{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/in-hearing-with-secretary-kerry-kaine-presses-case-for-congress-to-act-on-authorization-for-use-of-military-force-against-isil-before-adjourning", "In Hearing With Secretary Kerry, Kaine Presses Case For Congress To Act On Authorization For Use Of Military Force Against ISIL Before Adjourning", "2014-12-09", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Tim Kaine", "K000384", "www.kaine.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In Hearing With Secretary Kerry, Kaine Presses Case For Congress To Act On Authorization For Use Of Military Force Against ISIL Before Adjourning\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTuesday, December 9, 2014\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Following U.S. Senator Tim Kaine\u2019s months-long push for a meaningful, transparent debate and vote on an authorization for U.S. military action against ISIL, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing today on the mission against ISIL with Secretary of State John Kerry \u2013 a move Kaine believes is a critical, yet overdue, first step in properly authorizing this mission.\r\nResponding to criticism about the unorthodox process that led to today's hearing, Kaine said: \u201cCongress has been silent about this. I don\u2019t think we weaken our nation so much with an unwieldy process as we weaken our nation when we don\u2019t take seriously the most solemn responsibility Congress has, which is to engage around the authorization at the beginning \u2013 not five months in \u2013 about whether we should initiate war.\u201d\r\n\u201cConstitutionally it\u2019s required,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m driven by a more important value \u2013 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to ask people \u2026 to risk their lives - to give their lives - in a mission if Congress hasn\u2019t had a debate and put their thumbprint on it and said this is in the national interest. If we \u2018re not willing to do that, how can we ask people to risk their lives?\u201d\r\n\u201cI think it would be foolish to leave here this week or next, to adjourn,\u201d Kaine continued. \u201cFor those of us who do not believe that the \u201801 or \u201802 authorizations give this a legal authority, every day we have been on offense without Congress we believe is an unauthorized war. We believe it\u2019s a Congressional abdication of our oath of office and of our fundamental constitutional responsibilities.\u201d\r\nSince June 2014, Kaine has been urging the administration to seek a specific authorization for military action against ISIL while pressing his Congressional colleagues to debate and vote on the mission. In September,\u00a0Kaine introduced a draft authorization, key provisions of which have been incorporated into the version expected to now be marked up by the committee on Thursday, December 11.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/in-hearing-with-secretary-kerry-kaine-presses-case-for-congress-to-act-on-authorization-for-use-of-military-force-against-isil-before-adjourning"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4011820312589407, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}