Corker has sharp exchange with Secretary of State John Kerry

photo Lawmakers gather in the chamber of the House of Representatives for a joint meeting of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington,on Sept. 18, 2014, before a speech by visiting Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko. Center row from left to right are Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Top row, from left to right are Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. The House and Senate are wrapping up business and heading to their home states for the weeks leading up to the midterm elections.

NASHVILLE - Tennessee's Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, is vocally criticizing President Barack Obama's plan to train Syrian rebels for a war against Islamic state militants in the Middle East.

Corker in a Wednesday committee hearing confronted Secretary of State John Kerry over what he called the "unserious" rhetoric and lack of details about the proposal.

Corker noted that no other country in the region has agreed to send in ground troops and called the administration plan a "political answer" to public outrage to the brutality of the Islamic State militants.

The Senate was scheduled to vote Thursday evening on the legislation giving Obama authority to train and arm Syrian rebels. The measure passed the House 273-156 Wednesday.

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