize that the whole world is mocking us, mocking our feelings and mocking our blood.” Is this delay a mocking of the Syrian opposition and the blood it shed to try to oust the Syrian regime?

SECRETARY KERRY: Of course not. This delay is a serious intent by the President of the United States to seek the strongest position possible for military action that was directed specifically at the Assad regime in order to deter and degrade the use of chemical weapons. It is also a period of time during which we can build a stronger approach with our allies, we can tweak and refocus some of our energies on support for the opposition, and I hope that kind of comment will be digested carefully by the members of Congress who will recognize that that will be the result if they don’t support the President in the effort to uphold this international norm.

So I believe that – and I talked yesterday with the president of the opposition, with President Jarba. I hope he understands the seriousness of purpose here. We will do a better job, and in fact, work with important voices like John McCain and Lindsey Graham and others who believe more should be done. I believe there is a way to support the opposition and in effect come up with a stronger approach and a stronger presentation of America’s determination here.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you’re saying something and I want to make sure I pin you down accurately on this. A couple of things. The opposition has also said they hope this debate will open the way for more direct covert arming of the opposition, which as you know still hasn’t arrived. MREs and medical kits have, but weapons haven’t. They want weapons to come with this authorization. And are you suggesting that if Congress goes ahead and authorizes this, this will be a more forceful, memorable military strike than it would have been had the President acted alone?

SECRETARY KERRY: No, what I’m saying is – what I’m saying is, Major, is that first of all, I can’t and I’m not going to discuss what may or may not be happening in terms of any kind of covert program. But I will assure you the President has made the commitment, he’s announced it publicly, that he intends to provide additional support to the opposition.

The President has drawn a clear line. He is not seeking to have America assume responsibility for Syria’s civil war. He does not intend to put boots on the ground. He is not going to envelope the United States inside Syria’s civil struggle.

But he has committed to help the opposition and he has stated unequivocably that Assad has lost all legitimacy and cannot conceivably continue to govern, ultimately, in Syria. The President is committed through the Geneva negotiation process and the implementation of the original Geneva communique to have a transition government in Syria and to help support the effort to get there.

Interview With George Stephanopoulos of ABC This Week

QUESTION: Thank you for joining us, Mr. Secretary. And I’m just wondering, did you have any inkling when you gave that forceful speech Friday afternoon that the President was about to hit the pause button a military strike?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the President hadn’t made any decision on a military strike, George. I was asked to make the case for why we needed to take action, but the President always maintained the prerogative as to when or what he might decide to do. And I think the President’s made a very courageous and right, correct decision with respect to asking the Congress to weigh in, because the United States is much stronger when we act in unity.

QUESTION: And are you comfortable with Congress waiting until next week for a vote and confident the war resolution will pass?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, George, in a sense we’re not really waiting. We’ve been briefing as of yesterday, the day before, there’s a briefing today. There will be classified briefings Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. As you know the Jewish holidays begin on Wednesday evening. And we think that that helps us build the case, answer the questions of a lot of people who have to vote on a very serious issue.

It also gives us time to reach out to allies, friends around the world, build support on an international basis. And I think, ultimately, we can proceed – the President can proceed and our nation can proceed – from a much stronger position. I think we never lose, ever, in America when the Congress of the United States has a chance to weigh in and join the President in this kind of an endeavor.

QUESTION: But you would lose if you lost the vote, wouldn’t you?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I don’t contemplate that, George. I think the stakes are just really too high here. I mean, let me just tell you what is happening each day as we go by. I can tell you today, Sunday, that we now have evidence from hair and blood samples from first responders in east Damascus, the people who came to help, we have signatures of sarin in their hair and blood samples. So the case is growing stronger by the day, and I believe that as we go forward here in the next days the Congress will recognize that we cannot allow Assad to be able to gas people with impunity.

