Donald M. Payne: “One of the most solemn duties given by us to the Constitution is before the House because the resolution before us is…”

“One of the most solemn duties given by us to the Constitution is before the House because the resolution before us is most certainly a declaration of war. It lacks the specificity of the last declared war, World War II, but it closely mirrors the open-ended authority granted President Johnson in the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964. The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security of the U.S. against the continuing threat posed by Iraq. That is it. That is the key part of this, despite all the whereases and everything else. So, with this resolution, Congress will preauthorize the first-ever preemptive war in the history of the United States, a war that may be fought unilaterally, without a single ally, conducted without restraint or clear objective, potentially in violation of the U.N. charter and widely accepted international law. I do not believe our Nation's founders would think that this was the proper use of our authority under article I, section 8 of the Constitution.”