White House invites lawmakers to discuss Libya

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) is among a group of bipartisan lawmakers who have been invited to the White House at 12:30 p.m. to discuss U.S. policy in Libya with the President, his spokesperson said.

Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, has insisted that the Obama administration should come to Congress to get a declaration of war before approving the use of U.S. military personnel and assets in an international intervention in Libya. The UN Security Council approved a U.S. co-sponsored resolution last night authorizing all means necessary short of a foreign ground occupation to protect civilians from Libya's Muammar Gadhafi.

"Before any American military assets are used, Senator Lugar wants Congress to have a full briefing on the planned use of American military personnel and equipment, and how it will be paid for," Lugar's spokesman Mark Helmke said Thursday. "This is an issue that requires full public debate under the Constitution."

"We have NATO allies, the British and the French, who say they are ready to attack. What if they are attacked in return?" Helme asked. "Under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the U.S. is required to defend them."

"Senator Lugar is warning President Obama that he better make sure the American public and Congress are prepared for such a commitment, along with all of its costs in blood and treasure," he said.

Lugar's reservations are not ones the Obama White House is likely to dismiss, not least because for months last year, Lugar was the lone GOP lawmaker publicly supporting the Obama administration's efforts to ratify the U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control pact, START.

Obama will deliver a statement on Libya at 2pm, following his meeting with lawmakers, the White House said, before embarking on a planned five-day trip this evening to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador.

Other Congressional leaders invited to the discussion are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama), ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence committee Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Il.), Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.), Senate Intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Ca.), and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.) and ranking Democrat Rep. Howard Berman (D-Ca.).

(Sen. Richard Lugar [R-Ind.] and President Barack Obama have worked closely on arms control and other foreign policy matters. But Lugar says the Obama administration has failed so far to get Congress's advice and consent on an international intervention in Libya. In this August 26, 2005 photo, Lugar and then Sen. Obama speak to reporters in Moscow about destroying Russia's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel.)