[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 182 (Tuesday, December 15, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H9309-H9310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago when Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter testified before the House Armed Services Committee, I asked him
if Congress' debating and voting on an Authorization for Use of
Military Force,
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GREGG HARPER, Chairman.
[[Page H9310]]
an AUMF, would help in the cause of defeating ISIL. Secretary Carter
said it would be helpful because we would need to show the troops that
Congress supports them.
Two weeks ago, the Obama administration announced that it would be
sending an expeditionary force into Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS. In
his column last week entitled ``Obama's Quiet Shift in War on ISIS,''
syndicated columnist Doyle McManus wrote: ``If the first expeditionary
forces succeed, as their record suggests they will, they will almost
surely be followed by more.'' I completely agree with Mr. McManus.
Mr. Speaker, on November 6, my colleague Jim McGovern and I, along
with 33 of our colleagues, wrote a letter to Speaker Ryan urging him to
allow debate on an AUMF on the House floor. We never received a
response. Last week, Jim and I wrote Speaker Ryan another letter urging
him to allow a debate on the AUMF on the House floor as one of the
first actions Congress takes when we come back in January 2016.
Mr. Speaker, President Obama continues to escalate our involvement
against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Our fight with ISIS isn't going away
any time soon, which is why it is high time Congress fulfills its
constitutional duty and debates our role in the Middle East. As James
Madison said: ``The power to declare war, including the power of
judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the
legislature.'' The most important vote by a Member of Congress is to
commit a young man or woman to fight and die for this country.
Mr. Speaker, I have two letters that I include in the Record.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, November 6, 2015.
Hon. Paul Ryan,
Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Speaker Ryan: Among the issues that require urgent
attention by the U.S. House of Representatives is the
question of the extent of involvement by the U.S. military in
the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Given
the recent announcement by President Obama of a deepening
entanglement in Syria and Iraq, it is critical that the House
schedule and debate an Authorization for the Use of Military
Force (AUMF) as quickly as possible.
Last week, the president announced initiatives that
escalate U.S. engagement in combat operations in Syria and
Iraq. Specifically, the U.S. will deploy a U.S. Special
Operations contingent into northern Syria to be embedded with
and to advise opposition militant forces in that region; and
U.S. military advisors and special operations forces already
in Iraq will be embedded with Kurdish and Iraqi forces on the
front lines of combat. Secretary of Defense Carter also
stated that U.S. air operations in both Syria and Iraq will
increase their bombing campaigns. Taken all together, these
represent a significant escalation in U.S. military
operations in the region and place U.S. military personnel on
the front lines of combat operations.
We do not share the same policy prescriptions for U.S.
military engagement in the region, but we do share the belief
that it is past time for the Congress to fulfill its
obligations under the Constitution and vote on an AUMF that
clearly delineates the authority and limits, if any, on U.S.
military engagement in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding
region. U.S. bombing campaigns have been going on for more
than a year, and U.S. troops on the ground have been
increasingly close to or drawn into combat operations,
including the recent death in combat of a special operations
soldier in Iraq.
Consistent with your pledge to return to regular order, we
urge you to direct the committees of jurisdiction to draft
and report out an AUMF as soon as possible. We do not believe
in the illusion of a consensus authorization, something that
only happens rarely. We do believe the Congress can no longer
ask our brave service men and women to continue to serve in
harm's way while we fail in carrying out our constitutional
responsibility in the area of war and peace.
As long as the House fails to assert its constitutional
prerogatives and authority, the Administration may continue
to expand the mission and level of engagement of U.S. Armed
Forces throughout the region. We strongly urge you, Mr.
Speaker, to bring an AUMF to the floor of the House as
quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
James P. McGovern; Tom Cole; Barbara Lee; Walter B.
Jones; Peter Welch; John Lewis; Bill Posey; John Abney
Culberson; Ryan K. Zinke; Richard L. Hanna; Thomas
Massie; Ted S. Yoho; Ed Whitfield; Dana Rohrabacher;
Justin Amash; Mark Sanford; Paul A. Gosar; Mick
Mulvaney; John J. Duncan, Jr.; Matt Salmon; Raul R.
Labrador; Janice D. Schakowsky; Peter A. DeFazio;
Charles B. Rangel; Louise M. Slaughter; Janice Hahn;
Joseph P. Kennedy; Michael C. Burgess; Chellie Pingree;
John Garamendi; Joseph Crowley; David N. Cicilline;
John Conyers, Jr.; Beto O'Rourke; Daniel T. Kildee.
____
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, December 10, 2015.
Hon. Paul Ryan,
Speaker of the House, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Speaker Ryan: We write to you again to strongly urge
you to bring before the U.S. House of Representatives an
Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) related to
U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere
against the Islamic State. We ask that you schedule the
debate and vote on an AUMF resolution in January when the
114th Congress reconvenes in 2016.
As you are aware, U.S. involvement in Iraq and Syria
continues to escalate. In both countries, U.S. special
operations forces are engaged in front-line operations. Last
month a bipartisan group of 35 Members of the House,
representing a broad ideological spectrum, called on you to
schedule such a debate as soon as possible. As that letter
stated: ``We do believe the Congress can no longer ask our
brave service men and women to continue to serve in harm's
way while we fail in carrying out our constitutional
responsibility in the area of war and peace.'' We are
attaching a copy of that letter for your convenience and
review. In subsequent media reports, we were deeply
disappointed to read that you do not believe that the 114th
Congress needs to act on a new AUMF to wage war against the
Islamic State, but rather that the 14-year-old and 13-year-
old AUMFs approved by the 107th Congress under starkly
different circumstances provide the president with all the
authority he requires.
We firmly believe that among the most important duties of
Congress is that of debating and voting on whether to send
U.S. armed forces into battle. On this matter, the
Constitution is crystal clear: it is the duty of Congress to
authorize such engagement. We believe that it violates our
oath of office to continue to ignore this urgent and serious
matter.
Ten months ago, the president sent a draft AUMF to Congress
for consideration and last Sunday he called, once again, on
Congress to approve a new AUMF. It is now the role of the
Speaker to direct the committee of jurisdiction to approve
the Administration's draft, or to amend it, or to draft a new
version of the AUMF and to schedule that resolution for
consideration and a vote by the full House as expeditiously
as possible.
Once again, we strongly urge you to bring an AUMF before
the House in January 2016 so that the House may debate and
vote on authorizing U.S. military operations in Iraq, Syria
and elsewhere against the Islamic State. We look forward to
receiving your response.
Sincerely,
James P. McGovern,
Member of Congress.
Walter B. Jones,
Member of Congress.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, if we do not meet our responsibility, we will
become complicit in the loss of life among our troops. How many young
children will have a loved one that doesn't come home from fighting for
this country?
The picture here, Mr. Speaker, is the first one that I brought after
we went into an unnecessary war known as Iraq. His daddy, Phillip
Jordan, was a gunnery sergeant who was killed in 2003. The little boy's
name is Tyler Jordan. This is actually 12 years ago, and now he is 18
years of age. How many more children will have to go without a father
or a mother or a brother or sister who lost their life in war?
We need to meet our constitutional responsibility. It is embarrassing
that we in Congress--I don't even think we have a right to criticize
the President, quite frankly. Let's do our job based on the
Constitution. Let's do our job and debate a new AUMF or a declaration
of war. Let's meet our responsibility for the good of our men and women
in uniform and their families.
Mr. Speaker, I ask God to please bless our Nation, bless our men and
women in uniform, and, please, God, continue to bless America.
____________________