Obama Gets A Win As House Passes Authorization To Aid Syrian Rebels Against ISIS

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President Obama got a foreign policy win today as the House passed an amendment giving President Obama the authorization to train the Syrian rebels to fight ISIS.

The final vote was 273-156 in favor of the amendment.

Before the vote, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke in favor of the amendment. Pelosi said, “This is not an authorization of the use of military force…I do not support, or will not support combat troops on the ground. That is not what this is about.” Pelosi talked about the brutality of ISIS and said that it is outside the circle of civilized human behavior. Pelosi that this is hard, but it is necessary that the House approves this. Leader Pelosi didn’t ask anyone for their vote, but she explained why she supported the amendment.

House Republicans opposed the amendment because they believed that it would fail. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) called for boots on the ground in Iraq instead of funding the training of Syrian rebels. Duncan said that he wanted a decisive plan, and he made it clear that by decisive, he meant boots on the ground.

Democrats called for strong bipartisan support on the amendment while some Republicans claimed that since the strategy came from President Obama it was already a failure.

It was an odd debate with Republicans and Democrats both divided. Some Democrats, like Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), warned that a vote in favor of training the Syrian rebels will be viewed as a vote that authorizes the use of force. Republican Majority Whip Steve Scalise spoke in support of the amendment by calling it the very beginning of a strategy to take on ISIS.

This amendment doesn’t authorize the use of force. It won’t send combat troops to Syria or Iraq. The amendment doesn’t fund aid for Syria, and it expires on December 11. The amendment is attached to a short-term continuing resolution that will fund the government. This is an important symbolic win for the Obama administration. The vote wasn’t as close as some suspected it would be. The House joined with the president to present a united front in the battle against ISIS as a majority of Republicans and Democrats supported the amendment.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association