Kaine expects Senate debate on troops fighting ISIS
With Congress returning to Washington today, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine predicts the Senate soon will debate and likely vote on whether to authorize using American troops against the Islamic State terror group.
Kaine and others in Congress have objected to President Barack Obama's use of airstrikes against the terrorist group, also known as ISIL, in Iraq and Syria without getting congressional approval. They argue only Congress has the constitutional authority to decide whether the U.S. can take offensive military action.
Legislative leaders who delayed a vote until after last week's election cannot wait any longer, Kaine said, noting that at least one American has been killed during the campaign known as Operation Inherent Resolve.
"We're in the middle of a war that doesn't have a legal justification right now until Congress votes on it," said Kaine, who spoke about the issue after walking in a Veterans Day parade in Virginia Beach. "I think you'll see us move to debating the authorizations and hopefully promptly moving to a vote."
The issue is expected to be taken up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today when it meets for a public hearing and a closed-door intelligence briefing, said Kaine, a committee member.
The Virginia Democrat has offered legislation that would approve military action but prohibit the use of ground troops except for rescue missions and "limited operations against high-value targets." The authorization would expire in a year unless renewed by Congress and would require the White House to give legislators a list of groups that might be covered by the authorization because they are associated with the Islamic State.
Similar measures have been proposed by other senators, including Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who leads the Senate committee.
Kaine said it would be wrong to wait to act until a new Congress convenes in January. Republicans, who won a Senate majority in last week's elections, will take control of the committee chairmanships. The vote could be delayed until February, he said.
"By that time, we're six months into a war against ISIL," Kaine said. "We ought to be having this debate, defining the mission, and Congress voting on it now so that it has a legal justification."
The American public deserves a congressional debate to explain why U.S. troops need to go to war, he said.
It's particularly urgent, he said, noting that Marine Cpl. Jordan Spears, an Indiana native serving on an MV-22 Osprey, was killed in October during military operations against the terrorist group.
"When you start losing folks in combat when Congress hasn't had the debate about whether we should be in this war or not, or what is the mission definition, it's a bad thing," he said.
###