House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Friday sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) asking him to bring Congress back into session to debate authorization for military action in Syria.
“The President’s action and any response demands that we immediately do our duty. Congress must live up to its Constitutional responsibility to debate an Authorization of the Use of Military Force against a sovereign nation,” Pelosi wrote in the letter.
“As heartbreaking as Assad’s chemical weapons attacks on his own people was, the crisis in Syria will not be resolved by one night of airstrikes. The killing will not stop without a comprehensive political solution to end the violence,” she continued. “The American people are owed a comprehensive strategy with clear objectives to keep our brave men and women in uniform safe and avoid collateral damage to innocent civilians in Syria.”
Members of the House are back in their home districts for a two week recess.
The Trump administration on Thursday night ordered air strikes on an air base in Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that U.S. officials believe was carried out by the Syrian government.
Following the missile strikes, several members of Congress called on President Donald Trump to consult with Congress before any taking additional actions in Syria. Some members said it was unlawful for Trump to carry out the strikes without authorization from Congress.
Read Pelosi’s letter to Ryan:
I am writing to request that you call the House back in session immediately to debate any decision to place our men and women in uniform in harm’s way.
Bashar al-Assad ‘s chemical weapons attack on his own people places him outside the circle of civilized human behavior. Assad also continues to attack his own people with conventional weapons. Meanwhile, Russia props up the Assad regime and enables its brutal war crimes to continue.
The President’s action and any response demands that we immediately do our duty. Congress must live up to its Constitutional responsibility to debate an Authorization of the Use of Military Force against a sovereign nation.
As heartbreaking as Assad’s chemical weapons attacks on his own people was, the crisis in Syria will not be resolved by one night of airstrikes. The killing will not stop without a comprehensive political solution to end the violence. The American people are owed a comprehensive strategy with clear objectives to keep our brave men and women in uniform safe and avoid collateral damage to innocent civilians in Syria.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible on this matter of grave concern to our national security.
