testifying before the house armed services committee. so kerry makes it clear the administration is willing to listen to the russian proposal but will not fall for any kind of stalling tactics from the russians or syrians. here s what he had said. assad s chief benefactor, the russians have sonded by saying that they would come up with a proposalto do exactly that and we have made it clear to them, i have in several conversations with foreign minister lavrov that this cannot condition be a process of delay. this cannot be a process of avoidance. it has to be real, has to be measurable, tangible and it is exceedingly difficult i want everybody here to know to fulfill those conditions. but we re waiting for that proposal. but we re not waiting for long. we don t know how long that is, but the proposal for syria to hand over the chemical stockpiles, it is an idea that is at least gaining momentum,
be interested. a lot of people say that nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. well, it s the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these last weeks that has, for the first time, brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal. and it is the threat of this force, and our determination to hold assad accountable that has motivated others to even talk about a real and credible international action that might have an impact. so how do you maintain that pressure? we have to continue to show syria, russia and the world that we are not going to fall for stalling tactics. if the challenge we laid down is going to have the potential to become a real proposal, it is only because of the threat of force that we are discussing today. and that threat is more
chemical weapons and place them under international control. that would then potentially delay or derail any sort of planned military strike. syria s foreign minister says his country accepts the deal and his russian counterparts are working on a plan of action. that s the big question. the president is calling this proposal a potentially significant breakthrough and has agreed to discussions at the u.n. security council on the plan. secretary of state john kerry is testifying at a house hearing and he s been doing so this morning and says the united states will not fall for any stalling tactics and there s a big question about whether or not this is one and he clarified that military action against syria would really look like. president obama is not asking for a declaration of war. we are not going to war. there will be no american boots on the ground.
not ever be a strike. this is a vote to authorize a strike that may never happen because the diplomatic track, the administration is now really grasping onto this and going forward with it. and all of them saying they re very hopeful but skeptical. so here you re going to press if you re the president. you re pressing liberal democrats in your caucus to vote for authorization. some of them facing constituents 80/20 against. you re going to vote for authorization, and it may never happen. it s a tough vote for a lot of these members. bill: yeah. and we ll see whether or not that happens in the end. john kerry saying we will not fall for stalling tactics on chemical weapon withs. we will see now, we await his answer there. thank you, bret, bret baier in washington. more later tonight. martha: very interesting watching what secretary kerry had to say, and at one point he said there s no military solution to this, but we need the threat of a military strike in order to carry out a politica
threat of force that s driving the diplomacy. the secretary of state john kerry echoed that view during a congressional hearing today. a lot of people say that nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. well, it s the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these last weeks that has for the first time brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal. and it is the threat of this force and our determination to hold assad accountable that has motivated others to even talk about a real and credible international action that might have an impact. so how do you maintain that pressure? we have to continue to show syria, russia, and the world that we are not going to fall for stalling tactics, if the challenge we laid down is going to have the potential to become a real proposal, it is only