US House Approves Further Arming of Counter-revolutionaries in Syria
Measure Passes Along With Stopgap Spending Bill; Moves to Senate on Thursday
By SIOBHAN HUGHES CONNECT
Updated Sept. 17, 2014 7:30 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The House approved a measure Wednesday to train and arm Syrian rebels, in the first broad test of congressional sentiment about President Barack Obama's plans to expand U.S. military engagement in the Middle East.
The measure, which passed 273-156, was an amendment to a bill to fund the government until Dec. 11. The House passed the spending bill by a vote of 319-108.
The votes followed a six-hour debate that reflected ambivalence among lawmakers who want to stop Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but are reluctant to restart military action in a part of the world that they thought the U.S. was leaving. Others worried that arming Syrian rebels for combat would backfire, with weapons ending up in the wrong hands and further inflaming tensions in the Middle East. Meanwhile, a set of Republicans is concerned the strategy doesn't go far enough against the extremist group.
"We're sort of in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation," said Rep. Charlie Dent (R., Pa.). "Those voting on this measure, I suspect, will do so with great reluctance. Those voting no will do so with discomfort," he said.
Mr. Obama has been calling lawmakers individually since early last week, right after Saudi Arabia agreed to host the arm-and-equip program, to persuade them to tuck authorization for the program into the must-pass stopgap spending bill.
The spending bill is a "continuing resolution" to maintain government funding at current levels from the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30 through Dec. 11. The bill also included an extension until June 30 of the Export-Import Bank, which some conservative members of the House had wanted to let lapse when its charter expires at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate plans to take up the bill on Thursday, and it is expected to pass. A Senate Democratic aide said the strong House vote gives the measure momentum in the Senate, where lawmakers were temporarily shaken by testimony Tuesday from Gen. Martin Dempsey that he would back sending American military advisers to accompany Iraqi forces on combat missions if there was a need. That seemed to contradict Mr. Obama's ban on using U.S. ground troops.
But the mood recovered on Wednesday after Mr. Obama said he wouldn't authorize a ground war. Secretary of State John Kerry testified on Capitol Hill that the U.S. wouldn't go it alone against Islamic State, easing additional worries within Congress that not enough was being done to build an international coalition, especially with participation from Arab nations.
The Capitol has been dominated by debate over Islamic State since it returned last week from a five-week congressional recess, creating an unexpected test for congressional leaders just as they were hoping to wrap up work and send lawmakers back on the campaign trail.
House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and his leadership team and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and her group both prevailed over resistance from rank-and-file lawmakers. Some 159 Republicans voted for the measure, along with 114 Democrats. Voting against the amendment were 71 Republicans and 85 Democrats. Leaders on both sides appealed to public fears about the threat of Islamic State, whose beheading of two American journalists shifted public opinion in favor of action.
"It is not pleasant; it's not easy; it's hard; but it really is necessary for the House to approve this," Mrs. Pelosi said on the House floor.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), who appealed to reluctant GOP colleagues by saying Congress would return after the elections to push for more comprehensive efforts to combat ISIS, said: "Congress must now vote to support the first steps of what will be a long march toward victory."
As the vote on arming and training the rebels came to close, Rep. Steve Scalise (R., La.), the recently elected House Republican whip, could be seen crossing the chamber to seek out Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, his Democratic counterpart, to shake hands and pat each other on the back.
While the amendment was on arming the moderate Syrian rebels, which the U.S. sees as a counterweight to Islamic State, it also functions as a proxy of sorts for congressional support of the broader plan to fight the group.
Lawmakers are weighing whether to take up the bigger question of whether to explicitly authorize military action against Islamic State when they return after the November elections. Leaders are reluctant to do so now because of the risks involved in taking such a tough vote before the elections. Many lawmakers want to protect the congressional prerogative to declare war, and disagree with Mr. Obama's position that he already has approval to fight the group under a 2001 use-of-force resolution that remains in effect because it didn't include an expiration date.
In a nod to the possibility of a post-election vote, the amendment is structured to authorize the train-and-equip program only through the middle of December. Lawmakers expect to come back after the elections and renew the program through a separate defense-authorization bill, the annual legislation that provides a blueprint for defense policy.
That would also give Congress time to more fully consider the entire set of issues involved in a military re-engagement in the Middle East. Currently, many lawmakers feel the White House and congressional leaders are trying to rush through the train-and-equip program.
The president had for years been reluctant to arm Syrian rebels, but shifted his thinking after Islamic State headed toward the Kurdish city of Erbil, where the U.S. has diplomatic facilities, threatened a religious minority group and beheaded two Americans.
After launching airstrikes in Iraq in August to stop the advance by Islamic State, Mr. Obama last week formally told the nation that he planned to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the radical group. The president said he wouldn't send combat troops, a point he reiterated Wednesday in a speech to troops at MacDill Air Force Base during a visit to the military's Central Command headquarters in Florida.