If the United States is unwilling to lead a coalition of people who are prepared to stand up for the international norm with respect to chemical weapons that’s been in place since 1925, if we are unwilling to do that, we will be granting a blanket license to Assad to continue to gas and we will send a terrible message to the North Koreans, Iranians, and others who might be trying to read how serious is America about enforcing its nonproliferation, counter-nuclear weapons initiatives. This goes to the core of American credibility in foreign policy, and I believe the Congress of the United States will understand that and do the right thing.

QUESTION: I know you don’t contemplate a loss, but what if the votes aren’t there? Will the President act anyway?

SECRETARY KERRY: The President has the right – as you know, George, the President of the United States has the right to take this action, doesn’t have to go to Congress, but he does so with the belief – and this is why I think it’s courageous – the President knows that America is stronger when we act in unity. And I think if each Congress – member of Congress looks at this case carefully, as they will, and makes judgments about what has happened, and then measured it against the stakes for our ally Israel, against our interests with respect to Iran, our interests with respect to Hezbollah, with respect to North Korea, nonproliferation enforcement of an almost 100-year-old prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, as America weighs – as the Congress weighs the potential damage to America’s credibility in the world, I think the members of Congress will choose to do the right thing, and so does the President.

QUESTION: But if I hear you correctly, you’re saying the President is going to act no matter what. Meanwhile —

SECRETARY KERRY: No, I said the President has the right to act and —

SECRETARY KERRY: And – George, we are not going to lose this vote. The President of the United States is committed to securing the unity of purpose that
he believes strengthens America, and I believe the Congress will see that that’s the responsible thing to do here.

QUESTION: They are already declaring victory in Syria this morning – the Assad regime.

SECRETARY KERRY: Assad has said a lot of things in the course of this. I think the more he stands up and crows, the more he will help this decision to be made correctly. I am very, very confident that as this case is made to people, the Congress will recognize and the American people will come to see. The President is talking about a military action geared to deter the use of chemical weapons and geared to diminish Assad’s capacity, to degrade his capacity to be able to carry out those strikes. The President is not talking about taking over this civil war. The President is not talking about boots on the ground. But the President is talking about doing something that upholds this international norm, and I think makes it clear to Assad that much worse could happen if he were to continue to use these weapons.

The alternative for the Congress and for the world is that you grant Assad and people like him complete impunity and you totally tear down the entire international process of accountability that has been built up over all these years. I do not believe members of Congress or other countries believe that’s in anybody’s interest.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is there anything Assad can do now to avoid a strike? What if he turned over his stockpile of chemical weapons?

SECRETARY KERRY: We are obviously looking hard at what we can do to try to diplomatically move in ways that could secure the weapons. Russia and others may be able to play a role in that. There are a number of different proposals on the table. But that doesn’t mean the United States shouldn’t proceed to make it clear that the authorization will be given to the President in order to guarantee that we do not have more chemical attacks similar to the one that we saw the other day, and also recognizing that this is one of many attacks that Assad is now engaged in.

I think that the evidence here is so clear and so powerful that it provides us with a number of different options, but the most important one to have authority for right now is the ability to take this strike.

QUESTION: You say that the evidence is so clear, but President Putin – and you mentioned Russia – calling it “utter nonsense” that President Assad would authorize this kind of a chemical strike, the President heading to Russia this week. Your response to President Putin?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I would – and we’ve offered the – our friend – we’ve offered the Russians previously to have a briefing on this. In fact, we sent people over to Russia who provided evidence we had with respect to the last ones. And they chose – I literally mean chose – not to believe it or to at least acknowledge publicly. I think this evidence is going to be overwhelming. If the President of Russia chooses yet again to ignore it, that’s his choice.

But the United States and our friends need to make the decisions that we need to make based on the rational presentation of that evidence. We will lay it out there for everybody to judge. We’ve actually gone overboard in this case, George, to declassify certain things, to put things out there that normally wouldn’t be available in terms of intelligence, and I think it’s going to be very, very hard for anybody, ultimately, to ignore it.

