[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[House]
[Pages 31311-31312]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE WAR POWERS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, yesterday I began circulating to Members 
of Congress a letter that would enable Members to be able to sign on to 
legislation that will be introduced when we return in January that 
would be aimed at creating a vote in this House on whether or not we 
keep our troops in Afghanistan and continue operations in Pakistan. 
This action is being done pursuant to the War Powers Act.
  The War Powers Act was passed in 1973, and the intention of it was to 
claim Congress's constitutional authority under article I, section 8 to 
be able to take this Nation into war, commit our troops to war, or to 
continue to stay at war.
  Congress cannot remain on the sidelines in this matter. We have the 
lives of our troops at stake. We have trillions of dollars at stake. 
Congress must engage in this debate over whether or not to stay at war 
in Afghanistan and to continue operations in Pakistan.
  It's comforting to let the President do everything, but we can't do 
that, because whether we agree with the President or not, we have a 
responsibility, a constitutional responsibility, to make a decision on 
these wars.

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  Now, some will say the authorization for use of military force 
dispensed with that. Oh, no, it didn't. A reading of that authorization 
makes it very clear that it does not supersede the War Powers Act.
  And so when I put this resolution to the Congress in January, it will 
be an automatic mandatory referral to the International Relations 
Committee. They will have 15 days to report it back to the House, where 
we can expect a debate. When the bill is introduced, it will be 
introduced with broad bipartisan support because this is not a Democrat 
or Republican issue.
  We have learned recently that U.S. contractors are paying the Taliban 
to ensure safe shipment of U.S. goods to U.S. soldiers, who then use 
those supplies to strengthen their war with the Taliban. We have 
learned that Blackwater is involved in ``black ops'' in Pakistan 
working as independent contractors for the purposes of assassination. 
We cannot let these things happen without Congress being directly 
involved and taking direct responsibility.
  All across this country people are worried about their jobs, their 
homes, their health care, their investments, their retirement security. 
Why is it that war becomes the centerpiece of our national experience? 
Some can say, well, it makes us safer. Oh, has it? Did the invasion of 
Iraq make us safer? Over 1 million innocent people perished in a war 
based on a lie; let us never forget that.
  The policies of unilateralism preempted at first strike were a dead-
end. And for those who say war is inevitable, I say you're dead wrong. 
Peace is inevitable if you tell the truth. Peace is inevitable if 
you're ready to confront the difficulties of diplomacy.
  We have a right to defend ourselves, and I stand upon that right. I 
voted for this country to defend itself in those days in September of 
2001. But we can never mistake defense for offense. We can never claim 
the right to aggress against another nation in the name of trying to 
make us safer because all we do is create more enemies. Occupations 
fuel insurgencies. If you want peace, you work for peace. If you want 
war, you create war, but we can never claim that war is peace. It's 
not. It often is a path to more war.
  The Constitution, when it was written, our Founders were very clear 
they didn't want an imperial government, they wanted to make sure the 
dog of war was chained. And the way to do it, they put that decision in 
the hands of the Congress. This is about our Constitution, our 
Constitution, which I always carry a copy of. This Constitution 
requires us to take a stand and to have a vote. And in January, we will 
have a vote whether to remain in Afghanistan and continue operations in 
Pakistan.

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