The House is set this week to take up a measure calling for an end to U.S. military involvement in Libya, but a bipartisan effort emerged in the Senate Tuesday that would allow President Obama to continue the mission for a year.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, posted online Tuesday evening two resolutions he said the GOP conference will discuss on Wednesday for possible floor votes. One would end U.S. military operations in Libya and the other would copy a resolution authored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass. and John McCain, R-Ariz., that would effectively give congressional approval for the mission.
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House Republicans said they need to exert their authority over the mission because Obama violated the War Powers Act when he dispatched U.S. forces to Libya in March. The act requires congressional approval for any mission that could lead to hostilities.
But Obama argues that the United States is playing only a supporting role in the NATO-led mission and does not face the “hostilities” that would require lawmakers to authorize U.S. involvement.
“If the Commander-in-Chief believes that intervention in Libya is important for our national security, he has a responsibility to make a case for it – clearly and publicly – and seek authorization,” Boehner said in a statement Tuesday evening.
The Senate resolution was aimed at diffusing frustrations among House Republicans. It would allow Obama to continue the mission for a year, but would prohibit him from calling up ground troops.
McCain said on the Senate floor Tuesday that giving the president congressional authorization that he didn’t seek would ensure that friends and foe alike understand the country is united behind the Libyan mission.
“It is time to authorize the president?s use of force, whether he thinks he needs it or not,” McCain said. “And it is time to send a message to our allies, to Gadhafi, and to his opponents in Libya who are fighting for their
freedom that there is strong bipartisan support in the Senate, and among the American people, for staying the course in Libya until we succeed.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday that he believes the Kerry-McCain measure has enough support to pass the Senate, but he did not guarantee speedy consideration. The legislation might require committee action before a floor vote can be scheduled, he said.
In the House, meanwhile, Republicans are ready to move this week on a resolution that would potentially end U.S. military involvement in Libya by eliminating funding for the mission.
“Our members are very frustrated over the president?s actions, his lack of positing a clear mission and vision for our involvement in Libya,”House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Tuesday. “Members have not seen the reasons, why or why not, the president thinks that we are involved in hostilities. Because you can turn on the TV and see bunkers blown up. Certainly, that would indicate hostilities. And members are very
frustrated.”
But McCain warned his counterparts in the House against cutting off funding for the mission, reminding them of the way Democrats “savaged [former President George W.] Bush over the Iraq War.”
“We were right to condemn this behavior then,” McCain said, “and we would be wrong to practice it now ourselves, simply because a leader of the opposite side occupies the White House.”
Such a move, McCain said, “could come back to haunt them when the shoe is on the other foot.”
