Republican calls for debate on authorizing force

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) said Tuesday that the Defense authorization bill that passed in the House last week didn’t offer enough debate on using military force overseas.

Jones voted against the measure, which included an extension of the authorization to arm Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

{mosads}The North Carolina Republican argued the bill was put on the House floor without enough time to scrutinize it.

“I did not vote for the NDAA bill. It was 1,648 pages, and we did not have enough time to read and comprehend the contents of the bill,” Jones said in a floor speech.

Jones said it was irresponsible for Congress to greenlight funding and sending troops overseas with minimal debate.

“For too long, we have not had policy debates on the floor of this House whether it be Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan,” Jones said. 

“Those of us in Congress in both parties need to understand that we have a constitutional responsibility to not commit our young men and women to fight and die and be wounded unless we debate the policy on the floor of the House,” Jones concluded.