Mario Diaz-Balart: Congress Needs to Authorize Military Action in Syria

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., spoke out Friday on the possibility of President Barack Obama using military action against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, saying that any military action needs to go through Congress first.

While I would like to wholeheartedly support our commander in chief in the event of military action in Syria, any use of force must be purposeful, overwhelming, and in furtherance of specifically enumerated national security interests," said Diaz-Balart in a statement. "Unfortunately, the president has failed to provide a coherent policy on Syria to date. His poorly conceived red line unnecessarily leveraged U.S. credibility, and placed him in the regrettable position of either following through on the promised retaliation or confirming that his threat was a hollow one.

If the president is planning military action in Syria, he must first clearly explain his policy to the American people, cite clear national security reasons for the action, and obtain congressional authorization. Dictator Assad, his allies in Iran, and al-Qaida's numerous affiliates are a malignancy in the Middle East that have grown bolder during the failed, anemic policies of the Obama administration. Any military plan of action should not be done halfway, for superficial reasons, or with vague objectives, and it must carefully weigh repercussions for allies such as Israel. Now is the time for strong leadership, clarity of purpose, and fierce determination to protect American interests. So far, these qualities have been lacking in the president's foreign policy agenda.

I hope that the Syrian people's days of fear and repression will soon be behind them. The U.S. plan of action in the coming days will be key in determining their future and demonstrating the extent of the president's resolve to defend American interests."

Obama is weighing his options on whether the U.S. wants to go forward with military action in Syria, but his administration has already given a preview of what justification they would use if the president decides to take military action. Obama said Wednesday he has"no interest in any open-ended conflict in Syria." But he added, "we do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, that they are held accountable."