http://thehill.com/policy/defense/217744-house-to-limits-obama-aid-to-syriaBy Martin Matishak and Rebecca Shabad - 09/15/14 02:25 PM EDT
House Republicans expect to unveil legislation Monday evening that would give President Obama the authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels, but with some limits on that authority.
The House Armed Services Committee is drafting the bill in consultation with the administration. It is expected to take the form of an amendment to a stopgap-spending bill that would keep the government funded through Dec. 11, according to a senior committee aide.
Votes on the spending bill and the Syrian aid could come as soon as Wednesday.
The measure includes several provisions intended to satisfy Republicans and Democrats worried about giving the administration blanket authority to arm and train rebel groups, who would be used in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
It would require Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to submit the administration's plan for training the moderate opposition 15 days before the commencement of any such activities, the aide said. That requirement was put forward by the administration, the aide added.
After that, Hagel would have to submit an update to lawmakers every 90 days.
Members want to “keep tabs” on the number of Syrian rebel troops trained and deployed, as well as how effective they are on the battlefield and what's happened to the equipment they've used, the aide explained.
The Pentagon would be required to list every individual they are recruiting, and would have to provide information on their backgrounds, including any possible links to terrorist organizations, according to the aide.
But the bill would not prohibit people with links to terrorist groups from actually participating in the program, the aide said. Such a blanket prohibition could make it tougher to recruit people for the training program.
The aide said this language is intended to provide congressional oversight to the mission, but also to give the administration some freedom to carry out a fight against ISIS.
“The oversight is just that. We're not asking for something that makes this mission impossible,” the aide said.
Some lawmakers in both parties have raised reservations about arming the Syrian rebels, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) flatly declaring it a mistake.
The resolution only authorizes the president to equip and train the rebels until Dec. 11. A more permanent authority will be included in the 2015 national defense authorization act (NDAA), according to the aide.
The aide predicted that DOD would provide fighters with "small arms," including rocket-propelled grenades, as well as communications equipment.
“They’re not going to get Abrams tanks and they're not going to get anti-aircraft batteries, they’re not going to get shoulder-launched surface to air missiles,” the aide said.
Lawmakers want the fighters to be “effective on the ground but not equipping them to be a long-term threat to the U.S. and its allies,” the aide added.
The aide said the two-page legislation, which has yet to be made available, explicitly states that it does not constitute the authority to use military force in the conflict.
The White House has already launched air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and President Obama signaled his intention to extend those strikes to Syria. The administration is using the 2001 authorization of military force passed by Congress for the war on terror as its authority for those strikes.
The bill would specifically grant the administration Title X authority, which would allow it to establish a center to train and equip members of the Syrian opposition, who are battling both the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad.
The Title X authority does not include any funding for the program because the U.S. will initially lean on members of the international coalition to pay for the training and equipping of the rebels.
If the U.S. needs to provide funding, several congressional committees will need to authorize a reprogramming request, which doesn’t need to be done while Congress is in session.
Under such a scenario, the U.S. would likely draw on $85 billion in overseas contingency operations funding that’s already set aside in the stopgap funding bill. The Obama administration had previously asked Congress to approve $500 million to fund the program.
The authority would exist until the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, so the language is written in a way in which there would be no lapse in authority once the new spending measure expires in December.
