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 Republican lawmakers unveiled a measure, written with input from
the White House, that would quickly provide the authority - but not
the funding - that Obama wants to equip and train the moderate
Syrian rebels.
The measure sets conditions including barring the use of U.S. ground
forces and requiring the administration to submit regular progress
reports on the plan and its vetting of the rebels receiving the
training and equipment.
The plan is a major component of Obama's campaign to stop Islamic
State militants who have seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria,
where both the Islamic State and the moderate rebels are waging a
three-year-long civil war against the government of President Bashar
al-Assad.
"I think the new language is appropriate. It puts a check on the
administration, prevents the introduction of combat boots on the
ground, requires very close monitoring by the Congress, all along
the way," said Kentucky Republican Representative Hal Rogers,
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
 The measure was written as an amendment to a stop-gap spending bill
that both houses of Congress must pass to keep the government open
after the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
VOTE ON WEDNESDAY
House Republican aides said the amendment will get a separate vote
on the House floor, likely on Wednesday, before a vote on final
passage of the stop-gap spending bill. Both measures would expire on
Dec. 11, requiring further action by Congress after the Nov. 4
congressional elections.
The amendment does not include $500 million the White House
requested to pay for the arms and training. But it allows the
Pentagon to later submit reprogramming requests to shift funds
within the budget if it needs money for the program.
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Those requests can be granted with the approval only of certain
committee leaders, not the full Congress.
"At this point, what's most important is for us to have the training
and equipment program in place," a senior administration official
said, adding that the White House did not have "the luxury" to wait
through a potential fight in Congress over the money.
Some lawmakers expressed reservations about what has been called a
"war vote." But many were pleased to have oversight of the expansion
of what had been a limited, covert operation supporting the moderate
rebels.
"Look, we don't live in a perfect world and these aren't perfect
bills, but I think the fact that they are being brought up before we
go home is commendable," said New York Representative Eliot Engel,
the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The measure is expected to pass the House. It would then go to the
Senate, where it is expected to pass in time for lawmakers to leave
Washington by Friday and spend the next six weeks campaigning for
re-election.
(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson and Amanda Becker; Editing
by Caren Bohan and Ken Wills)
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