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Kerry Warns Senate Against Curbs on Fighting ISIS Kerry Warns Senate Against Curbs on Fighting ISIS
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry asked Congress on Tuesday not to “bind the hands” of President Obama as lawmakers considered setting limits on the nature and extent of the military campaign against the Islamic State. WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry urged Congress on Tuesday not to preclude the use of ground forces to fight the Islamic State as lawmakers consider setting limits on the nature and extent of American involvement in the military campaign against the group.
Mr. Kerry made his request in testimony before an unusual session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is expected to vote this week on whether to curtail the American engagement in the Middle East. Mr. Kerry made his request in testimony before an unusual session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at which he underscored that the administration was prepared to negotiate over a measure authorizing the continuing campaign against the Islamic State. He made the case that any measure authorizing the use of force needed greater flexibility than many lawmakers seemed ready to allow.
“None of us can imagine all of the circumstances that may arise,” Mr. Kerry told the committee, making the administration’s case that any war powers authorization approved by Congress needs greater flexibility than many members seem ready to allow. “The president has been crystal clear that his policy is that U.S. military forces will not be deployed to conduct ground combat operations against ISIL,” Mr. Kerry said, using an alternate name for the group. “It doesn’t mean that we should pre-emptively bind the hands of the commander in chief or our commanders in the field in responding to scenarios and contingencies that are impossible to foresee,” he added.
Mr. Kerry, who said that any congressional resolution should contain no geographic limitations, was clear that the administration would not accept any authorization that it believed was too circumscribed. In addition, he said the administration would not agree to anything that ruled out the use of ground troops, even though Mr. Obama had repeatedly said he did not plan to use them for combat. The White House believes that it already has the legal authority it needs to continue carrying out an offensive against the Islamic State. But the committee is expected to vote later this week on whether to limit the American engagement in the Middle East. Bowing to congressional pressure, the administration has signaled it is prepared to discuss the terms of a new war powers measure that would try to assure members that the United States was not involving itself in an open-ended conflict while preserving considerable flexibility for the president.
The administration would not accept the one-year limit that some lawmakers are proposing, but it would be open to an authorization that expires in three years, Mr. Kerry said. “Let’s agree to try to find a way to talk this through,” Mr. Kerry said.
The issue of authorizing force came to a head in the Senate last week when the Foreign Relations Committee unexpectedly agreed to hold a vote before Congress adjourns, thrusting the contentious question of war powers and constitutional authority into the end-of-year crunch on legislative work on Capitol Hill. Mr. Kerry said that any congressional resolution should not impose geographic limitations, reasoning that the Islamic State might try to attack American forces or facilities outside of Iraq and Syria.
Though the White House believes it has the legal authority to continue carrying out an assault on the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, it has agreed to ask Congress for its approval. Mr. Kerry said that a three-year time limit would be acceptable, as proposed by Senator Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who is chairman of the committee. But Mr. Kerry said the resolution should include a provision that would allow that time limit to be extended.
As Mr. Kerry detailed the limits of what the administration was willing to accept, he also urged the committee to work together toward a bipartisan agreement so it would not appear that Americans were divided heading into what was expected to be a long and sustained military campaign. Mr. Kerry’s insistence that a measure not ban the use of ground combat troops was a particular point of debate for senators worried that the United States was incrementally becoming more involved in the fighting inside Iraq.
“This is one of the moments when a bipartisan approach really is critical,” said Mr. Kerry, who was a chairman of the committee when he was a senator. “It is important that this committee lead the Congress and the country. And I think you know I believe that.” Though President Obama has repeatedly said he does not plan to conduct such ground combat operations in Iraq, Mr. Kerry said he did not want to tie the president’s hands in case of exceptional circumstances, such as the seizure of a hidden cache of chemical weapons by the Islamic State or the seizure of hostages.
One possible compromise, Mr. Kerry suggested, may be to include a provision in a new congressional resolution that there would be “no enduring combat operation.”
Because Congress has so little time to act before it adjourns for the year, the debate over war powers is certain to spill over into next year, when Republicans will control both the House and the Senate.Because Congress has so little time to act before it adjourns for the year, the debate over war powers is certain to spill over into next year, when Republicans will control both the House and the Senate.
Yet it already is clear that the debate will be shaped by some powerful external political forces. Two members of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, and Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, are considering running for their party’s presidential nomination in 2016. Their views could not be more different. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the committee, said Mr. Kerry had provided some principles that Congress and administration could build on.
Yet it was already clear that the debate would be shaped by some powerful external political forces. Two Republicans on the committee, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, are considering running for their party’s presidential nomination in 2016. Their views could not be more different.
Mr. Rubio, who has a more traditional Republican belief that the American military should have a robust global presence, said he believed that many in the committee were trying to “micromanage military tactics.”Mr. Rubio, who has a more traditional Republican belief that the American military should have a robust global presence, said he believed that many in the committee were trying to “micromanage military tactics.”
That was a direct shot at senators like Mr. Paul, who have introduced proposals that would limit the authorization of force against the Islamic State to one year before the president has to come back to Congress and that would rule out the use of ground forces except in very specific circumstances like the capture of a high-value target. That was a direct shot at senators like Mr. Paul, who have introduced proposals that would limit the authorization of force against the Islamic State to one year before the president has to come back to Congress and would rule out the use of ground forces except for very specific circumstances like the capture of a high-value target.
At issue for many of the members of the committee is the belief that the administration has stretched its legal authorization to continue fighting in the Middle East beyond reasonable bounds. Another common complaint was once voiced by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, when he said the president should not be reacting to measures proposed by lawmakers but should be putting forward one of his own for Congress to consider.
“Congress, rather than the executive, has the responsibility and the authority to authorize military action and to declare war,” said Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and the committee’s chairman. “We are the check and balance on executive power, regardless of who that executive is. And if we abandon that role, then we will have done a grave disservice to the American people.” “It has got to be led by the commander in chief,” he said.
At issue for many on the committee is the belief that the administration has stretched its legal authorization, which dates back to 2001, to continue fighting in the Middle East. “Congress, rather than the executive, has the responsibility and the authority to authorize military action and to declare war,” Mr. Menendez said. “We are the check and balance on executive power, regardless of who that executive is. And if we abandon that role, then we will have done a grave disservice to the American people.”