House Speaker John Boehner has just issued his first statement on the U.S. attack on Libya. Boehner expresses his approval of the initial strikes but says that before the U.S. takes further military action, the administration “must do a better job of briefing members of Congress” about the Libya mission. Here is Boehner’s statement:
The President is the commander-in-chief, but the Administration has a responsibility to define for the American people, the Congress, and our troops what the mission in Libya is, better explain what America’s role is in achieving that mission, and make clear how it will be accomplished. Before any further military commitments are made, the Administration must do a better job of briefing members of Congress and communicating to the American people about our mission in Libya and how it will be achieved.
The word coming from several top Republicans on Capitol Hill is that lawmakers do not believe Obama needed specific authorization from Congress to undertake the U.S. attacks on Libya that began Saturday. But GOP sources say Obama does have an obligation to “consult” with Congress, and those sources do not believe that Obama’s discussion with Congressional leaders on Friday — one source called it a “cattle call conference call” — was enough to satisfy that obligation. “The administration was simply informing Congress that it was happening, as it was happening,” says the source. “There was no consultation beforehand.”
That “cattle call” discussion included Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, as well as House Republican Reps. Buck McKeon, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Mike Rogers. Among Senate Republicans, the discussion included Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Sens. Richard Lugar, Saxby Chambliss, and Jon Kyl. Democrats involved were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sens. Carl Levin, Dick Durbin, John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein, and, from the House, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Howard Berman and Dutch Ruppersberger.
