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GWEN IFILL: For a Republican response from Capitol Hill, I also spoke with House Armed Services Committee Chairmen Buck McKeon of California.

Congressman McKeon, thank you for joining us.

You said in a speech today at the American Enterprise Institute that, after last night’s speech, the president is — quote — “finally waking up to what must be done to stop this evil.” Is it enough?

REP. BUCK McKEON, R-Calif.: Enough.

I think it’s just barely a start. But it does make a change. You know, it was just a few weeks ago when the president was calling ISIL junior varsity. I think now he’s come to the point to realize what the rest of the world realizes, that they are a grave threat.

I just came back from the Middle East. I met with the leadership over there. They’re all very concerned. They want to go after — King Abdullah told me he’s ready to go right away. He says, we’re ready to fix bayonets and go right now.

They understand how serious this threat is. I’m glad to see that the president is starting to get that message. But what we’re going to have to do is make sure that we go in with an adequate force, that we’re very serious about finishing something that we start.

GWEN IFILL: House Speaker John Boehner said today that we have one commander in chief, and he supports, as far as it goes, the president’s initiative so far. Do you agree with him?

REP. BUCK McKEON: I said in my speech today that as long as the president’s engaged and moving on this, I want to support him.

He is the commander in chief. But he does have military leaders, and he should listen to their advice. And I know that there’s been a story reported that the commander of the area asked for more ground troops to give us a more robust position in Iraq. And he was denied that.

(CROSSTALK)

GWEN IFILL: Well, let’s talk — I’m sorry.

I want to talk about the ground troops, because you also said in your talk today that you believe very strongly that there should be ground troops on the ground if we’re going to take this on at all.

REP. BUCK McKEON: Yes, we have tried it without ground troops in Libya. We did air attacks. And now there’s chaos there. That didn’t work out very well.

I think most people understand. I met with the commander of — the chief of our Air Force yesterday. And he said, as powerful and as strong as our Air Force is, there’s nothing like it in the world, but it does not take and hold ground. They can drive ISIL back. They can make life miserable for them, but at the end of the day, you have to be able to hold and take the ground.

Now, Iraq has forces that can do this, but they can’t do it alone. They can’t do it without us. (AUDIO GAP) support. We provide the logistics (AUDIO GAP) things that they will need to successfully carry out missions to take and hold the ground.

And that’s what we need to do. And until the president is fully engaged — and I hope he will be — I hope this doesn’t just become a speech last night like we have seen in the past, and then he kind of fades and goes off into something else. This is something he needs to be engaged in. It’s the most important thing confronting him as commander in chief. And we need to win on this.

GWEN IFILL: Do you believe that ISIL represents an immediate threat to — to domestic security?

REP. BUCK McKEON: Sure, they do.

We have probably 100 fighters from America over there right now. Two of them were killed a week or two ago in a firefight over there. One of them was a 10-year veteran working in air traffic control. He could have used his — he could have done something here.

We know that a lot of those people have — and a lot of people that come from Europe have passports that can come — they can come into this country without visas. That’s an immediate threat. They could be here right now.

GWEN IFILL: Do you believe that Congress will provide the kind of financial support that the president has asked for, especially for arming the Syrian moderates?

REP. BUCK McKEON: You know, we’re talking about that now.
We were ready to vote on a continuing resolution today to fund the government for the rest of the year. That was the plan. Just before the bill was introduced, the president called Chairman Rogers and threw in this additional request that he wanted us to grant authority to do training in Saudi Arabia.

And that has made leadership pull the bill and give people time to digest that. And now we will probably have that vote next week. And I’m hopeful that we will give the president what he needs. I think it’s incumbent upon us to at least give him what he asks and then do the oversight and make sure that he is holding — you know, that we hold his feet to the fire and get this done, because you can’t send these troops out there without the support they need.

GWEN IFILL: How — how long do you believe that Americans should be expecting us to stay involved in this latest conflict?

REP. BUCK McKEON: Until we win.

GWEN IFILL: Congressman Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, thank you so much.

REP. BUCK McKEON: Thank you.

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WASHINGTON — More than 120 members of Congress urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to recognize that pregnant workers are entitled to reasonable accommodations such as light duty, saying it’s needed to ensure that expecting mothers are not forced out of their jobs.

