[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2324 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2324
To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2013
Mr. Schiff introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Sunset to the Authorization for Use
of Military Force Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) On September 11, 2001, the United States and its
citizens were victims of the worst terrorist attacks in world
history.
(2) The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were planned,
financed, and executed by al Qaeda, a terrorist organization
led by Osama bin Laden.
(3) Al Qaeda was based in Afghanistan throughout the period
leading up to the attacks, and the three previous attacks
against United States targets, the 1993 World Trade Center
bombing, the 1998 East Africa bombings, and the 2000 attack on
the USS Cole, were planned by al Qaeda central.
(4) From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban government of
Afghanistan knowingly harbored al Qaeda, and was complicit in
its plots against the United States, and that al Qaeda, in
turn, supported the Taliban, including sponsoring and training
the elite Arab 55th Brigade of the Taliban Army.
(5) Following the September 11, 2001, attacks Congress
passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law
107-40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) to provide the President with
requisite authorization to use ``force against those nations,
organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized,
committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on
September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons,
in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism
against the United States by such nations, organizations or
persons''.
(6) Following passage of Public Law 107-40, and consistent
with its purpose, the United States invaded Afghanistan,
resulting in the toppling of the Taliban government and the
routing of al Qaeda forces in the country.
(7) Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda leaders left
Afghanistan in the wake of the United States invasion, with
many fleeing to neighboring Pakistan.
(8) Many of al Qaeda's senior leaders, including Osama bin
Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Yahya al-Libi, and Abu Hamza
Rabia have either been killed or captured by United States
forces in the years since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
(9) Intelligence experts now describe al Qaeda's core as
largely decimated, and Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper told Congress in early 2013, that al Qaeda's core had
been so ``degraded'' that it is ``probably unable to carry out
complex, large-scale attacks in the West''.
(10) Congress never intended and did not authorize a
perpetual war.
(11) With the withdrawal of United States combat troops
from Afghanistan and the transition to Afghan national security
forces at the end of 2014, Public Law 107-40, which was focused
on the September 11th attacks and those directly responsible,
will have largely served its purpose.
(12) The homeland and the American people face new threats
from individuals, entities, and organizations that may
affiliate with al Qaeda, or share its ideology and its
determination to attack Americans, but which may not be
connected to the September 11, 2001, attacks or those who
carried them out to a degree sufficient to be covered by Public
Law 107-40.
(13) Even after the expiration of Public Law 107-40, there
is likely to remain the need to defend against specific
networks of violent extremists, including al Qaeda and its
affiliates, that threaten the United States, and the Congress
urges the President to work with the legislative branch to
secure whatever new authorities may be required to meet the
threat and comply with the Constitution, the War Powers
Resolution, and the law of war.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.
Effective on December 31, 2014, the Authorization for Use of
Military Force (Public Law 107-40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) is hereby
repealed.
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