Media Advisory: Amid Rising Debate Over Possible U.S. Strikes in Syria, Sen. Kaine Will Talk War Powers at U.Va. Sept. 3

By Jane Kelly, jak4g@virginia.edu

August 30, 2013

UPDATE, Sept. 6, 2013, 10 a.m.: Kaine's talk was cancelled, due to the debate over possible U.S. military strikes against Syria.

The University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy will host U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Tuesday in a discussion of the War Powers Resolution and legislative leadership.

Kaine will offer remarks at 1 p.m. in Garrett Hall’s Great Hall.

Debate over the War Powers Resolution is heating up in Washington. Members of Congress argue that before the Obama Administration uses force against the Syrian government in response to an alleged chemical attack against civilians, the president must demonstrate the situation in Damascus poses a direct threat to the United States.

Kaine and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are leading a bipartisan effort to reform the 1973 War Powers Resolution – more commonly know as the War Power Act – which requires the president seek congressional consent before force is used or within 60 days of the start of hostilities. In a statement issued last month, Kaine said he and McCain want to lay “out a clear consultative process between congress and the president on whether and when to engage in military action.” He said the current resolution has been ineffective “at establishing a consultative process between the executive and legislative branches of our government over our nation’s most important decision – whether or not to send our men and women in uniform into harm’s way.”

In addition to the War Powers Resolution, this will be an opportunity for students to engage the senator on public policy and leadership challenges.

The event is not open to the public, but media are welcome. There will be press availability at approximately 2 p.m. in The Commons in Garrett Hall. Media should RSVP to Katharine Meyer via email at katharine.meyer@virginia.edu.

Kaine will be speaking during a meeting of “Congress 101: Leadership Strategies,” a popular elective in the Batten School’s Master of Public Policy program.

Previous Batten School speakers include U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell; U.S. Rep. and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.; former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; and the late Theodore Sorensen, special counsel to President John F. Kennedy.