Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said after a private Tuesday meeting with President Obama and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the committee, that he believed they would soon have a new resolution for military action in Syria.
“I have a strong sense that we will be able to come to terms fairly quickly with what an authorization ought to say,” Corker told reporters after the meeting. The Corker and Menendez staffs had a “very good” meeting Monday night on what the new language should look like, Corker said. Those staffs have taken the lead in crafting a more narrowly tailored resolution after the one released by the White House was deemed too broad by many members.
“Based on the conversation we just had in the Oval Office, I think we are in agreement as to what the authorization needs to address,” Corker said. Earlier reports suggested the new language would place specific time limits on American military involvement in Syria and prohibit U.S. troops from going into the country on the ground except in emergencies.
Corker said a new resolution could be released as early as Tuesday night.
The Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing with Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Tuesday afternoon.
