WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US House of Representatives voted against a resolution that would have removed US troops from Iraq and Syria unless the Congress voted for a new war authorization against ISIL, according to the final floor vote.
“I think it is cowardly, quite frankly, that we cannot bring an AUMF [authorization for use of military force] to the floor and have a debate on it,” Congressman Jim McGovern told reporters after the vote on Wednesday.
McGovern is a member of a bipartisan group that introduced the resolution.
The House resolution was defeated in a final vote of 288 to 139.
The resolution called for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Syria within six months, if the House failed to authorize the war against ISIL by July 2015.
A large number of Republicans voted against the bill because of national security concerns related to the withdrawal of US forces from the Middle East.
“They tried to mischaracterize [the resolution] in order to try to scare people away from voting for it,” McGovern stated.
The sponsors of the resolution told the press that the purpose of the bill was not troops withdrawal, but to force the Congress to authorize the war in Iraq and Syria.
Congressman Walter Jones, a Republican, blamed his own party's leadership for “not letting us do our job” by blocking a vote on the use of force overseas. He added that the Republican leadership prevented House Republicans in favour of the amendment from speaking on the floor prior to the final vote.
President Barack Obama sent a draft war powers authorization to the US Congress in February 2015, after requests from US Senators and Representatives.
The US has been at war against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since August 2014, but has yet to pass an official authorization to engage in the hostilities.
