ISIS fight authorization vote can’t wait, key Democratic senator says

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday that Congress should vote on authorization for the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants right away, and not wait for the new Congress.  

“I would like to see us move on it now, now before the new Congress comes in,” Durbin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

He said the bill should put “a timeframe and some limitations on what we’re doing in the Middle East.”

President Obama has said he will seek a new authorization from Congress, but it is unclear if Congress will vote on the bill before the new Congress arrives in January. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in September that a vote should until then.

Durbin responded to reports of a new ISIS beheading video, calling it a “tragic reminder of the savagery of ISIS and the complexity of our challenge.”

Durbin said he is still opposed to U.S. ground troops in combat against ISIS, though. 

“The notion of sending in rotational troops as we saw in Iraq in the past and in Afghanistan, I think we learned our lesson,” he said.

He said the vote in the Senate this week on allowing the Keystone pipeline remains within one vote of the 60 it needs to clear a procedural hurdle. Supporters are “burning up the phone lines and emails” to get the remaining vote, he said. 

On immigration, Durbin said he’s “given up on Mr. Boehner” on bringing up a reform bill for a vote, and said Obama should go ahead with executive action.