Senate panel OKs 6,000 troops for border
By Andy Leonatti CongressDaily May 28, 2010
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved an amendment to its fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill requiring 6,000 troops be sent to the border with Mexico, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced Friday.
Levin, who opposed the amendment from Armed Services Committee ranking member John McCain of Arizona, said it was approved by a 15-13 vote in the committee's closed markup of the bill setting Pentagon spending and policy priorities.
Levin said he was unsure whether Congress could "constitutionally mandate" to the president where to send troops, adding he thought the language "went too far," and he thinks it will be addressed on the Senate floor or in conference. Levin also said White House National Security Adviser James Jones sent a letter to the committee strongly opposing the language.
President Obama announced on Tuesday that he would send 1,200 National Guard troops to the Mexican border.
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