Our involvement in Libya should be limited

The American people have grown weary of open-ended military conflicts that place our troops in harm’s way and add billions to our national debt. This is one of the reasons why the president initially limited the scope of our military presence in Libya to exclude the use of American ground troops.

But despite the president’s position and the text of U.N. Resolution 1973, which states that military operations in Libya will exclude “a foreign occupation force of any form or part of Libyan territory,” the fluid situation on the ground in Libya leaves open the possibility of mission creep and the likely expansion of the conflict.

In short, my amendment does not oppose the president’s policy; it would simply enact his promise into law. If at some point the president believes that our national security interests require a ground presence in Libya, he could come to the Congress and request an authorization for force, which if passed by both the House and Senate, would overrule this provision.

The time is now for Congress to once again exercise its constitutional authority to place boundaries on the use of our military overseas and definitively state that this conflict in Libya will not escalate into an expensive occupation that would strain our resources and harm our national security interests.

Conyers is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.