National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to stand in support of the statement just made by my colleague from the Commonwealth of Maryland.

He knows, as I know, that our responsibilities as U.S. Senators include important votes. Some of the votes we cast will blur into history, and we will be hard pressed to remember them. But certainly any vote involving sending America to war is a vote you will never forget--at least not this Senator. Many of those votes cast over the years in the House and the Senate have created sleepless nights before the vote because you understand that even under the best of circumstances, people will die as a result of your vote. Not just the enemy but even our own risk their lives and die in defense of the United States.

It was 9/11/2001 when this U.S. Senate was faced with the awesome responsibility of voting to go to war. There were two votes. The first was on the invasion of Iraq. There were 23 of us--22 Democrats and 1 Republican--who voted against the authorization for the use of force and the invasion of Iraq. I continue to believe that when it comes to foreign policy, it is the most important vote that I have ever cast.

Twenty three of us voted no.

The second vote was on the invasion of Afghanistan and a different vote completely. We had just gone through 9/11, and 3,000 innocent Americans had been killed. The images are still in my mind--and will be until I die--of what I saw as a result of that heinous attack, that atrocious attack by terrorists on the World Trade Center, on the Pentagon, and, of course, what happened in the fields of Pennsylvania.

So the vote came to the floor, and they basically said: When it comes to the invasion of Afghanistan, we are going after the people responsible for 9/11. I joined every other U.S. Senator of both political parties in voting yes. We had to make clear to terrorists around the world that when you strike the United States, you will pay a price. We will hunt you down, we will find you, we will bring you to justice or bring you to your end on Earth. I voted for it, and I knew it was the right thing to do. That is what I was sent here to do. Little did I realize, having cast that vote 15 or 16 years ago, that I wasn't

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just voting to go after the terrorists responsible for 9/11; I was voting for the longest war in the history of the United States of America, a war that continues to this day in Afghanistan. I don't think there was a single member of the Senate--either party on the floor--who would have believed that was what we were voting for. It has happened.

To date we have lost almost 2,400 American lives, tens of thousands have been injured in Afghanistan, billions and billions of dollars have been spent, and there is no end in sight. Who is responsible for that? Ultimately, Congress is responsible for that. The Constitution and the people who wrote it made it clear that we have the responsibility to declare war. It is a responsibility that may have clarity in the Constitution, but it is one that we don't accept willingly in most circumstances. Most Members of the Senate will acknowledge that constitutional opportunity and authority, but they don't want to cast a vote for fear that they are going to vote an incorrect way as history will judge.

Now we have a proposal by Senator Paul of Kentucky. It is one that I think should be supported by every Member of the Senate. What it says is this: Within 6 months, the authorization for the use of military force we voted for so long ago is going to be eliminated, and we, in that period of time, have to come up with a new authorization that reflects the new reality of the threat against the United States. That is our constitutional responsibility. The President, as Commander in Chief, always must step up and defend America, but when it comes to the declaration of war, that is the responsibility of Congress.

I will be supporting this effort by Senator Paul. I believe it is consistent with our constitutional responsibility, and I believe it is also time for us to renew the debate as to our future in Afghanistan, a war that has claimed so many American lives, created so many casualties, and cost us so dearly. It is time for us, on behalf of the American people, to engage in that debate again.

I yield the floor.

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