Sen. Ben Cardin: 'I Did Not Hear Him Ask For A War Powers Resolution From The Congress'
What's stopping
Senate Democrats from starting work immediately on a resolution authorizing
President Obama to take military action in
Iraq and
Syria? "
First,
I've never known a
Congress to take up a resolution such as that, that has not been requested by the president of the
United States,"
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the
Foreign Relations Committee, told
MSNBC Wednesday night after President Obama announced an expansion of
U.S. military action in the
Middle East. "I did not hear him ask for a
War Powers Resolution from the
Congress of the United States. If he requests one, I'm sure we're going to see specific language that he asks for. So I think we're a little bit ahead of the game."
Even after hearing the president's speech, "I don't know exactly what he's going to be doing from the military
point of view," Cardin said. The
Maryland Democrat, who voted against the
Iraq War, noted that President Obama asked Congress to work with him, but Cardin said several times, "I think Congress is going to be cautious on the use of our military." Cardin also said he will not support a resolution that would draw the U.
s. into a long conflict or could be used to "do things that we shouldn't be doing." In his speech Wednesday night, President Obama said he has "secured bipartisan support" for his intention to degrade and demolish terrorists trying to establish their own state in the Middle East.
"I have the authority to address the threat from
ISIL, but
I believe we are strongest as a nation when the
President and Congress work together,"
Obama said. "So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that
Americans are united in confronting this danger." Cardin noted that under the
War Powers Act, if the president orders military action exceeding 60 days, he must get congressional authorization to continue it. "
The military operations that the president's talking about, we believe they're surgical air strikes and not a pattern that would be a prolonged engagement. If it's a prolonged engagement, then I think the terminology would trigger the War Powers Act," Cardin said.
Cardin said there should be an international response to
ISIS, "but we don't want to be drawn in to a lengthy conflict and we don't want to be doing the military work that should be done by the countries in which these terrorist groups are located. So there's going to be a great deal of discussion
...and we want to work with the president in a unified position because
America is stronger, as the president said, when we work together." Cardin said the
U.S. needs to cut off the terrorists' "support base," both economic and political: "So, yes, I think Congress needs to be engaged so that we can marginalize or eliminate ISIL, but it needs to be done in a way that does not make America subject to a long campaign or a campaign where we're doing military operations internally in a country that we shouldn't be doing."
CNS News: Sen. Ben Cardin: '
I Did Not
Hear Him
Ask for War Powers Resolution'
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/sen-ben-cardin-d-i-did-not-hear-him-ask-war-powers-resolution-congress