Start over force authorization? No, say Kaine and Rigell, stop stalling, start debating
Did Speaker of the House John Boehner’s comment suggesting Congress not act on President Barack Obama’s reluctantly-offered request for an authorization for the use of military force make at least some of Virginia’s Congressional delegation bristle a bit?
After all, Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Scott Rigell (whose Hampton-to-the Eastern Shore district has about the heaviest concentration of the Americans we send, and have sent, in harm’s way) have been pretty firm on the need for Congress to debate the issue.
Boehner said “The president, frankly, should withdraw the [authorization request] and start over,” complaining that “the threat is growing faster than what we and our allies can do to stop it.”
Kaine called the Speaker's comment “clearly an admission that the House cannot initiate discussion of an issue of this magnitude” and said it made it even more urgent for a Senate that is still sitting on its hands to “take up authorizing language and show that we support our troops who are risking their lives every day.”
Easy enough to say, perhaps, when you know what your constituents in uniform need and when you’re talking about the leader, powerful as he is, who sits on the other side of the Capitol.
But Rigell, too, is pretty clear – the Constitution and the law demand Congress act, in his view. So even though Boehner runs the House and leads Rigell’s caucus, he spoke out too.
"It has been nearly 100 days since President Obama sent Congress a request seeking an Authorization for Use of Military Force against ISIS.,” Rigell said. “The President is owed a timely response and Congress has failed to provide one. This institution has no higher responsibility than to provide definitive guidance to the commander in chief as to the conditions under which American service members’ lives are put at risk.”
It doesn’t matter what any member of Congress believes about the wisdom of U.S. intervention, or whether he or she thinks a new strategy is needed, the body still has a duty to vote – up or down – on the request to authorize force, he said.
That’s duty is more than simply to do the job people elected members of Congress to do, he notes. “More importantly, we’ll fulfill the duty owed to our troops, which is to follow the document they defend with such honor and courage.”
###
