U.S. Senate voted 60-33 to restore defense authority to Congress, formally end two forever wars
Casey: “Congress will be an equal partner in deciding whether to send our servicemembers into harm’s way and how to ensure our national security while protecting our troops”
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement on the Senate’s bipartisan vote to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) enacted prior to the Gulf and Iraq Wars:
“For too long, Congress has ceded to the executive branch its constitutionally proscribed role in authorizing military force and declaring war. For years I have argued that Congress must re-assert itself into debates about how and when our country sends our young men and women into harm’s way. Today by belatedly repealing two Authorizations for the Use of Miliary Force, the Senate has not only fulfilled its constitutional obligation, but has also sent a signal that Congress will be an equal partner in deciding whether to send our servicemembers into harm’s way and how to ensure our national security while protecting our troops,” said Senator Casey.
Casey is a cosponsor of the legislation and cosponsored its prior version in the 117th Congress. Neither AUMF is necessary to continue the United States’ current military operations. Casey previously implored prior administrations to request new AUMFs from Congress in order to take new military action, including the Obama and Trump Administrations’ actions in Syria and the Trump Administration’s airstrike in Iran. The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote.
