Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) wrote an op-ed describing his position on the US involvement in Syria.

“We cannot improve a situation with chemical weapons by attacking with kinetic weapons. Contributing to the Syrian death count will not make anything better.

The civil war in Syria is not America’s fight and not an immediate threat to America’s security. Why should American taxpayers be forced to pay for the United States to act?”

He also adds that President Obama is wrong in believing he has the authority to strike Syria without Congressional approval.  Massie writes, “This is unconstitutional. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress – not the president – the power to declare war.”

In June Massie introduced the “War Powers Protection Act of 2013” to block the US from supporting Syrian rebels:

(a) In General- No funds made available to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, or any other agency or entity of the United States involved in intelligence activities may be obligated or expended for the purpose of, or in a manner which would have the effect of, supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Syria by any nation, group, organization, movement, or individual.

With the recent developments of a US-Russian agreement on Syrian chemical weapons it is unclear whether Congress will take a vote on the authorization of force.  But if they do, Massie already knows how he will vote, “Since our national security interests in Syria are unclear, and because Syria poses no imminent threat, I plan to vote against authorizing the use of military force in Syria.”