[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 21, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S839-S840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the AUMFs, today, the Senate begins 
debate on a resolution formally repealing the Iraq AUMFs of 2002 and 
1991, bringing us another step closer to ending these war authorities 
and putting these conflicts behind us for good.
  I want to note last week's vote on cloture--68 to 27. That is a clear 
sign of bipartisan support in this Chamber. I hope Republicans will 
work with us to keep this bill moving forward, because AUMF repeal in 
the Senate is now a matter of when, not of if. It is my hope that we 
can finish our work on repealing these AUMFs as soon as possible.
  We will have a reasonable amendment process. That said, given last 
week's strong vote, there is no reason to drag this out. I am 
encouraged that, in the House, Members from both sides of the aisle 
seem to be open to taking action once the Senate passes this 
resolution, and there are Members of the Senate Republican leadership 
who seem very strongly for the bill. That is a very good sign.

[[Page S840]]

  As always, I thank my colleagues here in the Senate, on both sides of 
the aisle, for supporting this legislation, particularly Senators Kaine 
and Young, who did an amazing job in rounding up support. This has been 
a dream of Senator Kaine's for a long time, and now it is coming closer 
to reality. And I want to thank Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member 
Risch and all of the cosponsors of the legislation.
  There is no justification anymore for allowing these Iraq 
authorizations to remain on the books. Every year they remain in place 
is another year a future administration can abuse them to ensnare us in 
another conflict in the Middle East. The American people don't want 
that. They are tired of endless wars in the Middle East. We owe it to 
our servicemembers and our veterans, as well as their families and 
communities impacted by the war, to repeal these AUMFs as soon as we 
can.

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