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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2020)
A5 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JANuARy 11, 2020 House tries to restrain Trump’s actions on Iran Resolution is not binding By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON — Reig- niting a debate over who has the power to declare war, the Democratic-con- trolled House on Thursday approved a resolution assert- ing that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engag- ing in further military action against Iran. The war powers resolu- tion is not binding on the president and would not require his signature. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nonetheless insisted it “has real teeth” because “it is a statement of the Congress of the United States.” The measure will “protect American lives and values” by limiting Trump’s military actions, Pelosi said. “The administration must de-esca- late and must prevent further violence.’’ The White House called the resolution “ridiculous” and “completely misguided.” And Trump, at a cam- paign rally in Toledo, Ohio, claimed he had no obligation J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walks to meet with reporters following escalation of tensions this week between the U.S. and Iran. to give lawmakers advance warning, saying Democrats like Pelosi “want us to tell them so they can leak it to their friends in the corrupt media.” The House passed the measure, 224-194, with just three Republicans voting in support. Eight Democrats opposed the measure. A similar proposal by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., faces an uphill fight in the GOP- run Senate. Kaine’s efforts received a boost Thursday as Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, an ex-Marine, said he might support the war powers measure. Two other Republican senators said Wednesday they would back Kaine’s plan. “We are members of a separate and distinct branch of government. It is our duty not to take anyone’s word for things as we are deal- ing with matters of life and death,” Young said, add- ing that he wished Trump administration officials had provided more intelligence information during a briefing Wednesday on a U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general. Pelosi, in announcing the House vote, called the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani “provocative and dispropor- tionate.” The U.S. military also tried, but failed, to take out another senior Iranian commander on the same day that the American airstrike killed Soleimani, U.S. offi- cials said Friday. Also on Friday, Pelosi said the House will take steps next week to send arti- cles of impeachment to the Senate, ending Democrats’ blockade of Trump’s Senate trial over his conduct toward Ukraine. Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, denounced the Democratic war powers measure as little more than “a press release designed to attack President Trump,’’ while House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California called it a ”mean- ingless vote” on a measure that will never be sent to the president or “limit his consti- tutional authority to defend the American people.’’ White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said, “This House resolution tries to undermine the ability of the U.S. Armed Forces to pre- vent terrorist activity by Iran and its proxies, and attempts to hinder the president’s authority to protect Amer- ica and our interests in the region from the continued threats.” The House vote came a day after the Trump admin- istration briefed lawmakers on its actions in Iran. Dem- ocrats and several Repub- licans called the briefings inadequate, adding that offi- cials did not provide enough details about why the attack was justified. Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that Soleimani “was traveling the region making plans to bring an attack against Ameri- can personnel and American forces.” He said it was not possible to share full details of the intelligence with lawmakers. “When it comes to intel- ligence we have to protect sources and methods, there’s only certain amount we can share with every member of Congress,” Pence said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “But those of us who have seen all the evi- dence know that there was a compelling case of immi- nent threat against American personnel.” Trump said Thursday that he “had calls from numerous senators and numerous con- gressmen and women saying it was the greatest presenta- tion they’ve ever had.’’ US blames Iran for Ukrainian jetliner downing By NASSER KARIMI, JOSEPH KRAUSS and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. promised “appropriate action” Friday in response to its assessment that an Iranian missile was responsible for downing a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed outside Tehran, as the Iranian government denied playing a role in the killing of all 176 people on board. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the high- est-level U.S. official to directly pin the blame on Iran, after Canadian, Aus- tralian and British leaders announced similar intelli- gence conclusions Thursday. “We do believe it is likely that that plane was shot down by an Iranian missile,” he said. Pompeo said an investiga- tion would continue into the incident and that once it was complete he was “confident that we and the world will take appropriate action as a response.” Leaders said the plane appeared to have been unintentionally hit by a sur- face-to-air missile. Earlier Friday, Iran denied Western allegations that one of its own missiles downed the jetliner that crashed early Wednesday outside Tehran, hours after Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq to avenge the killing of its top general in an Ameri- can airstrike last week. “What is obvious for us, and what we can say with certainty, is that no missile hit the plane,” Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran’s national avia- tion department, told a press conference. “If they are really sure, they should come and show their findings to the world” in accordance with international standards, he added. Hassan Rezaeifar, the head of the Iranian investi- gation team, said recover- ing data from the black box flight recorders could take more than a month and that the entire investigation could stretch into next year. He also said Iran may request help from international experts if it is not able to extract the flight recordings. 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