WBEZ: IL Congressmen meet with President to discuss Syria

The following is a transcript of an interview that originally took place on WBEZ's Morning Shift on September 3, 2013. A link to the audio can be found here.

Tony Sarabia: And of course Syria in the news throughout the holiday weekend. Congressman Mike Quigley was one of dozens of U.S. lawmakers who attended a Sunday briefing in Washington held by Obama administration officials to provide classified information and answer questions as Congress readies itself for a vote on whether to authorize a strike on Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons in that country's ongoing Civil War. Congressman Quigley is on the line with us now. Good morning Congressman.

Rep. Mike Quigley: Good morning. Thanks for having me on.

Tony Sarabia: It's being reported that the President is meeting right now with John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi. Yesterday he met with Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham; Senator McCain saying that he has thrown tentative support behind the President's plan but what he said was that he would back if the President did more to back Syrian rebels. I'm wondering, where do you stand on that part?

Rep. Mike Quigley: Look, it's very serious issues here. I mean, when you are arming Syrian rebels, you have to ask yourself, "Which rebels and how do we make sure that those weapons aren't turned around and used against us or our allies?" None of the decisions in Syria are easy. That's adding one that is even more complicated than the decision to use military force ourselves.

Tony Sarabia: What kind of questions did you have coming out of the briefing?

Rep. Mike Quigley: Well I think going into the briefing the first question you have is what took place there and who is responsible. I left the briefing nearly certain that a gas attack took place and nearly certain that the Assad regime was responsible. But there are still a lot of questions. This is a process. There is still a lot of questions to be asked. What is the appropriate action? What is the end goal? How will this affect our allies in the region in a positive or negative way? What is the scope and duration of this process? We have to get this right. There are still a lot of questions remaining. And I believe that this next week will work toward that end.

Tony Sarabia: Where do you stand? Do you agree with the President about giving Congress the decision for military action? Throwing it in your court?

Rep. Mike Quigley: Well if you read the Constitution, yes. I think Congress for some time now has abdicated its responsibility. There has been talk as these issues have taken place since I’ve been there about congress capturing this back. Hopefully it will act in a responsible manner and earn the right to do this. But I think the President was correct to seek authorization from Congress before taking action.

Tony Sarabia: You know you say, "If you read the Constitution, Congress has that authority." But from what I understand, the President as well has some authority. There is a window here that he could have taken advantage of, but yet decided to throw it to Congress.

Rep. Mike Quigley: Right. There is the 1973 War Powers Act gives the President, what I would argue, limited powers over a short term basis, roughly 60 days. He clearly can act then. But then it gets real foggy. And the courts loathe to rule on this, arguing that it is really a political decision. So this is really between the Congress and the President to sort this out, about responsibilities and acting appropriately.

Tony Sarabia: We are talking to Congressman Michael Quigley. He was at the meeting on Sunday being briefed by Obama administration officials regarding possible action in Syria. You know, there have been critics of the President regarding his relationship with Congress. Do you see this as an uphill battle for the President?

Rep. Mike Quigley: Well I think it is never easy for the President. To say this is a dysfunctional congress is an understatement. I don't know if any of the previous 43 presidents could have gotten much of anything done given this, particularly this House of Representatives. It makes the Truman’s “do nothing” Congress look good. There is just not a lot of activity here, and the activity that we do complete, like voting 40 times to repeal the health care law, isn't productive. So it's an uphill battle, not just because this issue is complicated, but because of this House is dysfunctional.

Tony Sarabia: But, with this particular issue, can you see it becoming a more bipartisan issue? Bipartisan on both sides, Republicans and Democrats agreeing to action and opponents from both parties?

Rep. Mike Quigley: I think that's right. Strange bedfellows, I think, will take place on this issue. I think, sometimes, you see the far left and the far right agreeing on this issue for extraordinarily different issues. When I got to the House, I won in a special election if you recall, then Congressman Mark Kirk came up to me and said, “Anything that gets done here, gets done in the middle." That will certainly be the case if this is approved by Congress.

Tony Sarabia: You talked about our allies in the region. Certainly Syria, not one of our allies. Another country that is not one of our allies is Iran. Pundits, experts, pointing to how this move would affect our relationship, or any budding relationship with Iran and its new President. Are you concerned about how this action would affect any sort of relationship with Iran?

Rep. Mike Quigley: Absolutely. You are correct in stating that it could work either way. It's hard to say exactly how to phrase this and look at this. In one respect, if you don't act after a chemical attack, one could argue that Iran would look at this and say, "Oh they are never going to do anything. We are free to act any way we want to." On the other hand, it could be a triggering device to antagonize them and make them strike out and retaliate against our government or our allies.

Tony Sarabia: How would you view this strike if it occurs? Do you view this as enough to change the balance here or is it more as punishment for using chemical weapons?

Rep. Mike Quigley: I think it is three things. I think there is a degree of punishment here. What is the value of 180 countries or so arguing that chemical weapons are a war crime when no one does anything about it? So there is a punishment degree involved. I think Senator Graham emphasized the need to degrade the Assad regime and upgrade the opposition. I think there is a lot be said for that as well. So there is a punishment factor, a degrading factor, perhaps upgrading the opposition, and dissuading hopefully the Assad regime from ever using these weapons again.

Tony Sarabia: The G20 meeting starts this week. Any hopes that the President will persuade some of those G20 countries to come on board so that there is more of an international coalition than exists right now?

Rep. Mike Quigley: You know, it was probably the first thing that occurred to me is I thought of this and the realization that it was going to come to the house. It’s not something we can do alone. Diplomacy is going to be absolutely important and I was discouraged in the initial reaction from the international community about this issue. So it's a very important factor in deciding what we should do, and that's what the rest of the international community does.

Tony Sarabia: Congressman, Congress returns next week. Can you give us any sense on which way you are leaning in terms of the vote?

Rep. Mike Quigley: I’m leaving my options open. I began this process leaning no, because of concerns that we've just discussed. This is a process that should be a thoughtful one; it should take a little bit of time. The President took his time in deciding what he wanted to do. I'm going to give it time as well.

Tony Sarabia: Congressman Mike Quigley represents the fifth district here in Illinois, talking about the possible strike in Syria. There was a meeting on Sunday with Obama administration officials answering questions lawmakers have about possible action. Congressman—take care.