[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S541-S542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                Authorizations for Use of Military Force

  AUMF--we have a lot to talk about today, and there are a lot of very 
important issues before us. I want to offer a brief but heartfelt 
thanks to Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch, as well as 
Senators Kaine and Young, who have worked so diligently for this 
proposal for so long, for reaching an agreement to mark up next week a 
long-awaited measure that many of us have waited for: a repeal of the 
Iraq AUMF.
  I am glad that this effort has been, for the most part, bipartisan 
and bicameral. It was bipartisan and bicameral under full Republican 
control of government, under full Democratic control of government. And 
it is now every bit bipartisan under divided government. It is staying 
bipartisan. There is support on both sides of the aisle for this 
proposal.
  Because both Democrats and Republicans have come to the same 
conclusion, we need to put the Iraq war

[[Page S542]]

squarely behind us, once and for all, and doing that means we should 
extinguish the legal authority that initiated the war to begin with.
  So thank you. Thank you, Chairman Menendez, and thank you, Ranking 
Member Risch, for moving forward with this repeal in your committee. 
And, again, kudos and accolades to Senators Kaine and Young for their 
great work too. We haven't yet passed this, but their work gives us a 
real chance to see some light finally at the end of a long tunnel. It 
is my hope that we can bring this bill to the floor during this work 
period.