In the heat of an election campaign, Congress cleared the way for the U.S. military to train and equip Syrian rebels for a war against Islamic state militants on Thursday, reluctant ratification of a new strategy that President Barack Obama outlined scarcely a week ago.

The 78-22 Senate vote sent Obama legislation that also provides funding for the government after the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, eliminating any threat of a shutdown. The House approved the bill on Wednesday.

The measure split Republicans and Democrats alike, and created new fault lines for this fall's elections for control of the Senate as well as the 2016 race for the White House.

"Intervention that destabilizes the Middle East is a mistake. And yet, here we are again, wading into a civil war," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. laying down a marker for Republican presidential primaries still more than a year distant.

Sen. Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat in a difficult re-election campaign, said, "I disagree with my president" on the wisdom of having the U.S. military become involved. "It is time for the Arab countries to step up get over their regional differences" and be more aggressive in the fight against terrorists," he said.

President Barack Obama says a bipartisan Senate vote to authorize arming and training Syrian rebels shows the world that Americans are united in combating the Islamic State group.

Obama says Islamic State terrorists thought they could frighten or intimidate the U.S. through the barbaric murder of two Americans.

He says they're learning the same lesson that others have learned. He says Americans don't give in to fear, but rather pull together and stand together.

Obama spoke at the White House shortly after the Senate approved his plan.

For a second straight day, the administration dispatched top-ranking officials to reassure lawmakers — and the public — that no U.S. ground combat operation was in the offing. Obama made the same promise in an address to the nation eight days ago laying out his new policy.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told one House committee that Obama "is not going to order American combat ground forces into that area."

Appearing before a different panel, Secretary of State John Kerry said the administration understands the danger of a "slippery slope." The term was widely used a half-century ago as the United States slid ever deeper into a Vietnam war that eventually left more than 50,000 U.S. troops dead.

Obama's general plan is to have U.S. troops train Syrian rebels at camps in Saudi Arabia, a process that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said could take a year.

Additionally, the president already has said he will use existing authority to have the Pentagon deploy airstrikes against Islamic fighters in Syria as well as in Iraq. Hagel said the president received a detailed plan for operations in Syria during a visit Wednesday to U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, and was reviewing it.

From halfway around the world came a chilling reminder from militants who already have overrun parts of Syria and Iraq and beheaded three Westerners. This time, the Islamic State group released a video showing a British journalist who said he was their prisoner.

In Washington, leaders in both political parties supported the Senate legislation, draining the debate of all suspense.

Asked about approving Obama's plan in the wake of the war in Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "Iraq was a mistake. I was misled and I voted wrong. But this is not Iraq, this is a totally different thing."

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell also favored the legislation, yet said it must be followed by a top-to-bottom review of the administration's global military strategy.

Senate liberals split.

Sen. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont independent, conceded the threat posed by forces seeking an Islamic State. But he said countries in the Middle East most threatened had not yet joined the international coalition that Obama is assembling.

"Not only are countries in the region not stepping up in the fight ... but believe it or not several of these Gulf states are empowering" Islamic State forces as well as al-Qaida allied groups with financial contributions, he said.

But Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Obama proposed a moderate, middle course between doing nothing in response to a terrorist threat and refighting the Iraq war. "Every civilized person has to stand up against this," she said.

While Democrats expressed fears that the legislation could lead the nation back into a war, some Republicans were skeptical that Obama's strategy was strong enough to prevail.

As a result, the legislation provided a narrow grant of authority that will expire on Dec. 11. It specifically stops short of approving the deployment of U.S. forces "into hostilities or into situations where hostilities are clearly indicated by the circumstances."

The expiration date means Congress will return to the issue in a postelection session scheduled for mid-November.

The overall spending bill will prevent a government shutdown like the one that occurred a year ago, when House Republicans tried to eliminate funding for Obama's health care program.

It finesses yet another issue that divides the GOP, renewing until next June the Export-Import Bank, which helps finance purchases of U.S. exports. Tea party lawmakers want to abolish the agency, while business-oriented Republicans support it.

The vote in the House on Wednesday giving Obama authority to train rebels was 273-156.

More Democrats, 85, voted to defy the president than Republicans, who cast 71 votes against the policy advanced by a commander in chief they distrust.

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President Obama's statement on Congressional authorization

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  Today, the United States continues to build a broad international coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.  As part of the air campaign, France will join in strikes against ISIL targets in Iraq.  And as one of our oldest and closest allies, France is a strong partner in our efforts against terrorism, and we’re pleased that French and American servicemembers will once again work together on behalf of our shared security and our shared values.

More broadly, more than 40 countries -- including Arab nations -- have now offered assistance as part of this coalition.  This includes support for Iraqi forces, strengthening the Iraqi government, providing humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians, and doing their part in the fight against ISIL.

Here at home, I’m pleased that Congress -- a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans, in both the House and the Senate -- have now voted to support a key element of our strategy:  our plan to train and equip the opposition in Syria so they can help push back these terrorists.  As I said last week, I believe that we’re strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together.  And I want to thank leaders in Congress for the speed and seriousness with which they approached this urgent issue -- in keeping with the bipartisanship that is the hallmark of American foreign policy at its best.

These Syrian opposition forces are fighting both the brutality of ISIL terrorists and the tyranny of the Assad regime.  We had already ramped up our assistance, including military assistance, to the Syrian opposition.  With this new effort, we’ll provide training and equipment to help them grow stronger and take on ISIL terrorists inside Syria.  This program will be hosted outside of Syria, in partnership with Arab countries, and it will be matched by our increasing support for Iraqi government and Kurdish forces in Iraq.

This is in keeping with a key principle of our strategy:  The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission; their mission is to advise and assist our partners on the ground.  As I told our troops yesterday, we can join with allies and partners to destroy ISIL without American troops fighting another ground war in the Middle East.

The strong bipartisan support in Congress for this new training effort shows the world that Americans are united in confronting the threat from ISIL, which has slaughtered so many innocent civilians.  With their barbaric murder of two Americans, these terrorists thought they could frighten us, or intimidate us, or cause us to shrink from the world, but today they’re learning the same hard lesson of petty tyrants and terrorists who have gone before.

As Americans, we do not give in to fear.  And when you harm our citizens, when you threaten the United States, when you threaten our allies -- it doesn’t divide us, it unites us.  We pull together, we stand together -- to defend this country that we love and to make sure justice is done, as well as to join with those who seek a better future of dignity and opportunity for all people. 

Today, our strikes against these terrorists continue.  We’re taking out their terrorists.  We’re destroying their vehicles and equipment and stockpiles.  And we salute our dedicated pilots and crews who are carrying out these missions with great courage and skill.

As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be more proud of their service.  As I told some of our troops yesterday, the American people are united in our support for them and for their families.  And as we go forward, as one nation, I’d ask all Americans to keep our forces and their families in their thoughts and prayers.  Thanks very much.