Kaine: Obama needs Congress to approve action in Syria, Iraq

If President Obama initiates offensive action in Syria or Iraq, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D.Va., said he believes he needs congressional approval to do so.

That point was made abundantly clear when Kaine addressed a group of Randolph-Macon College students last week in a question and answer session in the Birdsong Café located in the new Brock Commons.

Kaine made national headlines when he recently questioned the president’s authority to conduct war without absent consent from the United States Congress. He doubled down on that belief as he made a brief stop on the Ashland campus to meet and greet students and address a political science class.

“I have a long-term interest in the way the president and Congress interact on decisions on whether or not we go to war,” Kaine said.

After President Obama met with congressional leaders in June, attendees exited the White House and said the president has all the military authority he needs to take action on ISIL.

“I strongly disagree,” Kaine said. “I can’t believe they were saying the president has the authority to take military action against ISIL, because military action should only initiated with the consent of Congress.”

After Kaine published an opinion column in The Washington Post, he has become increasingly “loud” regarding the issue and attempted to persuade his colleagues to his line of thinking.

“The most sobering thing we do in government is make the difficult decision about whether to go to war, and Congress should not just say we’d rather not vote on that,” Kaine said.

He told students that crafters of the U.S. Constitution clearly designated the power to declare war with the legislature. That authority has frequently been subjugated to the president throughout the nation’s history.

Kaine said politicians are hesitant to take tough votes and there is none tougher that a decision to take the nation to war.

“I’ve been banging on my colleagues not to allow the president, or any president, to initiate military action without congressional approval,” Kaine said.

Kaine is sponsoring several pieces of legislation that would make Congress take ownership of military action and avoid executive overreach.

He wants Congress to debate the mission, and vote it either up or down.

Jennifer Eldredge, a R-MC political science major, said she agrees with Kaine’s thoughts on the need for regional support, but also favors offensive action to stop ISIS.

“I supported troops on the ground. I’m from a military family,” she said. “They (ISIS) killed two Americans. But I do agree with his answer on how those countries need to help. I don’t think we should be the world police.”

Kaine began his political career by serving on Richmond’s City Council, serving in the state legislature and as governor, and, in 2013, assumed his seat representing the Commonwealth in the U.S. Senate.

Kaine told students he did not come from a political family, but certainly married into one when he wed the daughter of Virginia’s first Republican governor, Linwood Holton.

He fielded a variety of questions from the assembled group, comprised mainly of political science students at the college.

R-MC president Robert Lindgren accompanied Kaine on his visit, which also included the senator teaching a class earlier in the morning.

Kaine answered every inquiry from his favorite aspects of his present job and views on public service to global warming, ISIS the military industrial complex.

In addition to his endeavors into war powers, Kaine said he’s also focused on expanding Career and Technical Education in America.

“I’m really interested in a broader career, technical education,” he said. He said all students from middle school up should have expansive opportunities for career and technical training.

Kaine said the opportunity to focus on specific issues is one reason he likes his present job in Washington, D.C.

“As senator, you can pick a couple of issues and really dig in to them,” Kaine said. “That part of the job has been fun.”

He also said he enjoys serving Virginia, an increasingly diverse state and recent national indicator for America’s political trends.

Students questioned the senator regarding Medicare and Medicaid, both of which Kaine strongly supports but admits need “modest changes now” to avoid drastic realignments later.

Kaine told students that “climate change is real” and pointed to examples in Hampton Roads where roads flood at an increasingly high level each year.

In response to another question on ISIS and the current crisis in the Middle East, Kaine said victory couldn’t be achieved without regional support. The senator said he hoped that “meaningful partnership” would be in place by November.

Students stayed after the session and snapped photos with Kaine, and most had high praise for the senator’s performance.

“I came here because I really wanted to hear what he had to say, and I thought he did really well,” said Elijah Carter, a political science major at R-MC.

Kaine also told the students he has no White House ambitions for 2016, and will support Hillary Clinton if she runs.

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