Sen. Tim Kaine: Give Congress a say in Iraq
Sen. Tim Kaine thinks the Obama administration can make a good case for U.S. military action to stop the surge of ISIL in Iraq.
But the president needs to make it, and not just to the American people but to Congress.
The Virginia Democrat stopped in downtown Newport News Wednesday to visit The Apprentice School atNewport News Shipbuilding. Chatting with reporters after his tour, talk turned to the well-funded al-Qaidasplinter group now seen as a rising threat in Iraq and Syria.
Virginia's junior senator has been trying to encourage the Obama administration to lay out its long-term intentions instead of staging individual air strikes.
"Instead of doing one action at a time, the White House should bring to Congress when we return in 10 days a clear definition of the mission," he said. "What is the United States mission with respect to ISIL? Then we should have the appropriate debate and vote on that."
Kaine said ISIL definitely poses a threat to the U.S. and the Middle East.
"But this is not something the President can do on his own," he said.
With November elections coming up, some in Congress might want to shy away from what is admittedly a tough vote. Kaine says the vote needs to happen sooner instead of later.
"Don't be afraid of a vote on this," he said. "This is exactly the reason you have a Congress."
In a way, the setting was appropriate setting to the discussion. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, built in Newport News and based in Norfolk, has been in the thick of the action against ISIL so far..
Eisenhower coming back
For the first time in nearly a year, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is back in the water.
The "Ike" left dry dock at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth on Tuesday, the Navy reported. The mammoth ship had been resting atop wooden and concrete blocks since last September as part of a planned maintenance period. Thirty feet of water was pumped into the dry dock Monday, and the rest of the space was flooded Tuesday, the Navy said.
These extended maintenance periods aren't quite as extensive as a mid-life refueling and overhaul, which take more than three years and cost several billion dollars. Still, the work is critically important to returning Eisenhower to the operational fleet. The ship's crew and Norfolk Naval Shipyard personnel completed about 12,500 jobs before flooding the dock.
More work remains, according to Lt. Cmdr. Jeremy James, Ike's maintenance manager.
The crew will now concentrate on moving aboard the ship, starting up the mess decks and focusing on critical functions in the Reactor and Combat Systems departments.
The carrier now rests at pier 42/43, and crew "move aboard" will begin in September.
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