Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday avoided weighing in on the Syria decision his former U.S. Senate colleagues will soon make.
"My boundaries extend as far as the boundaries of the state of Minnesota and that gives me plenty to focus on," he said, when asked about the upcoming congressional votes on whether to authorize the use of force in Syria. "I support the president of the United States in his decisions and I'll leave it at that."
![Governor Mark Dayton signed the disaster relief bill passed earlier in the day by the state legislature during a one-day special session and then took questions from the media. He blasted both sides of the Minnesota Orchestrr lockout and on the Wilfs said "we don't get to pick who the Vikings owners are." Monday, September 9, 2013 ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/F34XBVSPQ32PEI4LF2IHPJDEAQ.jpg?&w=1080)
As a U.S. Senator in 2002, Dayton was one of the few who voted against the use of force in Iraq.
He agonized over that decision, he said at the time. According to a 2002 Star Tribune article, he weighed the conflict between supporting the majority and "speaking with one voice," and following his conscience and "speaking with my own voice," according to a Star Tribune story.