My hope is that the Russians will recognize that Assad crossed a line here. We’re working very closely with the Russians on the Geneva negotiation potential, and my hope is they would rededicate themselves to that and perhaps even join us in an effort at the United Nations to hold Assad accountable.

QUESTION: Finally, sir, one of the other challenges you’re facing in Congress is from those who believe that the President’s strategy does not go far enough. Senators McCain and Graham put out a statement yesterday where they say, “We cannot in good conscience support isolated military strikes in Syria that are not part of an overall strategy that can change the momentum on the battlefield, achieve the President’s stated goal of Assad’s removal from power, and bring an end to this conflict.” Why not go that far?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’ve talked to John McCain and Lindsey Graham. I’ve talked to Lindsey yesterday and I – they’re good friends of mine and I respect them both. And I am convinced that we can find common ground here with them and others so that they are convinced that the strategy that is in place will in fact help the opposition, that there will be additional pressure, and at the same time that this is not just an isolated pinprick, but something that can have a profound impact on Assad’s ability to use these weapons which he has been using and will use again if we don’t do something about it. And I think they will come to that conclusion.

I don’t think they will want to vote, ultimately, to put Israel at risk and not to enforce the message with respect to other interests in the world. But most importantly, I believe they can be and will be satisfied that a strategy is in place in order to help the opposition and to change the dynamics of what is happening in Syria.

QUESTION: And finally, sir, what do you say to so many Americans who worry that we’re going to get sucked into a wider war?

SECRETARY KERRY: This is not Iraq. This is not Afghanistan. There is nothing similar in what the President is contemplating. We do not need to do that in this case because there are others who are willing to fight, others who are engaged; and the issue here is not whether we will go and do it with them, it’s whether we will support them adequately in their efforts to do it.

I think the President has drawn a very, very bright line with respect to that. He has no intention – zero intention – of putting boots on the ground, and this military action that he is seeking approval for is directed at the upholding of the international norm on the prohibition of chemical weapons. It is not focused on the larger battlefield and interests in the regime. The political effort is totally focused on getting Assad out through the Geneva process, on supporting the opposition, and the President will continue to do that.

Interview With David Gregory of NBC Meet the Press

QUESTION: Let me get right to it. It’s been a jarring 48 hours in the run-up to a potential conflict with Syria. On Friday, the President dispatched you, the Secretary of State, to make the case to the country and the world that the Assad regime used chemical weapons, and you spoke with passion and great strength. This is what you said:

“It matters because if we choose to live in a world where a thug and a murderer like Bashar al-Assad can gas thousands of his own people with impunity, even after the United States and our allies said no, and then the world does nothing about it, there will be no end to the test of our resolve and the dangers that will flow from those others who believe that they can do as they will.”

That was Friday. Saturday morning, the President decides, in an abrupt change, to delay and seek congressional authority. You were making the case for a military strike. Why the abrupt change?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the case remains the same, David. The President of the United States has made his decision. His decision is to take military action in response to this outrageous attack, this affront against the decency and sensibilities of the world. I mean, Bashar al-Assad now joins a list of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein who have used these weapons in time of war. This is of great consequence to Israel, to Jordan, to Turkey, to the region, and to all of us who care about enforcing the international norm with respect to chemical weapons.

SECRETARY KERRY: So the President has made the decision. He has made the decision that he believes we need to take a military strike. But the military understands that whether that happens this week or next week is not going to make the difference with respect to sending the message. The message remains the same. And it’s a message, I might add, that any President of the United States and any Congress ought to seek to enforce. Use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, and we cannot – cannot – stand by and allow that to happen and create an impunity for its use. That would be the end of the chemical weapons norm, and that’s why the President has made the decision.

Now, why go to Congress? Because the United States of America is stronger when the Congress of the United States, representing the people, and the President of the United States are acting together. And the President wants that strength represented in this initiative.

