Dem Sen. Kaine: ‘Height of public immorality’ to delay ISIS vote

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is demanding a vote authorizing military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during the lame-duck session, calling it the “height of public immorality” to delay congressional approval.

Congress should take up military authorization “right now in the lame duck,” said Kaine, who has emerged as one of the top Democratic critics of President Obama’s strategy, during a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center on Wednesday.

“There’s no need to extend this questionable war another five or six months,” he added.

Kaine warned that if Congress doesn’t hold an authorization vote, he and other critics would “absolutely” offer motions of disapproval in the Senate to “get in the way” and “stop a war.”

“If we, after 13 years of war, have not learned enough to have this discussion seriously, then God help us,” he continued.

He blasted colleagues for what he called an “abdication mentality,” urging them to weigh in on the fight.

Kaine said the administration should have urged an ISIS vote before Congress left for the campaign season, saying the path forward is “a little more complicated now after the midterms.”

Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other top Republicans have said they want to wait until the new Congress is sworn in before holding a vote.

Kaine is one of three senators who has introduced legislation on the use of military force against the terror group.

His remarks come as President Obama has authorized the deployment of 1,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq and asked Congress to provide funding. The White House says it has the authority it needs to carry out the fight against ISIS, but Obama has also welcomed a more narrowly tailored military authorization against the terror group.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Wednesday released a statement saying his panel, on which Kaine sits, would begin the process of getting military authorization approved in the "days ahead.”

Kaine said he “bets” Menendez is already talking to the White House about the proposed resolutions and would do a “Frankenstein job,” taking the best ideas to craft the right approach.

The Virginia senator’s own bill would bar the use of ground troops and only authorize the anti-ISIS campaign for one year.

Kaine suggested some of his provisions might prove “controversial” but said senators have to “get in a room and hammer those out.”

Kaine also said that the authorization should not make regime change U.S. policy in Syria.

“We should be out of the regime change business," he said. "We’ve been bad at it when we’ve tried.”

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