In a friend-of-the-court brief, the Democratic lawmakers — 99 from the House, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and 24 senators — said UPS delivery driver Peggy Young of Lorton, Virginia, was unfairly treated by her employer when it asked her to take unpaid maternity leave rather than provide a less strenuous position as her doctors advised.

Many of the lawmakers are pushing legislation to make the pregnancy protections explicit in federal law. They argue that the lower appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, ruled incorrectly by siding with UPS.

Young, 42, should have received the light work accommodation because current federal law provisions are designed to “ensure that pregnant women were no longer treated as second-class citizens on the job,” they wrote.

At issue is the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which bars employers from discriminating based on pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions. The law requires that pregnant workers be treated at least as well as other employees similar in their ability or inability to work, but is silent as to whether it specifically requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy.

UPS says its accommodation policies are “pregnancy-neutral,” allowing light-duty assignments only in cases in which employees were injured on the job, had a disability as defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act or whose injuries made them ineligible for commercial driver’s licenses.

The case comes as women now make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce. Of the women entering the workforce, three-quarters will be pregnant and employed at some point, according to the lawmakers.

President Barack Obama has called on Congress to pass the lawmakers’ bill, led by Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., to make the pregnancy protections unmistakable and clear. In July, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also issued new guidelines that prohibit employers from forcing pregnant workers to take leave and acknowledge that employers may have to provide light duty for pregnant workers.

Emily Martin, general counsel for the National Women’s Law Center, said the lower court ruling could especially hurt women in low-wage jobs.

“Women are being asked to choose between the health of their pregnancy and their paycheck, and that’s a choice they shouldn’t have to make,” she said.

The Supreme Court case is Young v. United Parcel Service, 12-1226. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 3.

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Showing bipartisan American unity in the effort to fight the Islamic State militant group, Republican House Speaker John Boehner Thursday said Congress “ought to give the president what he’s asking for.”

It was a stark change in tone from Tuesday, when Boehner seemed to goad President Barack Obama for a “strategy.” He mentioned the term 13 times in the span of three minutes Tuesday, appearing to try and capitalize politically on the president saying last week, “We don’t have a strategy yet” when it comes to IS and his approach to Congress.

Boehner did signal at the news conference Thursday that he might be willing to go further than this president, who called for, in his prime-time address Wednesday night, airstrikes, covert American action, training of and coordination with Iraqi forces and training of more moderate Syrian rebels to take on IS in Syria.

“An F-16 is not a strategy,” Boehner said, adding, “Somebody’s boots have to be on the ground.”

Boehner said his members would need time to learn all the details of what the administration is proposing. There are some in his conference who also feel that the president’s plan doesn’t go far enough to “destroy” IS and that more needs to be done.

But when pressed if that meant he disagreed with the president’s strategy or if he should do more, Boehner wouldn’t go that far.

“We only have one commander-in-chief,” he said.

Republicans in the House are still trying to decide how to pass new funding the White House is requesting to train and equip Syrian rebels — whether it will be part of a continuing resolution or be voted on separately.

Congress has to extend government funding by the end of the month or the government would shut down again. Boehner is aiming to bring a government measure to the floor for a vote next week before the House goes on break again.

Quinn Bowman contributed to this report.

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Today in the Morning Line:

• Obama tries to sell the public on fighting Islamic State group
• A shift from ‘light footprint’ West Point speech
• Looking for an ‘Obama Doctrine’? Keep looking (or stop)
• Obama just ramped up the ‘Global War on Terror’
• Stopping to remember 9/11

Making the case: President Barack Obama tried to make the case Wednesday night for why the United States cannot stand on the sidelines against the Islamic State group, especially after the beheadings of two American journalists. Much of what was in the speech wasn’t new. It was an organization mostly of what the United States is already doing — airstrikes, coordinating with the Iraqi military and covert operations. He also publicly announced that the U.S. would train moderate Syrian rebels to avoid American “combat troops,” even though hundreds of American forces are on the ground. In anticipation of an ask to fund training of Syrian rebels, House Republicans shelved a continuing resolution Wednesday at the White House’s request. The GOP conference meets at 9 a.m. ET to see whether to consider the funding in a new funding measure or separately. But what was striking about the speech is it was the “light footprint” president trying to make the case for intervention.

