House grudgingly approves Obama plan for combatting Islamic State

CBS News/New York Times (Friday-Monday) 40% 50% 10%

Gallup (Sunday-Tuesday) 43% 53% 4%

Rasmussen Reports (Sunday-Tuesday) 45% 54% 1%

[ FOR AAS ]

HOW THEY VOTED

To approve President Barack Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State.

John Carter (R), Y

Lloyd Doggett (D), N

Blake Farenthold (R), Y

Bill Flores (R), Y

Michael McCaul (R), Y

Lamar Smith (R), Y

Roger Williams (R), N

[ FOR AJC ]

HOW THEY VOTED

To approve President Barack Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State.John Barrow (D),

Sanford Bishop (D), Y

Paul Broun (R), N

Doug Collins (R), Y

Phil Gingrey (R), N

Tom Graves (R), Y

Hank Johnson (D), Y

Jack Kingston (R), Y

John Lewis (D), N

Tom Price (R), N

Austin Scott (R), N

David Scott (D), Y

Lynn Westmoreland (R), N

Rob Woodall (R), Y

[ FOR CMGO ]

HOW THEY VOTED

To approve President Barack Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State.

John Boehner (R), Y

Steve Chabot (R), Y

Jim Jordan (R), N

Michael Turner (R), Y

Brad Wenstrup, (R), Y

[ FOR PBP ]

HOW THEY VOTED

To approve President Barack Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State.

Ted Deutch (D), Y

Lois Frankel (D), N

Alcee Hastings (D), N

Patrick Murphy (D), Y

DEVELOPMENTS

• Iraq’s new prime minister ruled out stationing U.S. ground troops in his country, chiding the international community Wednesday for inaction in Syria and lamenting the “puzzling” exclusion of neighboring Iran from the coalition being assembled to fight the Islamic State group. Haider al-Abadi praised the U.S. aerial campaign targeting the militants who have overrun much of northern and western Iraq and carved out a proto-state spanning the Syria-Iraq border, saying it has helped efforts to roll back the Sunni extremists. But he stressed that he sees no need for the U.S. or other nations to send troops into Iraq to help fight the Islamic State. “Not only is it not necessary,” he said, “We don’t want them. We won’t allow them. Full stop.”

• Gunmen crossed the border from Syria into Lebanon and captured a Lebanese soldier on Wednesday in the first such abduction since an incursion last month raised fears of growing spillover from Syria’s deadly civil war. Kamal al-Hujairi was captured while visiting his parents’ farm when he was snatched by gunmen, a Lebanese military official said.

— From news services

The Republican-controlled House voted grudgingly to give President Barack Obama authority to train and arm Syrian rebels on Wednesday as Obama emphasized anew that American forces “do not and will not have a combat mission” in the struggle against Islamic State militants in either Iraq or Syria.

The 273-156 vote crossed party lines to an unusual degree in a Congress marked by near ceaseless partisanship. Top Republican and Democratic leaders backed Obama’s plan seven weeks before midterm elections, while dozens of rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties opposed it.

Obama said in a statement that the vote shows there is bipartisan support for a critical component of his strategy to confront Islamic State extremists, who have seized territory in Iraq and Syria and executed prisoners, including two Americans.

He singled out House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi for helping shepherd the legislation quickly through the House, saying the vote showed that “when it comes to America’s national security, America is united.”

But even supporters of the military plan found little to trumpet. “This is the best of a long list of bad options,” Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., said of the provision, which was an amendment to spending legislation that will ensure the federal government operates normally after the Sept. 30 end of the budget year.

Final approval of the overall bill, which passed the House by a 319-108 vote, is expected in the Senate as early as today.

One Republican supporter noted the measure included strict limits on Obama’s authority.

“Members on both sides of the aisle are very concerned that too much of Congress’ warmaking power has gone to the president,” said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma.

Obama’s assurances that the authorization will not lead to American troops becoming involved in combat came as he visited MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., for a meeting with U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East. It appeared designed to reassure liberal lawmakers that the new military mission would be limited despite Tuedsay’s statement by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he might recommend the use of U.S. ground combat forces if Obama’s current strategy fails.

U.S. troops “will support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists,” Obama told a gathering of officers in Tampa. He added, “As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.”

Yet many Republicans expressed concerns that without direct American involvement in the conflict, there will be insufficient force to defeat the militants.

In all, 85 Democrats and 71 Republicans voted to deny Obama the authority he sought. The measure passed on the strength of 159 votes from Republicans and 114 from Democrats.

GOP lawmakers took solace in the short-term nature of the legislation. It grants Obama authority only until Dec. 11, giving Congress time to return to the issue in a postelection session set to begin in mid-November.

Officials put a $500 million price tag on Obama’s request to train and equip rebels. The cost generated virtually no discussion among lawmakers, who focused instead on the possible consequences of a new military mission not long after America ended participation in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Testifying before a Senate Committee, Secretary of State John Kerry said the forces seeking to create an Islamic state “must be defeated. Period. End of story.”

There was plenty of debate about how to achieve that goals.

“We simply don’t know if somewhere down the line it will turn our guns back against us,” said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., giving voice to a fear that rebels seeking the removal of Syrian president Bashar Assad would eventually prove unreliable allies.

Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California expressed a different concern. “Committing insufficient force in any conflict is self-defeating, and airstrikes alone cannot win a war,” he said.

Other sections of the House measure renewed the charter of the Export-Import Bank, which helps finance purchases of U.S. exports. That postpones until next June a battle between tea party forces opposing the bank and business-oriented Republicans who support it.