The draft resolution, crafted by White House officials, does not set a deadline for action. Obama sends Syria resolution to Hill

The White House has sent Congress a draft resolution authorizing the use of American military force in Syria, with a narrow focus on interdicting chemical weapons — or their use — by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The draft resolution, crafted by White House officials, does not set any deadline for U.S. action, but it is clearly written to assuage some congressional concerns over open-ended American involvement in the two-year-old Syria civil war.


The White House-authored resolution asserts “the objective of the United States’ use of military force in connection with this authorization should be to deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade the potential for, future uses of weapons of mass destruction.”

The resolution states: “The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in connection with the use of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in the conflict in Syria in order to 1) prevent or deter the use or proliferation (including the transfer to terrorist groups or other state or non-state actors), within, to or from Syria, of any weapons of mass destruction, including chemical or biological weapons or components used in such weapons; or 2) protect the United States and its allies and partners against the threat of such weapons.”

However, the resolution does not specifically prohibit President Barack Obama from using U.S. ground forces to carry out this military mission, leading some Hill aides to privately complain that it was too broad and open-ended.

The draft resolution was assembled without any input from Capitol Hill, and even some Democratic aides said it could be drastically revised once the House and Senate begin debating it. Congress is still out of session for another week, and lawmakers will not begin to formally review the measure until they return on Sept. 9.

“There’s nothing in here about ‘no boots on the ground,’” noted a Democratic aide. “That’s going to be a problem, a big problem, for a lot of people around here.”

Obama announced on Saturday that he would seek congressional approval before ordering U.S. military strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad over the use of chemical weapons against civilians. More than 1,000 Syrians, including hundreds of children, are believed to have died in a chemical attack in suburbs of Damascus last week.

The draft “Authorization for the Use of Military Force” also notes that in the 2003 Syria Accountability and Lebanon Sovereignty Act, Congress “found that Syria’s acquisition of weapons of mass destruction threatens the security of the Middle East and national security of the United States.”

The House and the Senate are expected to take up Syria resolution when they come back from recess the week of Sept. 9.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) will begin hearings on Syria next week. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will also hold briefings for senators.

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