On the recordMarch 22, 2023
most people run from battle, but our servicemembers run toward it. They watch their brothers and sisters get wounded. They miss births and funerals, school plays and college graduations. Then they come home bearing the wounds of war--both visible and otherwise. They will always do their job defending our country no matter the sacrifice. So they deserve to know that they have the moral support and legal backing of this great Nation. But for more than 20 years, Washington has failed to give them that. One of Congress's most solemn duties is deciding when and how we send Americans into combat by debating and passing the authorization for use of military force, documents that set the legal framework for military action that are supposed to define the mission of our Americans whom we send downrange. But, lately, too many in these Halls have shrugged off that duty, hiding behind outrageously outdated AUMFs that were used to launch the Gulf and Iraq wars, all the way back in 1991 and 2002. Scared of the political risks that come with bringing these wars back into the spotlight, staring down upcoming election days, Congress has shirked its responsibility to our troops, stretching, skewing the original intent of these documents. In doing so, we have left our troops without a clearly defined mission.…
Source
govinfo.gov




