Dem senator urges full debate on ISIS authorization

A Democratic member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee said Friday that Congress must fully debate President Obama’s forthcoming request for an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
 
“While I have not seen the president’s proposal for an authorization of the use of military force to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, sending an AUMF to Congress is a critical first step,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in a statement, using another common name for the terror group.
 
He said Congress must “exercise its constitutional role in authorizing the use of force,” adding Obama “does not does not have the authority to conduct an open-ended war” against ISIS under existing authorizations from 2001 and 2002.
 
In his State of the Union address last month, Obama called on Congress to pass a new AUMF, despite previous administration assertions that he already has the authority needed to carry out military strikes on ISIS.
 
The White House is reportedly closing in on an AUMF and could submit a resolution to Capitol Hill as soon as next week.
 
An AUMF is “imminent,” Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday during a press conference.
 
Schatz, a member of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said lawmakers should debate an ISIS-specific authorization that is both “time-limited and geographically-targeted,” a nod to concerns from many Democrats about approving an open-ended resolution.
 
The authorization also “must make clear that the United States cannot commit U.S. ground forces to combat” ISIS, he added.