Political Quotes

“I rise in support of the legislation repealing the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force against Iraq. I am pleased about the vote. I want to thank Senator Tim Kaine and Senator Todd Young for leading this bipartisan legislation as well as Chair Bob Menendez for moving it through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. With this bill, we are asserting Congress's constitutional power to determine when to begin and end wars. These AUMFs were passed 32 and 21 years ago respectively. The Gulf war ended in a matter of months, and the Iraq war that began more than a decade later has been over for 12 years. It is time for Congress to act. Open-ended AUMFs serve no strategic purpose and undermine Congress's authority to determine if and when to send our troops into battle, which is a major decision that we should make. On top of that, they come with great risk. It is far too easy for a Presidential administration to treat an AUMF as blanket permission to enter into or to stoke conflicts abroad. It doesn't matter which party is in the White House--our Constitution grants war powers to Congress. We also must recognize that the situation on the ground has changed. Iraq is now a sovereign democracy and America's strategic partner in the Middle East. If we want to work with them to advance stability in the region--and we should--what kind of signal does it send to have our laws identify Iraq as an enemy nation?…”