QUESTION: You’re making the case, Mr. Secretary, which I understand, as you made it on Friday. I think I’m still trying to understand the abrupt shift. I know that you and others on the national security team, based on my own reporting, were opposed to the President seeking congressional authority —

SECRETARY KERRY: No, that’s —

QUESTION: — thinking that he didn’t need it. The reaction from the Syrian state media is that this is a beginning, they say, of an historic American retreat. Do you feel undermined? Do you think the United States has undermined its leverage in the world, its credibility, having ramped up the specter of military action as being imminent and then saying, well no, we’re going to go to Congress first?

SECRETARY KERRY: David, I completely disagree with the fundamental premise that you set out. No, I did not oppose going, nor did anybody else that I know of originally. The issue originally was: Should the President of the United States take action in order to enforce the credibility and the interests of our country and to deter Assad from using these weapons and to degrade his capacity to do so? That was the issue, and that’s the issue that we debated. There was no decision not to do that, and the President has the right to do that, and we argued – argued – we discussed the options in the context of his right to take that action.

The President then made the decision that he thought we would be stronger and the United States would act with greater moral authority and greater strength if we acted in a united way. He didn’t think it was worthwhile acting and having the Syrians and a whole bunch of other folks looking at the United States arguing about whether or not it was legitimate or should he have done it or should he have moved faster. He believes we need to move. He’s made his decision. Now it’s up to the Congress of the United States to join him in affirming the international norm with respect to enforcement against the use of chemical weapons.

QUESTION: But you look at the polling. Our NBC News poll released late in the week, 50 percent of those asked oppose a military strike. The British vote in parliament failed as a vote for military strikes. And the abrupt shift now, does it undermine U.S. credibility or will it be seen as careful deliberation?

SECRETARY KERRY: I hope and pray it will be seen as careful deliberation, as an appropriate exercise of American constitutional process. The United States is strongest when the Congress speaks with the President, when the American people are invested because we’ve had an appropriate vetting of all of the facts.

Let me just add this morning a very important recent development that in the last 24 hours we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States and that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of sarin.

So this case is building and this case will build, and I don’t believe that my former colleagues in the United States Senate, in the House, will turn their backs on all of our interests, on the credibility of our country, on the norm with respect to the enforcement of the prohibition against the use of chemical weapons which has been in place since 1925. The Congress adopted the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Congress has passed the Syria Accountability act. Congress has a responsibility here, too. And I think that Congress will recognize that and realize that our interests with respect to Iran – we are hoping we have a diplomatic resolution of this standoff on the nuclear program in Iran, but if we don’t, Iran will read – importantly – what we decide to do with respect to the enforcement of this convention in Syria.

SECRETARY KERRY: Likewise, Israel. Israel is at risk, Jordan is at risk, Turkey is at risk, the region is at risk, and we believe that the Congress of the United States will do what is responsible.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I just want to underline the news you made this morning. This is a sarin gas attack perpetrated by the Assad regime, this is a slam dunk case that he did it?

SECRETARY KERRY: We don’t – the words “slam dunk” should be retired from American national security issues. We are saying that the high confidence that the intelligence community has expressed and the case that I laid out the other day is growing stronger by the day. We know where this attack came from. We know exactly where it went. We know what happened exactly afterwards. We know that preparations were being taken before for this attack. We know that people were told to use their gas masks to prepare for the use of a chemical barrage. We also know that after it took place, they acknowledged that they had done it and were worried about the consequences and whether the UN inspectors were going to find out.

I think this is a very powerful case, and the President is confident that as that case is presented to the United States Congress and the American people, people will recognize that the world cannot stand aside —

SECRETARY KERRY: — and allow an Assad or anybody else to break an almost 100-year-old acceptance that these weapons are not to be used.
QUESTION: So here’s the fundamental question: The President’s made his decision, you say, to take military action. If you go to Congress and Congress says no, you don’t have our authority to strike, will the President move forward with military action against Syria anyway?