A change in tone from West Point: Consider the president’s speech at West Point — intended to make the case for a new American role in the world and rolling back the idea of strong American military intervention — was just four months ago. And in that speech, the president didn’t even mention IS. There were just vague references to a “growing number of extremists who find safe haven in the chaos” of Syria and “As the Syrian civil war spills across borders, the capacity of battle-hardened extremist groups to come after us only increases.” The brutality, capability and financial viability of the group seemed to take the administration by surprise over the summer. Even before the beheadings, the administration began a bombing campaign against IS, which is something the Islamic State group blames for its beheadings. But the brutal acts, spread across the globe on the Internet and TV screens, thrust them into American living rooms, spurring almost more of a WANT for action. That made it necessary for the president to show the U.S. was taking a forceful hand and was leading.

Obama’s fine line on when and when not to act: In that West Point speech, the president wasn’t calling for never intervening. But he tried to draw a fine line between “realists” and “interventionists.” “I believe neither view fully speaks to the demands of this moment. It is absolutely true that in the 21st century, American isolationism is not an option. We don’t have a choice to ignore what happens beyond our borders. … But to say that we have an interest in pursuing peace and freedom beyond our borders is not to say that every problem has a military solution.” Contrast that with the more moralistic case for intervention he made last night. “America, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden. But as Americans, we welcome our responsibility to lead,” Obama said, adding, “[O]ur own safety — our own security — depends upon our willingness to do what it takes to defend this nation, and uphold the values that we stand for — timeless ideals that will endure long after those who offer only hate and destruction have been vanquished from the Earth.” The nuance of that fine line, however, can make things muddled. It can present to the public what appears to be an inconsistent message on foreign policy. Maybe the simplest way to look at it, though — for those of us who have sought some definition of an “Obama Doctrine” — is that the “Obama Doctrine” just isn’t doctrinaire.

Obama ramps up the ‘Global War on Terror’: It’s also interesting to consider on this 13th anniversary of 9/11 that for a country scarred by Iraq, what Obama is calling for isn’t nation-building, but more in line with the original idea of the “global war on terror.” That’s not a phrase this president wants to use because it has all the implications and connotations related to the George W. Bush presidency. Out of the speech, many will rightly question, what if airstrikes, arming rebels on the ground, working with the Iraqi military, and COVERT American operations aren’t enough? What then, as NewsHour’s Mark Shields and David Brooks asked Wednesday night during NewsHour’s Special Report. And, as Peter Baker writes in the New York Times this morning, the president who seemed intent on leaving his predecessor with no messy entanglements he created, is almost certain to leave them with this. On Thursday, the president will commemorate the 9/11 anniversary with two events: a moment of silence at the White House and a ceremony at the Pentagon at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Lawmakers react to speech: Part of the president’s mission Wednesday night was to persuade lawmakers skeptical of the administration’s strategy for confronting the threat posed by the Islamic State group. Many on Capitol Hill had urged the president to adopt a more aggressive posture toward the militants. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Thursday that the president’s strategy was “in a much better place than where he was previously.” Still, Rubio said the president should have been even more forceful in his remarks. “We don’t know how long this will take. No matter how long it takes, we need to do it.” Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said “much of the wording in the president’s speech was good,” but argued the president was showing “poor judgment by not explicitly seeking an authorization from Congress.” The demand for Congress to weigh in on the president’s strategy was shared by the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who were joined by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., in calling for “a full and robust debate in Congress on the use of military force.” The Washington Post’s Paul Kaine explains how Congress might move forward with the president’s Syria proposal by including it as part of a stopgap funding measure to fund the government past the end of the month.

Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1789, President George Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton to be the first secretary of the treasury. Who is the current secretary of the treasury? Be the first to Tweet us the correct answer using #PoliticsTrivia and you’ll get a Morning Line shout-out. No one guessed Wednesday’s trivia: What other time in U.S. history was gas rationing mandated? The answer was: the 1973 oil crisis, when OAPEC declared an oil embargo.

LINE ITEMS

• The House will not vote Thursday on a continuing resolution to fund the government past the end of the month. House leadership said the delay is due to a last-minute request from the White House to include the authority to take action against the Islamic State group in the CR.

