Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine has introduced legislation to limit President Obama’s use of military force against the Islamic State.
The president isn’t asking Congress to give him the authority to strike the Islamic State, and Senator Kaine says that’s a problem. His bill grants the president the authority to strike ISIS but it limits it to just one year. Kaine says another problem is lawmakers in both parties seem to want to avoid voting on whether to go to war or not.
“Madison was aware of the problem of executive overreach but he didn't appropriately see that there could be another problem which is Congressional desire not to cast a vote on a really hard thing. These are the hardest questions we deal with.”
While Kaine wants a vote on his bill soon, he says he’s content that party leaders are signaling the vote will occur after this November’s elections. “If you do it quickly you can end up maybe living with it for thirteen or fourteen years and it being to broad so you got to take the time to do it right...I would maybe like to do it a little quicker than some.”
Kaine’s legislation also explicitly states that no U-S ground forces can be deployed as a part of the military strategy to combat ISIS.