SECRETARY KERRY: David, let me be very blunt. I do not believe the Congress of the United States will turn its back on this moment. I think the interests that we have with respect to potential future confrontation – hopefully not – but the challenge of Iran, the challenges of the region, the challenge of standing up for and standing beside our ally Israel, helping to shore up Jordan – all of these things are very, very powerful interests —

QUESTION: Understood. But if Congress says —

SECRETARY KERRY: — and I believe —

QUESTION: But if Congress says – if Congress says no?

SECRETARY KERRY: I believe Congress will pass it. I believe Congress will pass it.

QUESTION: If Congress says no, the President will act regardless of what Congress says?

SECRETARY KERRY: I said that the President has the authority to act, but the Congress is going to do what’s right here.

QUESTION: You know there’s a debate and the debate will continue in Congress about the future of Assad and what the United States actually ought to do. The President talked about narrow, limited action, almost punishment against Assad. You’ve called Assad a murderer and a thug. In the past, the President has said that he has to go. You know Senator McCain and others have said that they would only support a strategy that ultimately topples Assad. Why not go beyond something that’s limited and narrow? Why not try to erode his conventional capability and indeed even try to topple him from power?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me draw a distinction here, David. The President of the United States has said that Assad must go, and that is the policy of the United States. But we do not believe that this military action the President has decided to take should be more than an effort to try to deter and prevent the use of chemical weapons and to degrade his capacity to use those weapons. So the military operation is not calculated to become involved in the effort to topple him, but the political operation and the support for the opposition is. And the President of the United States, as you know, has declared that we will provide additional support to the opposition. We do not believe there is any scenario under which Assad can continue with any kind of authority whatsoever to govern in Syria.

And so yes, the policy is politically through the Geneva process, through our commitment to the ultimate negotiated settlement that will have to take place, there is no future for Assad in that governance. But this military operation is specifically geared to prevent a future chemical attack and to deter and to degrade the Assad capacity to be able to do that. And let me be clear: Whatever the President ultimately decides to do in that context, I assure you Assad will feel its impact and they will know that something has happened.

QUESTION: Before I let you go, how can Americans feel confident that America’s first strike against Syria in this civil war will be its last?
SECRETARY KERRY: David, that will depend on whether Assad decides to use chemical weapons or not. The President of the United States does not intend to and does not want to see the United States assume responsibility for Syria’s civil war. That is not what he is setting out to do. What he is setting out to do is enforce the norm with respect to international Convention on Chemical Weapons, and it is targeted to do that. It will clearly have an impact on Assad’s military capacity.

But we will continue and we will even, I think, sharpen the focus of our efforts to support the opposition, to work with allies and friends in the region, all of whom understand that Assad has lost any legitimacy as the leader of Syria and to try to hold Syria together with a political solution that can be achieved through the Geneva process. And we will continue to work with Russia in conjunction with us in that effort to try to achieve that political settlement. That is our top priority. That is the fundamental objective of all of our efforts; it is to recognize that there isn’t ultimately a military solution; there has to be a negotiated political solution, and the President remains deeply committed to that.

Interview With Chris Wallace of FOX News Sunday

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you made the case for military action in the strongest possible terms on Friday. If the situation is so dire, if Bashar al-Assad is such a thug, why is the President waiting until Congress comes back nine days from now to debate this? Why not call them into session tomorrow and begin this debate and get an approval to act?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Chris, the case hasn’t changed and the case doesn’t change at all. The rationale for the military response the President has requested is as powerful today and will be as powerful if not more powerful each day. The fact is that yesterday we have now learned that hair and blood samples that have come to us from east Damascus from individuals who were engaged as first responders in east Damascus, I can report to you today they have tested positive for signatures of sarin. So this case is going to build stronger and stronger, and the President believes that the United States of America, for a decision like this, is stronger when you have the time to be able to have the support of the United States Congress and obviously the support of the American people through them.

