Senior Obama administration officials held an unclassified conference call with Congressional leaders Thursday night to seek their input on a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime’s use of chemical weapons, according to the White House.
“The views of Congress are important to the President’s decision-making process, and we will continue to engage with Members as the President reaches a decision on the appropriate U.S. response to the Syrian government’s violation of international norms against the use of chemical weapons,” the White House readout of the call read.
Administration officials that participated in the call included National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Sandy Winnefeld. Below is a list of members of Congress who participated in the briefing, according to the readout:
Speaker John Boehner, R-OH
· Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA
· Senator Dick Durbin, D-IL, Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
· Senator John Cornyn, R-TX, Republican Whip
· Representative Eric Cantor, R-VA, Majority Leader
· Representative Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, Majority Whip
· Representative Steny Hoyer, D-MD, Democratic Whip
· Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, Democratic Conference Committee Vice Chair
· Senator Barbara Mikulski, D-MD, Chair, Appropriations Committee
· Senator Carl Levin, D-MI, Chairman, Armed Services Committee
· Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ, Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee
· Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, Chair, Select Committee on Intelligence
· Senator James Inhofe, R-OK, Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee
· Senator Bob Corker, R-TN, Ranking Member, Foreign Relations Committee
· Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, Ranking Member, Select Committee on Intelligence
· Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT, Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
· Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC, Ranking Member, Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
· Senator Thad Cochran, R-MS, Ranking Member, Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
· Representative Bill Young, R-FL, Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
· Representative Ed Royce, R-CA, Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee
· Representative Mike Rogers, R-MI, Chairman, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
· Representative Nita Lowey, D-NY, Ranking Member Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member, Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
· Representative Buck McKeon, R-CA, Chairman, Armed Services Committee
· Representative Eliot Engel, D-NY, Ranking Member, Foreign Affairs Committee
· Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, D-MD, Ranking Member, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
· Representative Kay Granger, R-TX, Chair, Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
