Arizona Sens. John McCain, Jeff Flake as well as U.S. Reps. Martha McSally and Tom O'Halleran have backed the Trump administration's decision to launch roughly 60 Tomahawk missiles at the Syrian airbase used in recent chemical attacks against civilians.
McSally called the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime "evil" and said military action was necessary.
"The use of banned and deadly chemical weapons to murder innocent men, women, and children is evil and deserves a just response," McSally said.
McSally said she was proud to have successfully advocated in Congress to keep the Tomahawk missile line at Raytheon in Tucson, which were used in the attack.
In a joint statement from Sens. McCain and Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina, the pair said the military action sends an important message the United States will no longer stand idly by as Assad slaughters innocent Syrians with chemical weapons.
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"President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action. For that, he deserves the support of the American people," McCain and Graham said in a statement to the press.
The two called for a new strategy to end the conflict in Syria.
"The first measure in such a strategy must be to take Assad’s air force — which is responsible not just for the latest chemical weapons attack, but countless atrocities against the Syrian people — completely out of the fight," they said.
O’Halleran said the retaliation against the Assad regime in Syria was an appropriate response.
"Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own people is barbaric, and we must work to prevent future attacks like this. They have no place in this world," he said.
A member of the House Armed Services Committee, O'Halleran said there is constitutional obligation to immediately begin debating the use of future military force against Syria.
"I call on Speaker Ryan to bring Congress back to Washington to develop an Authorization for Use of Military Force in Syria," he said.
Flake told The Arizona Republic in a telephone interview that he supported the attacks.
"I assumed it was coming, and I'm glad that it has," Flake said.
Rep. Raúl Grijlava stated that the Trump administration needs to consult Congress before the situation escalates.
"If President Trump believes that US military actions should be utilized against the Assad regime, he should immediately call the House and Senate back into session to debate and vote on the use of military force," he said .
His comments come from a statement made by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which Grijalva is a co-chair.
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema said the U.S. strike sends "a clear message" holding the Syrian regime accountable for the chemical weapons attack, which she called immoral.
Rep. Andy Biggs said the retaliatory strike showed "decisive leadership" by Trump and sends "an unmistakable message" that actions such as the chemical attack won't be ignored.
