Lawmakers seek to strip defense bill of Syria plan, ban US ground troops

Democratic lawmakers plan to introduce two bipartisan amendments to the 2015 defense policy bill on Wednesday that would strip provisions authorizing a program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

{mosads}Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) plans to introduce the two amendments during a House Rules Committee hearing that will approve parameters for floor debate, including whether any amendments will be allowed a vote.

One amendment, from Van Hollen and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), would take out the provisions in the defense bill that authorize a U.S. plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight against ISIS for two years. The plan would cost $500 million and train as many as 5,000 fighters.

The second amendment, from Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and others, would ban the use of U.S. forces in ground combat in Iraq or Syria, with the exception of rescue operations for Americans.

“What we have coming to the floor is a very significant and broad defense authorization bill that includes many important policy decisions to the country,” Van Hollen said in an interview with The Hill.

“We believe we owe it to our troops and to the country to have a debate and a separate vote on these major policy decisions,” he added. “They should not be tucked into a huge defense authorization bill that doesn’t allow for any amendment.”

Van Hollen said he supports training and equipping Iraqi forces to take on ISIS in Iraq, but believes that training moderate Syrian rebels would drag the U.S. deeper into their civil war with Syrian President Bashar Assad and “ultimately, would have very negative unintended consequences.”

The Maryland Democrat said the Syrian rebels, if trained, would go after the Assad regime first, which would inadvertently strengthen ISIS, al Qaeda affiliate al Nusra and other extremist Islamic forces in Syria.

Instead, he said, the U.S. should seek a political solution inside Syria.

If adopted by the Rules Committee, the measures are sure to face opposition by the White House, which says the train-and-equip program is a central tenet of the administration’s strategy against ISIS.

The measures would also face opposition from Republicans and those who don’t want to restrict military options against ISIS, as well as those who believe that some U.S. forces might be necessary to lead Iraqi forces into battle against ISIS.

Van Hollen said, although the president has said he won’t use ground troops against ISIS, there is no existing limitation on his ability to do that.

“He has authority to act under the 2001 [authorization for use of military force],” he said.

Van Hollen did not say whether he expected the measures to be adopted, but he said there needed to be a separate vote and debate on the two issues.

“The current plan is to try to push this entire bill through without amendment. It does a disservice to the country and a disservice to the men and women in uniform,” he said.

“I definitely don’t think it should be embedded in a defense bill,” he added.

The House and Senate Armed Services committees introduced the 2015 defense authorization bill on Tuesday, and hope to pass it before Congress leaves for recess next week.

–This report was updated at 4:17 p.m.