U.S. Senate proposes limits on using force in Syria

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take up a bipartisan authorisation bill Wednesday for the use of force in Syria.

The resolution, which limits the authorisation to 60 days with an option for an additional 30 days, was revised to address some of the concerns expressed during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday.

At the hearing, top U.S. officials faced tough questions from senators about plans for military strikes as House leaders lined up behind President Barack Obama's call to punish Syria for an August poison gas attack near Damascus.

Afterward, Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, said he and the committee's ranking Republican, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker successfully negotiated the revised resolution.

According to a copy of that text, provided to CNN by a legislative source, the bill limits the authorisation to 60 days with an option for an additional 30-day deadline. It also makes clear there would be no U.S. armed forces on the ground in Syria.

"Together we have pursued a course of action that gives the President the authority he needs to deploy force in response to the Assad regime's criminal use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people, while assuring that the authorisation is narrow and focused, limited in time, and assures that the Armed Forces of the United States will not be deployed for combat operations in Syria," Menendez said in a statement.

"With this agreement, we are one step closer to granting the President the authority to act in our national security interest," he added.