Ed Royce: “I very much appreciate Mr. McGovern for his consistency. Even when we may disagree on substance, I have worked with him…”

“I very much appreciate Mr. McGovern for his consistency. Even when we may disagree on substance, I have worked with him on policies with respect to human rights in Africa and, frankly, across the world on many, many issues. I agree that an AUMF would be good, but only the right AUMF. I would make this point: the White House hasn't helped the case to move an AUMF. Indeed, as soon as the President sent up his draft AUMF text to the Congress in February, the White House said he has all the legal authority he needs to conduct these operations, regardless of what the Congress does, undercutting our effort to build a consensus, but we should not give up in terms of our effort to build this consensus. To that end, I intend to continue to work with Mr. Engel and others and craft a bipartisan and successful AUMF that sends a message of unity, that sends a message of resolve. To that end, I would point out that the committee has held seven full committee hearings and nine subcommittee oversight hearings on the ISIS threat. We have discussed the AUMF; we have discussed the U.S. and coalition response, but given the wide range of views, including the view that we have no military business in Iraq, reaching an agreement on a bipartisan AUMF that authorizes the actions needed to defeat ISIS may not be possible, but it may be possible. For that reason, we are going to redouble our effort.…”