“These strikes do involve the United States directly in hostilities, regardless of how limited they are and regardless of whether there’s a humanitarian purpose involved. The President is acting according to the powers of his office – and Congress must do the same. If these operations are continuing when Congress returns in September, then Congress needs to take action to authorize them. 370 Members of the House voted for my amendment last month. We made it very clear that we believe Congress has a significant constitutional role to play.
“When we bomb ISIS, which is a horrible group, we have to realize that we are heading down the path of choosing sides in an ancient religious and sectarian war inside Iraq. While choosing sides may be something Congress decides that it wants to support, it goes beyond the humanitarian mission of providing relief to civilians stranded on a mountain in imminent danger of dying of hunger and thirst. It goes beyond protecting our military and diplomatic personnel. I am concerned that we are already seeing these different missions blur into one in the press and in Congress. That is deeply troubling.”
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