[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2863]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECLAIMING OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO 
                          THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, in 2001 I joined the House in voting for 
the authorization for the use of military force.
  In nearly 9 years, it has become clear that the authorization for the 
use of military force is being used carte blanche for circumventing 
Congress' role as a coequal branch of government.
  Both the Bush and the Obama administrations have cited that the 2001 
authorization of the use of military force is justification for the 
military escalation in Afghanistan, for holding prisoners indefinitely 
in Guantanamo or at Bagram Air Force Base, and even for mass domestic 
spying on U.S. citizens in violation of our most basic constitutional 
principles.
  Tomorrow, the House will consider H. Con. Res. 248, a resolution that 
would require the President to withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from 
Afghanistan by December 31, 2010.
  As U.S. Armed Forces and our allies begin the first in a series of 
large military operations in Afghanistan, this House must be heard 
from. We must reclaim our constitutional responsibility and our 
responsibility to the American people.

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