—Michael R. Crittenden contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
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| Syrian Arab Republic President Bashar al-Assad is the real target of US imperialism's deepening military intervention in the Middle East. |
By SIOBHAN HUGHES CONNECT
Updated Sept. 17, 2014 7:30 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The House approved a measure Wednesday to train and arm Syrian rebels, in the first broad test of congressional sentiment about President Barack Obama's plans to expand U.S. military engagement in the Middle East.
The measure, which passed 273-156, was an amendment to a bill to fund the government until Dec. 11. The House passed the spending bill by a vote of 319-108.
The votes followed a six-hour debate that reflected ambivalence among lawmakers who want to stop Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but are reluctant to restart military action in a part of the world that they thought the U.S. was leaving. Others worried that arming Syrian rebels for combat would backfire, with weapons ending up in the wrong hands and further inflaming tensions in the Middle East. Meanwhile, a set of Republicans is concerned the strategy doesn't go far enough against the extremist group.
"We're sort of in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation," said Rep. Charlie Dent (R., Pa.). "Those voting on this measure, I suspect, will do so with great reluctance. Those voting no will do so with discomfort," he said.
Mr. Obama has been calling lawmakers individually since early last week, right after Saudi Arabia agreed to host the arm-and-equip program, to persuade them to tuck authorization for the program into the must-pass stopgap spending bill.
The spending bill is a "continuing resolution" to maintain government funding at current levels from the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30 through Dec. 11. The bill also included an extension until June 30 of the Export-Import Bank, which some conservative members of the House had wanted to let lapse when its charter expires at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate plans to take up the bill on Thursday, and it is expected to pass. A Senate Democratic aide said the strong House vote gives the measure momentum in the Senate, where lawmakers were temporarily shaken by testimony Tuesday from Gen. Martin Dempsey that he would back sending American military advisers to accompany Iraqi forces on combat missions if there was a need. That seemed to contradict Mr. Obama's ban on using U.S. ground troops.
But the mood recovered on Wednesday after Mr. Obama said he wouldn't authorize a ground war. Secretary of State John Kerry testified on Capitol Hill that the U.S. wouldn't go it alone against Islamic State, easing additional worries within Congress that not enough was being done to build an international coalition, especially with participation from Arab nations.
The Capitol has been dominated by debate over Islamic State since it returned last week from a five-week congressional recess, creating an unexpected test for congressional leaders just as they were hoping to wrap up work and send lawmakers back on the campaign trail.
House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and his leadership team and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and her group both prevailed over resistance from rank-and-file lawmakers. Some 159 Republicans voted for the measure, along with 114 Democrats. Voting against the amendment were 71 Republicans and 85 Democrats. Leaders on both sides appealed to public fears about the threat of Islamic State, whose beheading of two American journalists shifted public opinion in favor of action.
"It is not pleasant; it's not easy; it's hard; but it really is necessary for the House to approve this," Mrs. Pelosi said on the House floor.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), who appealed to reluctant GOP colleagues by saying Congress would return after the elections to push for more comprehensive efforts to combat ISIS, said: "Congress must now vote to support the first steps of what will be a long march toward victory."
As the vote on arming and training the rebels came to close, Rep. Steve Scalise (R., La.), the recently elected House Republican whip, could be seen crossing the chamber to seek out Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, his Democratic counterpart, to shake hands and pat each other on the back.
While the amendment was on arming the moderate Syrian rebels, which the U.S. sees as a counterweight to Islamic State, it also functions as a proxy of sorts for congressional support of the broader plan to fight the group.
Lawmakers are weighing whether to take up the bigger question of whether to explicitly authorize military action against Islamic State when they return after the November elections. Leaders are reluctant to do so now because of the risks involved in taking such a tough vote before the elections. Many lawmakers want to protect the congressional prerogative to declare war, and disagree with Mr. Obama's position that he already has approval to fight the group under a 2001 use-of-force resolution that remains in effect because it didn't include an expiration date.
In a nod to the possibility of a post-election vote, the amendment is structured to authorize the train-and-equip program only through the middle of December. Lawmakers expect to come back after the elections and renew the program through a separate defense-authorization bill, the annual legislation that provides a blueprint for defense policy.
That would also give Congress time to more fully consider the entire set of issues involved in a military re-engagement in the Middle East. Currently, many lawmakers feel the White House and congressional leaders are trying to rush through the train-and-equip program.
The president had for years been reluctant to arm Syrian rebels, but shifted his thinking after Islamic State headed toward the Kurdish city of Erbil, where the U.S. has diplomatic facilities, threatened a religious minority group and beheaded two Americans.
After launching airstrikes in Iraq in August to stop the advance by Islamic State, Mr. Obama last week formally told the nation that he planned to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the radical group. The president said he wouldn't send combat troops, a point he reiterated Wednesday in a speech to troops at MacDill Air Force Base during a visit to the military's Central Command headquarters in Florida.
—Michael R. Crittenden contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
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