http://thehill.com/policy/finance/217304-white-house-push-to-train-syrian-rebels-ties-up-funding-fight By Justin Sink and Mike Lillis - 09/10/14 02:49 PM EDT
The White House is pushing Congress for authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels as part of a stopgap spending bill lawmakers hope to pass this week.
President Obama and Vice President Biden are calling members of Congress Wednesday to push them to include the Title 10 authority as part of the continuing resolution, and counterterrorism czar Lisa Monaco is meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Title 10 authority is the part of the U.S. code that governs military powers.
The White House says the additional authorization could allow the U.S. to ramp up assistance to the Syrian opposition, which is battling both Islamic State terrorists and the Assad regime.
The push for the authority comes as President Obama readies to speak to the public on Wednesday night about the threat from ISIS.
According to a senior administration official, the White House wants lawmakers to pass the authorization before the end of the current work period, and believes that the continuing resolution — which must be passed by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown — is the best vehicle to get that done.
But the request is meeting with some opposition from House Republicans, and could complicate efforts to move a government-funding measure.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said Obama pesonally called him to request the Title 10 authority, but that he though it should be voted on separately.
"They've known about this problem for over a year," Rogers said. "It's a complicated, big-time change in policy... Let us go ahead with a CR to keep the government going."
Rogers said a vote on the CR is still slated for Thursday, "as far as I know."
The chairman acknowledged it was unusual to hear from Obama about the issue, saying he couldn't remember the last time the president had called him directly to make an appropriations request.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate offered support for the authority, however, as did some Senate Republicans.
"The other option is to do nothing, and by doing nothing for the last few years we're seen 200,000 Syrians dead and millions displaced in refugee camps," Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told The Hill. "It's not without its risks, but we need to try to find some non-ISIS fighters, and train them and arm them so they can't help us defeat ISIS."
Public opinion polls showing widespread support for tough military action against ISIS could also make it diffcult for lawmakers to argue the administration should not have the authority to train and arm Syrian rebel groups.
Yet the issue of arming the groups has also been controversial, given worries that arms could fall into the wrong hands. ISIS itself is a group that has battled Syria's government.
The fight for the authority appears to be holding up work on the spending bill.
A Rules Committee meeting slated for 2 p.m. was postponed Wednesday, after some Republican members reportedly balked at adding the Title 10 approval to the legislation.
House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing told reporters that additional funding was not an issue since the administration can use funding already allocated in the continuing resolution for Overseas Contingency Operations to execute its mission against ISIS.
Both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have pushed for the expanded authority after meeting with the president in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
“As commander in chief, the president has the authority he needs now to act against ISIS. I believe the vast majority of members of Congress agree with that. For now, it’s critical we support our commander in chief,” Reid said during a floor speech on Wednesday.
Pelosi said it made sense to attach the Title 10 authority to the funding measure, and said lawmakers should move it “as soon as possible.”
“We want it to be on whatever engine is leaving the station, and that's one that is leaving the station,” Pelosi said, as she headed into a briefing with White House officials on the Syria training issue. “That's for sure a must-pass bill in a [short window] of time, and I would hope that it would be on there.”
Pelosi emphasized that the issue is not one of funding.
“It's not about money,” she said, “it's about authorization.”
The president originally asked for the ramped up authority during his national security speech at West Point in May, but recent pressure to confront ISIS following the beheading of two U.S. journalists has given the issue new urgency.
“I will work with Congress to ramp up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and brutal dictators,” Obama said at the time.
A Republican leadership aide noted that since the president's original request, the White House has not submitted an operational plan detailing how the aid would be provided to rebel fighters. The official also noted that three bipartisan bills that include programs to train and equip elements of the Syrian opposition have cleared committee and were awaiting Senate action.
The White House and Democratic leadership have so far declined to say if they support the CR unveiled by Republicans on Tuesday, although the GOP will likely need Democratic votes for it to pass.
Asked about the measure Wednesday, Pelosi said it was unclear what the final package will look like. But she made a point to condemn the Republicans' short-term extension of the Export-Import Bank, arguing that the Democrats' favored five-year approach would better help the limping economy.
