WASHINGTON - Questioning Secretary of State John Kerry during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Chris Coons ‎(D-Del.) called on Congress to remain in session past Thursday’s scheduled adjournment in order to debate and vote on an authorization of the use of force (AUMF) against the Islamic State. 

“I’m relieved that we are having this debate and that we’re having it in the open,” Senator Coons said. “I believe the American people deserve — and our values demand — exactly this sort of a robust and open debate. I think that Congress should not adjourn until we vote on an AUMF.”

“We have raised important and difficult issues… and it’s in large part because of the difficult history — the lessons learned — from the cost and the reach and the scope and the complexity of our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2001 and 2002 authorizations that were the foundation, in some ways, of those actions — that there are real concerns here.”

Senator Coons, who is also a member of the Senate Appropriations and Budget committees, also urged his colleagues to find a mechanism for paying for the war without incurring additional debt.

“We cannot write another blank check for war, as was unfortunately the case under previous presidents and previous congresses for previous conflicts,” Senator Coons said. “Paying for war is not only fiscally, but also morally, responsible. It’s not right to expect that the only people to sacrifice to be our troops and their families. Expressly having a conversation about how to offset the cost of this war — through a reduction in spending or an increase in revenue, or both — will help Americans have a more direct connection to the conflict, and an awareness of its impact, not just in terms of our spending, but our steadily growing national debt. It is the duty of the Congress, as we debate the scope and strategy for this conflict, to also look squarely at its cost and how to pay for it.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will mark-up draft text of the AUMF in a business meeting on Thursday.