Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Angus King, I-Maine, explained at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday that President Obama currently lacks the authority to wage war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the terrorist group that has rampaged across much of the Middle East.
The two senators did not criticize the president by name, but they made it clear in their statements that they believe the White House is overstepping its authority. The two senators also refrained from peppering the hearing’s two witnesses, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey or Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, with tough questions about the White House’s position on combating the Islamic State.
Still, the senators argued Tuesday that the Obama administration must seek Congress’ approval to commit U.S. troops and resources to dismantling the Islamic State.
Kaine said that the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which was put together in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, does not grant Obama the authority to strike the Islamic State, contrary to the White House’s arguments.
The Virginia senator added that Congress at one time even turned down former President George W. Bush when he tried to engage in a conflict similar to the one Obama has found himself in.
“It’s important to remember not only what Congress authorized, but what Congress refused to authorize,” Kaine said. “The Bush administration approached Congress and said, ‘We would like the power to undertake military action against terrorist groups to prevent attacks on the United States.’ If Congress had granted that, it clearly would have covered this threat. But Congress overwhelmingly rejected that.”
King echoed Kaine’s sentiments, arguing that if the White House fails to approach Congress for the authority to wage war on a foreign enemy, the Obama administration runs the risk of rendering the legislative branch of the U.S. government obsolete.
“Stretching the [Authorization for Use of Military Force] from 2001 or 2002 to cover this situation renders [Congress’ authority to declare war] a nullity,” the Maine senator said.
“The danger here is, as this happens year by year, war by war, conflict by conflict, eventually there’s nothing left of that provision and we have, in fact, transferred to the executive the unilateral power to commit American forces,” he later added. “That’s not good for this country.”
(Video courtesy the Huffington Post)