So I think that America is stronger here. That’s the President’s belief. I think people should be celebrating that the President is, in fact, not moving unilaterally, that he’s honoring the request that he heard from many people in Congress to consult and to be engaged with them, and I think realizing that the Assad regime is already on the defensive. They are being significantly impacted by the potential of these strikes. We do not lose anything, we actually gain, and what we gain is the legitimacy of the full-throated response of the Congress of the United States and the President acting together after our democratic process has worked properly.

QUESTION: But Mr. Secretary, this isn’t CSI, this isn’t a civics lesson. People’s lives are at stake, as I don’t have to tell you, on the ground in Syria. In your remarks on Friday, you said that this matters and it matters beyond the borders of Syria. Take a look:

“It is about whether Iran, which itself has been a victim of chemical weapons attacks, will now feel emboldened, in the absence of action, to obtain nuclear weapons. It is about Hezbollah, and North Korea.”

Mr. Secretary, what message are we sending to Iran and Hezbollah and North Korea when the President announces he thinks we should take military action but he’s going to wait nine days for Congress to come back before he takes any action, and then he goes off and plays a round of golf? What message does that send to the rebels on the ground whose lives are in danger and to our enemies who are watching?

SECRETARY KERRY: I think, actually, North Korea and Iran ought to take note that the United States of America has the confidence in its democratic process to be able to ask all of the American people to join in an action that could have profound implications with respect to Iran. The fact is that if we act and if we act in concert, then Iran will know that this nation is capable of speaking with one voice on something like this, and that has serious, profound implications, I think, with respect to the potential of a confrontation over their nuclear program. That is one of the things that is at stake here. I said that. You just quoted it. That and America’s willingness to enforce the international norm on chemical weapons.

I think we are stronger and the President believes we’re stronger when the Congress of the United States joins in this. I mean, Congress can’t have it both ways; you can’t sit there and say, well, you’ve got to consult with us and we ought to honor the constitutional process and Congress has the right to make its voice heard in these decisions, and the President is giving them that opportunity, and I think you should welcome it, Chris, and the Congress and the country should welcome this.

SECRETARY KERRY: It’s a healthy debate, it’s an important debate, and we do not lose anything militarily in the meantime. If Assad were to decide —

QUESTION: The refugees on the ground lose something, sir. They lose the possibility that they’re going to get killed in the meantime. Let me just, if I may, follow up. Ronald Reagan didn’t think he needed congressional approval to go after Qadhafi in Libya. Bill Clinton didn’t think that he needed approval to go after Kosovo or to go after al-Qaida. This President seems to think he needs political cover.

SECRETARY KERRY: Actually – actually, Chris, at the very instant the planes were in the air on Kosovo, there was a vote in the House of Representatives and the vote didn’t carry. So the truth is the President would have loved to have had the support from Congress. The fact is that our country is much stronger when we act together. I’m amazed that you would argue against the Congress of the United States weighing in when, in fact, already Assad is on the defensive, he’s moving assets around, he’s hunkering down, he’s taking a response to the potential of a strike. And the fact is that this strike can have impact when it needs to with the support of the Congress of the United States.

Now, if the Assad regime —

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just finish. If the Assad regime were to be foolish enough to attack yet again and do something in the meantime, of course, the President of the United States knows he has the power to do this and I assume the President would move very, very rapidly. But he feels we are stronger in getting the United States as a whole to gel around this policy, to understand it better, and to know what the strategy is and why the United States needs to do this.

QUESTION: What if Congress refuses to authorize action? What happens then?

