my name is ted strickland, president of the center for american progress action fund, and on behalf ofneera tanden, was the president of the center for american progress, and the mayor of our colleagues, we welcome you here. we thank you for joining us today, and given what has happened over the last few hours, this event is a very timely event. we know that the islamic state of iraq, or isis, is horrifically barbaric. they have been described as too violent for al-qaeda. they have engaged in near genocide of yazidi minority groups, and they conducted gruesome beheadings. the american people are now galvanized in support of action to counter this threat. president obama has laid out his strategy to degrade and ultimately to defeat isis. we here at c.a.p. and c.a.p. action broadly support the president's plan. but we are very eager for a robust congressional debate and new congressional action to authorize a specific mission. the constitution divides the power to declare war and the power to conduct war between the legislative and executive branches. congress decides whether to fight, a

my name is ted strickland, the >> good afternoon. my name is ted strickland, the president of the center for american progress action fund, and on behalf of neera tanden, the president of the center for american progress and on behalf of our colleagues, we welcome you here. we thank you for joining us andwe thank you for joining us today and given what has happened over the last few hours, this event is a very timely event. we know that the islamic state of iraq, or isis, is a horrifically barbaric. they have been described as too violent for al qaeda. as they've engaged in near you genocide of yazidi minority and him group, and they have him conducted gruesome beheadings. you and a the american people are now galvanized in support of action to counter this threat. and president obama has laid out his strategy to degrade and ultimately to defeat isis. you we here at c.a.p. and c.a.p. and action broadly support the will and will and in president's and plan but we are very eager or a for a robust congressional in a a a debate and new i

is ted strickland. the president of the center for american progress and our colleagues, we welcome you here. thank you for joining us today. given what has happened over the last few hours, this event is a very timely event. we know the islamic state of iraq is horrifically baric. they have been described as too violent for al qaeda. genocide ofgaged in minority groups. they have conducted gruesome beheadings. the american people are galvanized in support of action to counter this threat. obama has laid out a strategy to degrade and defeat isis. hear broadly support the plan. we are eager for a congressional debate and new congressional action to authorize the specific mission. the constitution divides the power to declare war and the power to conduct war between the legislative and executive branches. congress decides whether to fight and the president as commander-in-chief manages the fight authorized by congress. years, thest 100 balance of war powers it shifted toward the president. presidents have

you us warmly toward both as a public servant and as a person and ted strickland i that he really sets a great example of public service that stems from a moral compass that is undeniab undeniable. if you know him for five minutes you detect a very strong and that's one reason i'm so happy to be with you. to talk about an issue that is sadly topical. the war on isil, and that phrase is used by secretary hagel at the armed services hearing last week, we are engaged in the war on isil, has been going since the middle part of august when from a defensive mission to protect american personnel at the embassy and consulate in irbil too often submission against isil. by my quick calculations, including the events announced this morning by the president, that have nothing thousands of virginians who have been directly involved in the airstrikes and other activities since that time. i now know we have people there from all over the country, and there are hundreds or thousands of folks from your states involved as well. what i want to do is talk briefly about the threat which is a very real thre