President Obama announced on Monday that in the coming weeks, another 250 American troops will be headed to Syria. "They’re not going to be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces that continue to drive ISIL back," Obama said from Germany.
Congressman Joe Kennedy ( @RepJoeKennedy) said that he's been calling for a debate on the authorization of military force for many years now. "The bottom line," he said, "is if we're going to ask our men and women in uniform and their families, to bear the brunt of of another war in the Middle East, the least Congress should do is vote on it." Kennedy called it a "constitutional responsibility" for Congress to vote on this.
Kennedy said that he wants to ask the administration questions about the increase in troops. "What does success look like? How long is it going to take? How come our allies aren't putting up more cooperation with us?"
Kennedy also discussed the disparity in legal services for the poor."We spent, as a society, in 2014, more on Halloween costumes for our pets, than the federal government did on access to justice,” he said.
On Jim's favorite topic, cameras in the courtroom, Kennedy said he still opposes them.
Kennedy strongly backs the transgender accommodations legislation currently before the State House. He recently got a lot of attention when he asked the organizers of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce gala to take his name off a list of honorary co-hosts for the event because Governor Charlie Baker was being honored, despite his refusal to take a stand on the bill.
