House Passes Rigell's Legislation to Reaffirm Congress' Constitutional War Powers

Press Release

The House of Representatives passed an amendment by Representative Scott Rigell (VA-2) that would reaffirm Congress' War Powers as outlined in the United States Constitution. The Rigell amendment requires the President of the United States to receive authorization from Congress before using military force and was offered as part of the FY'14 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed with bipartisan support. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

"This is not the King's army," Rigell said. "It is not constitutional for any one person, including the Commander-in-Chief, to have the unilateral authority to engage U.S. forces when there is no direct threat to the United States. There has been a constant drift of constitutional interpretation in Washington, and that drift has only gone in one direction: elevating the authority of the Executive Branch."

Last year, Rigell introduced legislation to defund Operation Odyssey Dawn, the U.S. military intervention in Libya, asserting that the President had violated the War Powers Act and circumvented Congress out of the decision process. During escalation in Libya in 2011, the United States employed almost one thousand pieces of ordinance, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Joint Direct Attack Munition smart bombs; clearly a hostile act that should have been authorized by Congress.

On Thursday the White House announced that it would provide military support to the Syrian rebels and that it was considering various options about intervention in the country's civil war. Rigell stressed that his amendment does not take a position on military action in Syria, but instead highlights the need to adhere to the rule of law in making these types of decisions.

"Any U.S. involvement in Syria must be fully compliant with the War Powers Act and should be debated in Congress," added Rigell.

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