For sixteen years, Barbara Lee, who was the one member in congress who voted against the Authorization of the Use of Military Force, (AUMF) sixteen years ago, has attempted to get Congress to rescind the authorization. She's finally persuaded the necessary House committee to release her proposal.
That's good news. It will add an important impediment to impulses to use weapons of mass destruction or to start wars by the psychotic, malignant narcissist, emotionally infantish POSPOTUS (piece of sh*t President of The United States.)
John Nichols writes, in The Nation, "On Thursday, the House Appropriations committee approved Lee's amendment to repeal the 2001 AUMF 240 days after enactment of the Department of Defense Appropriations bill. With the vote, Lee celebrated a remarkable accomplishment--not just for herself but for the cause of restraint and reason when it comes to matters of war and people."
The Washington Free Beacon reported, "The 2001 AUMF has been used to justify military action more than 37 times in 14 countries, according to a 2016 report from the Congressional Research Service."
"At long last, I am pleased that my Democratic and Republican colleagues supported my effort to put an end to the overly broad blank check for war that is the 2001 AUMF," Lee stated. "If passed into law as part of the DOD bill, it would repeal the 2001 AUMF eight months after enactment of this legislation. That would allow plenty of time for Congress to finally live up to its constitutional obligation to debate and vote on any new AUMF."
RT @RepBarbaraLee: Whoa. My amdt to sunset 2001 AUMF was adopted in DOD Approps markup! GOP & Dems agree: a floor debate & vote on endless… at
— Ken Wanogho (@WanoghoKen) July 2, 2017The Free Beacon article also reported,
"The amendment must pass a Senate vote and be included in the final defense spending bill to go into effect. The amendment would revoke the 2001 AUMF 240 days after being passed. Congress would then be forced to vote on a new AUMF, something that lawmakers have struggled with for years.Procedural issues could also arise. The House Foreign Affairs Committee said the AUMF amendment "should have been ruled out of order" because the Appropriations Committee does not have jurisdiction.
"The Foreign Affairs Committee has sole jurisdiction over Authorizations for the Use of Military Force," said Foreign Affairs Committee deputy staff director for communications Cory Fritz.
The decision to adopt the amendment received bipartisan support by members of the House Appropriations Committee. Members who ultimately supported Lee's amendment included military veterans Reps. Scott Taylor (R., Va.) and Chris Stewart (R., Utah).
Politico reported, in an article, that "Even Republicans with military experience embraced Lee's defense spending bill amendment, which would repeal the 2001 authorization."
"They noted that the anti-terror struggle has evolved markedly since the days when U.S. troops hunted Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan, yet Congress has never debated and authorized the fight against newer extremist groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.Members of the military "notice that we don't have the courage to debate this and to give them the authority to go do this," said Chris Stewart (R-Utah), who served in the Air Force and comes from a family of soldiers. "And I know that from my friends who are in the military right now."
Scott Taylor (R-Va.), a former Navy SEAL, echoed that sentiment. "I think we've seen a disproportionate sacrifice with the military community that has gone over and over again," he said. "And I believe that we owe them the debate."
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