[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               War Powers

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, the Senator from Arizona, I want to speak 
just briefly about the vote that we just cast but, more than the vote, 
the topic that it represents.
  The pier constructed to deliver aid to Gaza is a failure, was a 
failure, and it was a very expensive failure, and it has cost taxpayers 
hundreds of millions of dollars. It was an idea poorly conceived and 
poorly executed. It is unsustainable to maintain, and it is not 
fulfilling its purpose. It should be dismantled, and there are already 
plans underway to eliminate the pier after remaining aid has been 
distributed or removed.
  Our U.S. forces, as they were in this instance, were called upon to 
deliver aid to areas of the world that are plagued by violence or areas 
that are hostile to the United States. And my complaint about the 
planning is nothing to distract from my admiration and respect for 
those who serve our country, and that continues in those individuals in 
the military who have served in the effort to try to provide aid to the 
people of Gaza.
  But this is not an isolated instance in which the United States and 
its military are asked to serve. The United States has previously 
assisted Iran after a devastating earthquake. This year U.S. forces 
delivered aid to Haiti, which is racked with gang violence. The 
capabilities of the U.S. military and the generosity of the American 
people to help innocent victims, no matter who they are or what 
government rules over them, is a testament to America's goodness and to 
American power.
  The point I want to make is the War Powers Resolution allows Congress 
to remove forces ``engaged in hostilities without specific 
authorization.'' I want to caution my colleagues against utilizing 
these authorities and setting a precedent that Congress can or should 
intervene any time we simply don't like the entity, the people, who are 
receiving the aid.
  I wholeheartedly respect Congress's ability to utilize war powers 
when appropriate. There is no greater responsibility we have than 
deciding when to send our sons and daughters to take part in a war. 
This decision should not and must not be allowed to reside with the 
President, with the executive branch alone. Yet, too often, it is 
exactly what we do, ignoring our obligations as Members of Congress.
  The Framers of our Nation determined that war is to be declared by 
Congress. And in too many instances and way too often, we fail to live 
up to our constitutional responsibilities.
  I believe there are many more opportunities more pressing and more 
damaging to our troops than just this failure of the pier, where 
Congress could and should intervene. At this moment, for example, the 
U.S. sailors are engaged in kinetic activities against the Houthis 
without any such authorization. Just like the Gaza pier, the Biden 
administration has placed servicemembers in harm's way without any 
strategy for success, at significant cost to taxpayers and finite 
defense munitions. This pier demonstrated President Biden's ham-fisted 
approach to the Middle East.

  Why should we allow him--but the point is broader than that. Why 
should we allow him--or any President--to continue missions that are 
adrift and have no prospect of a solution? It is a failure on 
Congress's part to assert our constitutional obligations in matters of 
war.
  Today's vote was a step--a step, I think, in the right direction--but 
we have much more to do to carry out the responsibilities we were 
elected to. I have said this on the Senate floor many times: When 
Congress looks the other way, when a President of either party issues 
executive orders or rules and regulations that make no sense under the 
law that was enacted that they are operating under, it is important, I 
think--again, I have said this on the floor before too many times--
people just want the result they want, and they don't care about the 
process by which they get it. And the process is what protects our 
freedoms and liberties. The process is what the Constitution is about, 
and we ought to be fulfilling our constitutional responsibilities, 
certainly when it comes to the ability to have members of our military 
in harm's way.
  Our freedoms and liberties are determined by that. The Framers 
understood that this country should not have a king and that the powers 
are vested in the legislative branch, not the executive.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.