Cardin Statement on the Continuing Resolution Vote
“The current authorizations of force from 2001 and 2002 should not be used as a basis for action in 2014 and beyond”
“Congress should be working on a new, narrowly focused authorization”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), issued the following statement after voting for the Continuing Resolution (H.J.Res. 124) that will fund the federal government until December 11, 2014. The measure will avoid a government shutdown at the end of the current fiscal year. Also voted on, as part of this package sent from the House of Representatives, is short-term authorization for the administration to proceed with arming and advising Syrian rebels fighting against ISIL terrorists.
“With this action, Congress will have time to properly debate and consider how our nation deals with the military threats from ISIL. Just as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged more than a year ago, with a target of President Assad, Congress has voted to provide arms to Syrian rebels and train individuals in the use of those weapons. This time the target is ISIL. The vote taken by Congress today is not a declaration of war. Congress has not authorized the use of U.S. military force in Syria. The current authorizations of force from 2001 and 2002 should not be used as a basis for action in 2014 and beyond. We should be working on a new, narrowly focused authorization bill for Iraq that could be taken up as soon as we return in November, or earlier if the circumstances warrant. Any authorization must not open the door to U.S. combat ground troops in Iraq or Syria. I have serious concerns about whether we should authorize any U.S. military force in Syria.”
