Ros-Lehtinen says Obama left key questions unanswered in Middle East/North Africa speech

By Pete Kasperowicz - 05/19/11 03:30 PM ET

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Thursday said President Obama's speech on the Middle East and North Africa did not answer any of the key questions members of Congress are asking and said she hopes Obama can work closely with Congress to put forward a "comprehensive and consistent regional policy."

One detail many members of Congress were listening for was the extent to which the U.S. military would stay involved in Libya. Obama committed U.S. forces to Libya without congressional approval, but many believe approval is needed under the War Powers Resolution after the first 60 days, which elapses late this week.

But Ros-Lehtinen said Obama's speech did not address this question. "On Libya, after almost 60 days of U.S. involvement, we have no further clarity on our priorities, goals and the anticipated extent of our commitment there," she said.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) wants to force a House vote on further Libyan involvement in the coming weeks and will introduce a bill Monday.

Ros-Lehtinen added that Obama did not offer specifics on how to deal with the fact that two rival Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, reached a reconciliation agreement in early May. Israel has warned that this agreement is a threat to Israel, given Hamas' policy of violence against Israel, and members of Congress have said the U.S. should insist that Hamas renounce violence against Israel or risk the withdrawal of U.S. funding.

"We did not hear a pledge from the president to cut off U.S. funding to a Palestinian authority now aligned with Hamas, nor did we hear a pledge to veto the scheme to attain UN recognition of a Palestinian state without negotiating peace with Israel," she said. "I am also disappointed that the president failed to call on the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and instead imposed new pressure on Israel to make concessions on its borders."

Elsewhere, she criticized Obama for saying he still sees a role for Syria's leadership, even though he imposed sanctions for human rights violations against that leadership earlier in the week. And she said she was "deeply concerned" that Obama did not warn that the U.S. would end aid to Egypt unless the Muslim Brotherhood is removed as part of that government.