Kerry tells lawmakers not to ban use of ground force against IS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appealed to lawmakers on Tuesday not to rule out the use of American ground force in a new war authorization against the Islamic State (IS).

U.S. President Barack Obama has repeatedly said he would not send American military forces into ground combat operations against IS.

"It doesn't mean that we should preemptively bind the hands of the commander in chief or our commanders in the field in responding to scenarios and contingencies that are impossible to foresee," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He also called for an Authorization for Use of Military Force ( AUMF) that does not limit U.S. actions to Syria and Iraq, arguing that such limitation would advertise to IS that there are safe havens in other countries.

"We don't anticipate conducting operations in countries other than Iraq or Syria," Kerry said. "But to the extent that ISIL (IS) poses a threat to American interests and personnel in other countries, we would not want an AUMF to constrain our ability to use appropriate force against ISIL (IS) in those locations if necessary."

The U.S.-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq and Syria for months. The Obama Administration is using an authorization approved after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks as the legal basis for the campaign.

Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the IS-specific AUMF should limit the authorization to three years and should require the administration to report to Congress every 60 days.

"It should limit the activities of our forces so that there will be no large-scale ground combat operations," Menendez said. " If he president feels he needs that, then he should ask for it and Congress can consider it."

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider the AUMF later this week, said Menendez. Enditem