Kaine to Obama: Declaration of war is job of Congress

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he hopes President Obama calls on Congress to authorize military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“I don’t believe he has the authority to go on offense,” Kaine said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “It is the job of Congress not the president to declare war.”

{mosads}Obama is expected to give a speech on Wednesday detailing his plans to combat ISIS, which has taken over swaths of territory in the Middle East and killed two American journalists.

The administration has already launched targeted airstrikes and sent military advisers to Iraq.

Kaine’s comments came moments after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he wouldn’t rush the Senate into a vote on military force authorization.

Kaine said Congress owed it to military service members to hold a vote if they want to send them into harms way, as was done for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“If we have learned nothing else in the last 13 years it should be that,” Kaine said. “It would be a grievous mistake after 13 years of war not to.”

He said even an air campaign risks service members’ lives.

“Some could die,” Kaine said. “How much of a sacrifice is it for a member of Congress to debate whether military action is a good idea?”