The Battle for U.S. Foreign Policy by Patrick Homan & Jeffrey S. Lantis

Author:Patrick Homan & Jeffrey S. Lantis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030301712
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Traditional Legislative Strategies

The Assad regime’s Sarin nerve gas attack against rebel-held areas in August 2013 ignited an intense debate over possible responses, both at home and abroad. President Obama publicly condemned Syrian actions and considered authorizing a punitive military strike.

This would be designed to send a powerful message that Western countries would not abide by the use of weapons of mass destruction and could degrade Syrian military capability. However, the president chose not to act unilaterally on the issue. On August 31, 2013, the president announced that while he personally favored a military strike, he would seek congressional authorization for any action. Obama chose to defer to congressional consideration on the issue to honor what he described as the best tradition of the “world’s oldest constitutional democracy” (“Statement by the President on Syria,” August 31, 2013). However, support was not foreordained, and it soon became clear that the move was a risky gamble to gain congressional buy-in. Representative Tom Cole (R-OK), a leading Republican, summed up Obama’s situation at the time: “Obama hasn’t got a chance to win [a congressional authorization vote] if he can’t win the majority of his own party, and I doubt he can. Democrats have been conspicuously silent. Just about his only support is coming from Republicans. He is a war president without a war party” (qtd. in Baker and Weisman, August 31, 2013).

The ensuing debate over the authorization of the use of force in Congress highlighted pronounced divisions within the government, within both parties over foreign policy, and among the public. Democratic Party leaders who supported the White House tried to move forward with resolve. On September 6, 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid formally submitted S.J. Res #21, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons (S.​J.​ Res 21). The resolution would authorize the president to use the U.S. military to intervene in Syria for up to 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension. In a nod to potential opposition, the bill also expressly prohibited the use of ground troops and included detailed reporting requirements. Senate leaders who supported action scheduled committee hearings to begin soon and set a deadline for a floor vote on an authorization to be held “no later” than the week of September 9 (Solomon and Hook, September 2, 2013).

However, there was no guarantee that this legislation could move forward quickly. Congress was in recess for the Labor Day holiday, and members touring their home districts found little public appetite for escalation of involvement in Syria. For example, Democratic Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) said that based on what he had heard at home it would be hard to generate public support for action. He predicted, “I’d be very surprised if the position of going forward with the strike would reach 50 percent in our state. I don’t think it would get to 50.” Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) said that no other issue had generated as passionate a response from the public, and voters made it known that they strongly opposed military action.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.