Proposed Train and Equip Authorities for Syria: In Brief
Abstract
The President s requests for authority and funding for the Department of Defense to provide overt assistance, including possible military training and weapons, to vetted members of the Syrian opposition and other vetted Syrians for select purposes are the subject of close congressional consideration. This report introduces these proposals and the analysis and table below explore similarities and differences among some of these proposals. The analysis specifically focuses on the Administration s September 2014 request to Congress and the so-called McKeon Amendment currently under consideration in Congress. On September 15, the House Rules Committee approved consideration of an amendment introduced by Representative Howard Buck McKeon (hereinafter the McKeon Amendment)1 to the proposed FY2015 continuing resolution (H.J.Res. 124) that represents a counterproposal to the President s revised request for assistance authority. Both the Administration s revised request and the McKeon amendment would provide explicit new authority for the Secretary of Defense to overtly train and equip vetted Syrians to defend the Syrian people from attacks by the Islamic State organization (IS, aka ISIL/ISIS). Such authority is currently not available according to the Administration.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 16, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA610327
Entities
People
- Amy Belasco
- Christopher M. Blanchard
Organizations
- Library of Congress