--- title: Congress Won't Debate War on ISIS Until Next Year description: Congress' lame duck period is not the appropriate time to debate authorization for war against ISIS, House Speaker John Boehner said. canonical: https://time.com/3429797/boehner-congress-authority-isis/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-25T13:11:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:31.018Z article:section: Politics og:title: Congress Won't Debate War on ISIS Until Next Year og:description: Congress' lame duck period is not the appropriate time to debate authorization for war against ISIS, House Speaker John Boehner said. og:url: https://time.com/3429797/boehner-congress-authority-isis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d71b22374313058/6986a55f1eebf769ab372da8/speaker-john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: John Boehner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Congress Won't Debate War on ISIS Until Next Year twitter:description: Congress' lame duck period is not the appropriate time to debate authorization for war against ISIS, House Speaker John Boehner said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d71b22374313058/6986a55f1eebf769ab372da8/speaker-john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Congress Won't Debate War on ISIS Until Next Year > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1cdbf855-64fe-4e4c-a73b-1b996d47dbdd&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS [Watch (HLS stream): Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-09-05. A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?_ by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 25, 2014 1:11 PM UTC  House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 11, 2014. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 11, 2014. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 25, 2014 1:11 PM UTC Congress’ lame duck period is not the appropriate time to debate authorization for war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), House Speaker John Boehner said in an interview published Thursday. Boehner’s announcement pushes the contentious issue of explicitly authorizing the Administration’s plan to fight Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq until after November’s midterm elections and into January. “I would suggest to you that early next year, assuming that we continue in this effort, there may be that discussion and there may be that request from the president,” Boehner told [The New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2014/09/25/). “Doing this with a whole group of members who are on their way out the door, I don’t think that is the right way to handle this.” President Barack Obama believes he already has the legal authority to strike ISIS, under a 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force against al-Qaeda and associated forces. Many Congressmen, wary of approving Obama’s multiyear plan to take on ISIS, disagree with that assessment, particularly given that ISIS officially split from al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria earlier this year. Congress did, however, vote last week to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels fighting ISIS as well as Bashar Assad’s government. ## Transcript The Islamic state of Iraq and greater Syria is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most ruthless militias in the Middle East. But the extremist group is also making headlines for its successful recruitment of Western volunteers. Hundreds of fighters from at least 50 different countries and known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to wage war under the ISIS flag. Here's a close look at how the group is recruiting them. And [ UNKNOWN ] says that what gives you life is Jihad. I know by a law that this the land of Jihad. We have brothers from Bangladesh, from Iraq, from Cambodia, Australia, UK. Nothing has has [ INAUDIBLE ] In one video posted on YouTube, new recruits are enticed to respond to the call of jihad by a fighter who's filmed walking down stairs. Of a four star hotel in the town of Kasab in northwestern Syria. [ FOREIGN ] The fighter tells recruits they can sleep there for free. ISIS also tweeted, during the World Cup, with the hashtag WorldCup2014. In an attempt to steer soccer fans to the group's sleekly produced propaganda. ISIS initially portrayed itself as being part of a humanitarian effort to back fellow Sunni Muslims in the Syrian civil war. That promise of a fight to protect Muslim brothers and sisters, is a powerful draw for some Western recruits. But in reality, ISIS has been targeting Sunnis as well as Shia Muslims, and other religious minorities in its campaign to control territory. [ MUSIC ] Isis also accomplished something Al- queda has never been able to achieve. It has declared self styled Islamic palafite in an area that spans parts of Iraq and Syria. And it's apparent ability to create some sort of stability in a war zone has proved attracted to some western Muslims. ISIS makes a particular effort to be welcoming to foreigners. ISIS normally accepts any Muslim into its ranks whereas some other Islamist groups in Syria ask for fighters to align with their specific ideology. For these young, restless foreigners. Isis can appear to offer a sense of mission. The challenge for the West, to persuade vulnerable young Muslims that all Isis really offers is the distortion of Islam and not a perfect Islamic state. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3429797/boehner-congress-authority-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3429797/boehner-congress-authority-isis/"},"headline":"Congress Won't Debate War on ISIS Until Next Year","datePublished":"2014-09-25T13:11:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:31.018Z","description":"Congress' lame duck period is not the appropriate time to debate authorization for war against ISIS, House Speaker John Boehner said.","url":"https://time.com/3429797/boehner-congress-authority-isis/","keywords":["Congress","Syria","Iraq"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d71b22374313058/6986a55f1eebf769ab372da8/speaker-john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d71b22374313058/6986a55f1eebf769ab372da8/speaker-john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Boehner","caption":"House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 11, 2014.","creditText":"J. 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