WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced legislation Wednesday to authorize military force against Islamic State militants — a step aimed at forcing Congress to take responsibility for a war it’s been funding for nearly six months with almost no debate on its duration, costs or potential toll.
Lawmakers have put no parameters on the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, since it began in August. Since then, the U.S. has spent more than $1 billion, participated in more than 1,700 airstrikes, and authorized sending roughly 3,000 U.S. troops to Iraq. All of this has happened without new war authorization.
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Still, Schiff said, some in the GOP are wary of another potentially protracted war in the Middle East.
“Many of us are skeptical of another broad AUMF considering what’s happened with the last one,” Schiff said. “There will be some interesting bedfellows on this.”
