[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13303]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     FIXING THE WAR POWER AUTHORITY

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, the President has come to Congress, as he 
should, to ask authority for a discretionary military action. The sad 
fact is he doesn't have to because of a defective law passed by 
Congress in reaction to Nixon's bombing of Cambodia in 1973. The bill 
that Congress passed is a shadow of our constitutional authority 
regarding war and peace.
  This President has come to us. That's good. The result is not yet 
known. It has already resulted perhaps in a diplomatic breakthrough. 
That is also good. But in the future we need to make certain that each 
and every President comes to us when we're not defending against 
immediate interests of the United States or against imminent or real 
attack of our troops or our citizens.
  So I'll be reintroducing legislation to fix the war power authority. 
In the future, in circumstances such as this, it will require that the 
President come to the Congress before launching a discretionary 
military action. We must fix this law. This is a good precedent this 
President has set. Let's make it the law of the United States of 
America.

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