Political Quotes

“I thank my friend from Texas for yielding, and I want to be the first to admit I was alive when both of these authorizations were passed. The Congress' current effort to review the existing authorities for military force for which the original purposes have been achieved or are no longer appropriate is an important exercise of this body's authority under the Constitution and pursuant to the War Powers Act. I am pleased to note that Chairman McGovern and I, along with my friends, Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul, helped initiate an evaluation of the War Powers Act, its strength and limitations and its need for modernization in a hearing on this topic in March. It is fitting, and frankly overdue, that the House is considering these issues and is now poised to repeal a second and third outdated AUMF this year with strong bipartisan support. The joint resolution to promote peace and stability in the Middle East was enacted in 1957, 2 years after the signing of the Warsaw Pact, in response to the concerns about the potential spread of communist influence in the Middle East and, therefore, threats to U.S. economic and political interests in the region is long overdue. Needless to say, much has changed in the 64 intervening years. The Berlin Wall has fallen, and six of the seven former Eastern Bloc countries are now allied with the United States through NATO. The Soviet Union, of course, is no more.…”