SECRETARY KERRY: I don’t believe that’s going to happen. I think the stakes of upholding the international standard of behavior that has been in place since 1925 after World War I that only Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein have breached that in time of war since then, and now Assad joins them. I think to contemplate that the Congress of the United States would turn its back on Israel, on Jordan, on Turkey, on our allies in the region, turn its back on the innocent Syrian people who’ve been slaughtered by this gas and those who yet may be subject to an attack if we don’t stand up to this, I can’t contemplate that the Congress would turn its back on all of that responsibility and the fact that would have, in fact, granted impunity to a ruthless dictator to continue to gas his people. Those are the stakes —

SECRETARY KERRY: — and I don’t believe the Congress will do that.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you make it sound as if this was always the plan, but the fact is on Friday when you made your speech, you made a powerful call for quick action. You seemed to be leading the charge up the hill and the —

SECRETARY KERRY: Chris, I made a powerful call for action. I never mentioned the word “quick.” I made the case for why we needed to take action. I talked about —

QUESTION: You talked about taking a decision now. If I may though, sir, the White House —

SECRETARY KERRY: The President has taken – the President has taken his decision, Chris. The President announced his decision yesterday.

QUESTION: But nothing’s going to happen for 10 days.

SECRETARY KERRY: His decision is to take – well, Chris, it will happen with the consent of the Congress of the United States and be much more powerful and, I believe, allow us to even do more coordinating with our friends and allies, do more planning, and frankly, be far more effective.

SECRETARY KERRY: I think this is a smart decision by the President. I think it’s a courageous decision. He is not trying to create an imperial presidency; he’s trying to respect the process by which we are strongest in this country.

SECRETARY KERRY: And I think Congress and the American people should welcome this.

QUESTION: But if I may just ask my question, the fact is this was not the plan. The White House is acknowledging —

SECRETARY KERRY: I don’t know why —

QUESTION: If I can just ask the question, sir. The White House is acknowledging this was not the plan. The White House podium, the press spokesman, kept saying it didn’t need congressional approval. We’re told the President went out with his chief of staff on the lawn Friday night, changed his mind, talked to White House staff, and you and other cabinet officials were informed about it after the fact. This was never the plan.

SECRETARY KERRY: I disagree with that. I received a telephone call from the President the night before. He discussed it. He had not made up his mind. I believe it is a good idea. I think the Vice President, a whole group of people believe that the President has made a courageous decision. And as you know, Chris, and I think I’ve certainly learned as a new member of a cabinet, no decision is made until the President of the United States makes the decision. Staff can advise, people can weigh in, but everybody knows that ultimately no decision is made until the President makes it. The President made this decision. I believe it’s the right decision. I think we are stronger, the President believes very, very much that America will show the best face of our democracy and a great strength and we will show a unity of purpose in the conviction of the Congress and the President that we need to do this.

SECRETARY KERRY: And during this time over these next days, we have an opportunity to re-gauge and to fine-tune our strategy on Syria. I know people like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, others have thoughts about things that could strengthen it. I think we can create a unity of purpose here that actually makes America stronger and that is, frankly, much more damaging and much more problematic for Assad.

QUESTION: One final question, sir, and we have less than a minute left. You talk about this is going to make it worse for Assad. After the President announced his decision, officials in Damascus were saying that the President had flinched, had made a joke of the American Administration. A newspaper out in the streets of Damascus today calls this, quote, “the start of the historic American retreat.” Haven’t you handed Syria and Iran at least a temporary victory, sir?

SECRETARY KERRY: I don’t believe so at all. And that is in the hands of the Congress of the United States. The President has made his decision. The President wants to stand up and make certain that we uphold the international norm that we do not grant impunity to a ruthless dictator to gas his own people. Anybody who saw those images, anybody who now focuses on the evidence that I just gave you about signatures of sarin and the hair and blood samples of the first responders – I mean, first responders died. People who went to help the people who were hurt died in this case.

This is a man who has committed a crime against humanity, and I can’t imagine that the Congress of the United States will not recognize our interests with respect to Iran, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, our friends in the region, the Syrian people, the opposition. America’s credibility is on the line here, and I expect the Congress of the United States to do what is right and to stand up and be counted, and I think that the Assad regime needs to recognize that they have refocused the energy of the American people on him, on his regime, on his lack of legitimacy to govern, and on the ways we will support the opposition in order to see that the people of Syria can choose their future in an appropriate way.

Image: State Department