• Next Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will address Congress, at the invitation of Speaker John Boehner.

• Confirmation of Georgia judicial nominee Michael Boggs is still in limbo, while the Senate Judiciary Committee moves forward with other nominees, because of the risk of an intraparty fight among Democrats.

• Rep. John Tierney’s primary race was over before he even knew it had begun. The Massachusetts congressman failed to match the hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent against him by his fellow Democrat.

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee continues to paint Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst as “too extreme for Iowa”; this time it’s for saying she supports privatizing social security.

• The Des Moines Register reports that First Lady Michelle Obama will campaign for Rep. Bruce Braley next month.

• Forget New York City, Philadelphia and Columbus. Birmingham, Alabama is the new contender for the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

• There were more arrests in Ferguson, Mo., Wednesday.

• Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was booed offstage during his keynote address to a conference of Middle Eastern Christians for saying that “Christians have no greater ally than Israel.”

• In New Hampshire Rep. Carol Shea Porter’s first TV ad, she says she hasn’t taken “a dime from DC lobbyists or corporate PACs,” while former Rep. Frank Guinta is funded by the Koch brothers.

• Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is more in demand on the campaign trail now that the primaries are over, he told Roll Call. Sen. McCain has already lent his support to Scott Brown and Joni Ernst, but he’s not stopping there. He’s planning trips to Oregon, North Carolina and now Kansas to help Sen. Pat Roberts.

• Campaigning with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal suggested more help from the RGA, of which he is vice chair, is on the way.

• A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Republican Gov. Tom Corbett trailing Democrat Tom Wolf by 24 points.

• South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell was indicted Wednesday on nine criminal charges, including misconduct in office and using campaign funds for personal use.

• A new Missouri law will allow specially trained teachers to carry concealed guns in schools and anyone with a concealed carry permit to carry firearms openly in the state.

• The Washington Post editorial board praises the pension reform efforts of Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo, who won the Democratic gubernatorial primary earlier this week. Her victory, the board writes, “should stiffen the spines” of Democrats in other states facing pressure from public-sector unions.

• Prosecutors are pressing for prison time for conservative author Dinesh D’Souza for making illegal donations to the Senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long, who challenged Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012.

• Edwin Kneedler will never defend you. Having argued 125 cases before the Supreme Court — more than any other practicing lawyer — he has only one client: the U.S. government.

• If you want to trash businesses online, move to California. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a measure into law Tuesday that allows Californians to post bad reviews online.

• U.S. secessionist groups from Vermont to the Pacific Northwest have their eyes on Scotland.

• Mitt Romney led GOP donors in singing happy birthday to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Wednesday. What Christie probably didn’t want for his birthday was an eighth credit rating downgrade for his state.

• Historian Michael Beschloss says for presidents it’s all about location, location, location when it comes to delivering an address to the nation.

• Even if you don’t have your political ideology listed on your Facebook page, you can still be the target of pointed campaign ads. This is all because of a new tool that links your Facebook profile to your voting record.

• Keep an eye on the Rundown blog for breaking news throughout the day, our home page for show segments, and follow @NewsHour for the latest.

TOP TWEETS

R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/AzenxlxQ90

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) September 11, 2014

At 8:46 a.m. the U.S. Congress will recognize Patriot Day by observing a campus-wide moment of silence. #Honor911 pic.twitter.com/aLsnCITFEP

— U.S. Capitol (@uscapitol) September 11, 2014

I'm SURE the NFL has a crisis PR firm costing them 50k/month. Fire them. Hire political hacks. We do this.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 10, 2014

Where's Condi Rice? // RT @ap: BREAKING: AP Source: Law enforcement official sent copy of Ray Rice tape to NFL executive in April

— Ed O'Keefe (@edatpost) September 10, 2014

Hmmm. Not seeing any mention of Harkin Steak Fry here at Des Moines airport pic.twitter.com/DNUMBHnreO

— Mark Z. Barabak (@markzbarabak) September 10, 2014

The best excuse for cake? Celebrating the 1 year anniversary of @JudyWoodruff & @gwenifill's co-anchorship pic.twitter.com/cVYxuakSs2

— NewsHour (@NewsHour) September 10, 2014

It's

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