House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said it will be difficult for Congress to craft a war resolution that can win both Democratic and Republican support.
“It’s going to be hard,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday.
The California Democrat acknowledged that she leads a conference of lawmakers who want a say in the the size and scope of U.S. military engagement against the threat of Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East.
President Obama sent Congress a war authorization request Wednesday, but it faces scrutiny and likely changes from Congressional lawmakers.
Republicans, who control both chambers, have signaled they want to expand the authorization to allow the military more authority to send ground troops and fight a wider range of terrorist groups.
That’s likely to face rejection from Democrats.
Pelosi said the public opposes the idea of engaging in another long-term war following the wars in Afghanistan and particularly in Iraq, where evidence of weapons of mass destruction never materialized.
“The American public,” Pelosi said, “has been scarred by the false premise of the Iraq war.”
Pelosi said Democrats would discuss ways they want to change Obama’s authorization for the use of military force, known as an AUMF, which has a three-year sunset but lacks geographical limitations and includes the use of some ground troops.
“There are members who have something to say about the timing and geography, but the most serious part of it is the scope,” Pelosi said. “And that would have an impact on timing and geography.”
Pelosi twice during the news conference read from the AUMF a line promising “no enduring offensive ground combat operations,” although what that line means exactly remains unclear.
“The first debate is the evaluation of the threat,” Pelosi told reporters, “and what arrows do we want to place in the president’s [quiver] to protect us against that threat.”
