Senate Dems call for vote on ISIS

Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) came to the Senate floor Thursday to call on Congress to vote to authorize the use of U.S. military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“Congress needs to authorize this war,” Murphy said. “Congress needs to fulfill its constitutional duty and debate the president’s proposal for military action. 

{mosads}“This is too important to not have all voices at the table before moving forward.”

Their request came after President Obama outlined his strategy to fight the terrorist group Wednesday night. Obama said he would welcome the support of Congress but that he doesn’t need it to initiate airstrikes against the terrorist group.

“This is not a short-term deal,” Nelson said. “This is going to be a long-term and involved effort, and so the Congress should register its support.”

Nelson has introduced a resolution to authorize the use of military force, but he said he was open to passing other versions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has indicated that a vote to authorize force wouldn’t occur before the November election.

At 4 p.m., all senators are attending a classified White House briefing on the ISIS threat. 

The House is considering adding funding to a stopgap government funding bill for training Syrian rebels to fight ISIS. That measure needs to pass before lawmakers leave at the end of next week for midterm election campaigning. 

Murphy said he doesn’t support arming and training Syrian rebels because they could end up joining ISIS.

“Too much can go wrong, for not enough possible gain, if the United States increases its involvement in the Syrian civil war,” Murphy said.