Dem senator: Leadership delayed ISIS vote

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Sunday that he’s “discouraged” by both the White House and Congress for failing to swiftly approve a war authorization against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), even six months after the campaign began.

“I indicated right from the start that there were not existing legal authorities from 2001 and 2002 to justify this action,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“The leadership went to the White House and said, ‘Do what you need to do, we would rather not take this up before a midterm election.'”

Kaine introduced a resolution, called an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, back in September, but it didn’t gain any traction until after the midterms. And even then, while the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved it, he said “the House hasn’t even been willing to talk about this in committee.”

The administration has thus far relied on language passed after the 9/11 attacks as ample authorization for the military action, since parts of ISIS grew out from a branch of al Qaeda-affiliated fighters. But Kaine said that’s not enough and Congress should assert its right to have a say in the debate, even though he believes there is “strong support in both houses for taking appropriate military action.”

“We’ve already lost American servicemembers’ lives in this operation and we’ve done it without Congress being willing to do the job of having the vote,” he said. 

“If we are going to ask people to risk their lives, Congress ought to do our job and put our thumbprint on this mission and say it’s in the national interest.”