Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. President. Article I, section 8 of the Constitution states in no uncertain terms that ``Congress shall have power to . . . declare war.'' Let me repeat it. Article I, section 8 of the Constitution states it is Congress that has the power to declare war. The Founding Fathers gave the power to authorize military conflicts to Congress, the branch most accountable--not to the President but to Congress--and that is the issue we are going to be debating today. For far too long, Congress, under Democratic and Republican administrations, has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war. The time is long overdue for Congress to reassert that constitutional authority, and that is what today is about. That is why I and 14 cosponsors of this resolution--Senators Lee, Murphy, Warren, Booker, Durbin, Leahy, Markey, Feinstein, Wyden, Merkley, Blumenthal, Gillibrand, Schatz, and Baldwin--that is what we are doing with S.J. Res. 54. What we are saying is, if Congress wants to go to war in Yemen or anyplace else, vote to go to war. That is your constitutional responsibility. Stop abdicating that responsibility to a President, whether it is a Republican President or, as in the past, Democratic Presidents. I expect that colleagues today will be arguing about what the word ``hostilities'' means within the context of the 1973 War Powers Resolution. What does the word ``hostilities'' mean?…”