Brian Jones: “This past Friday was a monumental day in the House of Representatives as we finally had a debate on the merits of…”

“This past Friday was a monumental day in the House of Representatives as we finally had a debate on the merits of sending U.S. troops back into the conflict in Iraq. Again, I thank the House leadership and the Foreign Affairs Committee leadership for working with Representatives McGovern, Lee, and myself to bring H. Con. Res. 105 to the floor, and I thank the 370 Members who voted in favor of this resolution. H. Con. Res. 105 states very simply: The President shall not deploy or maintain United States Armed Forces in a sustained combat role in Iraq without specific statutory authorization for such use enacted after the date of the adoption of this concurrent resolution. Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that we will have other debates on the Constitution and the role of Congress in deploying our military, including a debate on repealing both the 2001 and 2002 AUMF. There is no decision more important than a vote to commit a young man or woman to war to potentially give their life for our country. That is one reason that I am opposed to President Obama's decision to allow U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan. While he says that we are withdrawing our troops, the fact remains that 32,800 members of the American military remain in harm's way in Afghanistan at this very moment. We have all read and heard the reports from Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopko, which details rampant waste, fraud, and abuse of American resources.…”