Bill Lee: “Let me just say with regard to this amendment, Congress has a constitutional responsibility. It is our prerogative to…”

“Let me just say with regard to this amendment, Congress has a constitutional responsibility. It is our prerogative to declare war or not. It is our prerogative to debate and vote on any military action anywhere in the world. More than a prerogative, it is our constitutional responsibility. We represent the American people. The American people deserve to have a voice in such grave matters. That is why the Constitution required that. And for us not to do our job and to continue to rely on old authorizations from 13 and 14 years ago really is an abdication of our responsibility. People did not elect us to Congress to duck and dodge the hard questions and the hard issues. Some of us agree that we need to go to war. Some of us don't agree. But that is not the issue, and that is not what this amendment, nor my prior amendment, was about. It was about doing our job here, laying out the pros and cons, making some heavy-duty decisions--and that is what they are, but that is why we are here--and then instructing our Commander in Chief what Congress believes should be the appropriate course of action. Many would vote for it; many would vote against it, but, again, not to have this debate and vote when we are now 10 months into another war is downright wrong. It is almost lawless. It is something that it is hard to imagine getting away with this long. So I hope that we get a good bipartisan vote on this. It is about time that we do debate this again.…”