Freedom Loving Congressmen Attempt to Prevent Arming Syria with U.S. Tax Dollars

The Cato Institute’s Chris Preble outlines the details of an attempt by Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) along with Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT), along with Tom Udall (D-NM) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), to derail the Obama administration’s plan to arm Syrian rebels.

Late last month, a bipartisan group led by Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) put forward legislation (H.R. 2494) that would block military aid to Syria pending authorization by a joint congressional resolution. The legislation would allow non-lethal assistance to continue to flow, but would require the administration to report every 90 days on what groups are receiving the aid, and the character of the aid being provided. Similar legislation (S. 1201) was introduced in the Senate by two Democrats (Tom Udall, NM; and Chris Murphy, CT) and two Republicans (Rand Paul, KY; and Mike Lee, UT).

Last week, Gibson and bill co-sponsor Peter Welch (D-VT) appeared on C-Span to discuss the legislative initiative. More information can be found here.

The effort seems like a long shot given the steady erosion of the U.S. Congress’s control over the war powers. This regression was reflected most recently by the Obama administration’s decision to wage “kinetic military action” against Libya under a UN Security Council Resolution, and in the face of strong congressional opposition. On the other hand, the American people remain overwhelmingly opposed to deeper U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war, and a mere 11 percent support arming the rebels, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. In this case, at least, the people’s elected representatives are at least doing their jobs in representing their constituents’ views.