Speaker John A. Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor have backed President Barack Obama’s plan to strike Syria, giving the president a major lift as the White House conducts an all-out push to get lawmakers on board ahead of votes expected next week, Roll Call reports.

Boehner emerged from a White House briefing on Syria with Obama this morning prepared to, in his words, “support the president’s call to action.”

“And I believe my colleagues should support the president’s call to action,” the Ohio Republican added.

“The use of these [chemical] weapons has to be responded to and only the United States has the capability and capacity to stop Assad and warn others around the world that this type of behavior will not be tolerated,” Boehner said.

Cantor also released a statement Tuesday morning that said he intends to “vote to provide the President of the United States the option to use military force in Syria.”