Pelosi: Time for Boehner To Start War Debate in Congress

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on Speaker John Boehner to initiate a debate in Congress over granting President Barack Obama a new authorization to use military force to defeat Islamic militants.

“Everybody in the country’s talking about it except for us,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, said during a breakfast with Bloomberg News reporters and editors in New York today.

This month, Congress in a rare bipartisan vote passed Obama’s plan to arm and train Syrian rebels. That will expire in December during a post-election session of Congress.

Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said yesterday he was willing to call Congress back into session to vote on authorizing broader military action, though it’s up to Obama to make the request.

“Since when do we sit around waiting, using the excuse he didn’t ask?” Pelosi said, referring to the president. “No, if you want to have an authorization that has any constraints on the president, you don’t wait for him to write it.”

The debate over what power the president should have to uproot Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria will open a divide in both parties and both chambers of Congress.

Democrats led by Pelosi strongly oppose using U.S. ground troops to fight Islamic State while Republicans, particularly in the House, want a more robust response including possible ground forces.

‘No Choice’

Yesterday, Boehner said the U.S. will have “no choice” but to put American troops on the ground if other nations fail to do so. “These are barbarians,” Boehner said on ABC’s “This Week” program, referring to Islamic State.

Pelosi also expressed concern about a congressional debate over raising the nation’s borrowing limit, set to expire as early as March.

“I’m very concerned about the debt ceiling” because many Americans don’t understand the importance of meeting the nation’s borrowing obligations, said Pelosi. “We shouldn’t even be having this discussion.”

Although this election year is unlikely to yield many new seats for Democrats this year, Pelosi predicted that her party will win a majority in Congress in 2016.