[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H9737-H9738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REQUESTING OPEN AND STRUCTURED DEBATE ON JUST WAR PRINCIPLES IN THE 
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McNerney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I introduced H. Res. 1009 in March of this 
year. This resolution states that it is the sense of the House that the 
House should debate five of the six commonly accepted principles of the 
Just War theory to declaring war or authorizing military force.
  The other Just War principle is that wars should be authorized by the 
Nation's legitimate body, which in this case is the House of 
Representatives.
  The reasoning behind H. Res. 1009 is as follows:
  One, the U.S. House of Representatives shares the constitutional 
responsibility to declare war and authorize military force with the 
United States Senate (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11), but the House 
has traditionally been the body responsible to declare war or authorize 
military force.
  Two, war and military action will always cause injuries, death, 
destruction, loss of property, famine, displacements, and other 
hardships. Because of these privations, military authorizations should 
only be undertaken with sufficient justification.
  Three, weapons of mass destruction are possessed by a substantial and 
growing number of nations. These weapons may be capable of 
exterminating humanity.
  Four, any conflict has the potential to expand beyond the original 
intent of the belligerent nations.
  Five, the Just War theory of what constitutes the moral justification 
for a nation to engage in war has been developed over the past two 
millennia.
  Six, some of the Just War principles are incorporated into the United 
Nations charter, but this has not prevented the many wars that have 
taken place since the United Nations was established. No nation in 
recent history has incorporated the principles of Just War theory into 
its own governing laws or traditions.
  Seven, in the United States, an open and transparent debate of the 
Just War principles would give lawmakers in the United States House of 
Representatives a structured framework to examine if a call to conflict 
would be morally justified and may prevent our Nation from entering 
conflicts that may be harmful to our Nation's interests.
  Eight, it is possible that debating the Just War principles in the 
U.S. House of Representatives before authorizing military force would 
have kept the United States out of military conflicts in the past that 
have been harmful to our Nation's interests.
  Nine, H. Res. 1009 does not require the U.S. House of Representatives 
to debate the Just War principles, but essentially recommends that it 
does so.
  Ten, H. Res. 1009 does not limit executive authority, but it does 
help to ensure that the executive does not overreach.
  Eleven, after discussions and inputs from Just War scholars, some 
improvements to H. Res. 1009 have been noted.
  My intention with H. Res. 1009 is to introduce the idea of having an 
open and structured debate in the House of Representatives on the most 
serious and grave responsibility of our government, that of declaring 
war.
  In our Nation's history, declarations of war have been done at the 
request of the President. Having an open and structured debate will 
lessen the opportunity for misuse of our Nation's military but should 
not impede our Nation's ability to react to defend our country.

[[Page H9738]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge the House of Representatives to adopt this 
concept in the upcoming 118th Congress of debating the Just War 
principles before authorizing military action and expect that adopting 
such a resolution will inspire other nations to do the same, thereby 
reducing the likelihood of future unjustified wars.

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