Space Act Passes | Obama’s Security & Foreign Policy Called Half-Measures, Ad Hoc, Piecemeal, Indecisive & Feckless

House passes Space Act.
Speaker Boehner noted, "Now the SPACE Act
boldly goes to the Senate, and we hope, the
 president’s desk, where it can begin a long life
of helping our kids and grandkids prosper."

Today in Washington, D.C. - May 21, 2015:
The House convened at 10 AM today and began its legislative day.
The House took up consideration of H.R. 2262 (Space Act) — "To facilitate a pro-growth environment for the developing commercial space industry by encouraging private sector investment and creating more stable and predictable regulatory conditions, and for other purposes." After debates and consideration of amendments, H.R. 2262 was passed (284-133) at 12:44 PM,

Other bills that may be considered today are:
H.R. 1335 - "To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide flexibility for fishery managers and stability for fishermen, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2496 — "To extend the authorization for the replacement of the existing Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, to make certain improvements in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, and for other purposes."

Yesterday, the House passed:
H.R. 880 (274-145) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to simplify and make permanent the research credit."
H.R. 1806 (217-205) — "To provide for technological innovation through the prioritization of Federal investment in basic research, fundamental scientific discovery, and development to improve the competitiveness of the United States, and for other purposes."

The Senate reconvened at 9 AM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 1314, the vehicle for the Trade Promotion Authority bill.

At 10 AM, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) tried to get unanimous consent to vote on a group of amendments to the bill, but Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said that not enough amendments had been voted on and then objected.

The Senate then voted 62-38 to invoke cloture on the Hatch substitute amendment, which contains the TPA language.

Senators are now discussing further amendments to the bill and the timing of votes on cloture on the underlying bill, H.R. 1314, and on bills concerning expiring PATRIOT Act intelligence provisions.

This morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed for cloture on H.R. 2048, the House-passed surveillance bill, and on S. 1357, a bill extending the expiring PATRIOT Act provisions for two months.

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg has interviewed President Obama on security and foreign policy issues again and he writes, “I started the interview by asking Obama if—despite his previous assertion that ISIS was on the defensive—the United States was, in fact, losing the fight against the Islamic State terror group. When we spoke, the Iraqi city of Ramadi, in Anbar Province, had just fallen to ISIS; Palmyra, in Syria, would fall the day after the interview.”

“‘No, I don’t think we’re losing,’ he said. He went on to explain, ‘There’s no doubt there was a tactical setback, although Ramadi had been vulnerable for a very long time, primarily because these are not Iraqi security forces that we have trained or reinforced. … [T]he training of Iraqi security forces, the fortifications, the command-and-control systems are not happening fast enough in Anbar, in the Sunni parts of the country.’”

The White House has been insistent that this is not as serious a setback for the campaign against the Islamic State and other terrorist forces as it appears.

However, as The Wall Street Journal editors write today, “In reality, the fall of Ramadi is a military humiliation and humanitarian disaster with large political consequences. The city is the provincial capital of Anbar province, Iraq’s Sunni heartland. U.S. forces waged a block-by-block battle to reclaim Ramadi from insurgents during the 2007 surge because it is crucial to the sectarian geography of Iraq. Winning there proved that the U.S. could prevail anywhere, and it provided the psychological momentum to swing the Sunnis to America’s side. So much for that.”

They explain, “The larger problem is that Mr. Obama wants to wage a de minimis campaign against an enemy with maximalist ambitions. The Administration often insists that Iraqis must defend their own country, which is true. But after making the ouster of then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki a condition of U.S. support, the least the U.S. can do is provide meaningful support to his successor, Haider al-Abadi. That hasn’t happened. . . . The White House and its military commanders have also grossly underestimated the resilience of Islamic State. . . . Ramadi’s fall has humiliated Mr. Abadi and discredited his strategy of trusting the U.S. Mr. Maliki and his Iranian backers are angling to return to power—and unleash Shiite militias armed and trained by Iran. The danger is that on present trend the country will soon be divided into a Shiite east dominated by Iran and a Sunni west controlled by Islamic State.”

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn criticized the Obama administration’s approach to the Middle East on the Senate floor yesterday, saying, “I'm frustrated by the President's lack of leadership and by the Obama Administration's failure to put together a strong and cohesive strategy to combat ISIL, but it's more serious than that. . . . Since ISIL began taking large swaths of territory last summer, this Administration has taken an approach of paralysis by analysis. In other words, doing nothing. When they do take action, it seems ad hoc and piecemeal, and not driven by overarching objectives or any strategy that is apparent to me.  . . . Just a few months ago, President Obama claimed ISIL was on the defensive. Well, that's not exactly the case today, nor was it really then. And it's not exactly the picture of the kind of leadership that we need from our commander in chief. By giving our troops a difficult mission to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL but not providing them with a strategy and the resources they need to do so, the President is essentially making them operate with one more hand tied behind their back.”

The world remains a dangerous place and the Obama administration’s approach to the Islamic State with a “de minimis campaign” and “half-measures” while the president instead tells Coast Guard Academy graduates about the threat of climate change is not a formula for success.

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