Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is really very simple. It is cosponsored by Representatives Grijalva and Ellison. It prohibits any funding in this bill pursuant to the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force after December 31, 2015.

This timeline gives the President and the Congress sufficient time--that is 8 months after this is signed into law--to determine what if any authorization would be needed to replace the 2001 AUMF.

This amendment is not only timely, but it really is necessary. On September 14, 2001, I could not vote for the 2001 AUMF. That was an authorization that I knew would provide a blank check to wage war any time, for any length, anywhere.

In the last 14 years, it has become increasingly clear that this authorization has essentially provided the President--this is any President--President Bush, now President Obama--the authority to wage war against anyone, anywhere, at any time, against any country, with no authorization from Congress.

In fact, the Congressional Research Service has found that the 2001 AUMF has been used more than 30 times to justify military action and other activities, including warrantless surveillance and wiretapping, indefinite detention practices at GTMO, targeted killing operations using lethal drones, and the open-ended expansion of military operations abroad, which have nothing to do with the original congressional intent.

In addition to the activities I mentioned, the AUMF has reportedly been invoked to deploy troops in Afghanistan, Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia. The 2001 AUMF is now being cited as the authority for the now 10-month-long war against ISIL--and, yes, we are in a war.

We know that ISIL must be degraded and dismantled, but Congress must do our job. We should debate and vote on the use of force. That is our constitutional responsibility.

I know that, while many of us may not share a common position on how to deal with the 2001 authorization, many of us do agree that the overly broad authority is a major and concerning deterioration of congressional oversight and warmaking authority.

I think many of us can agree that a robust debate and vote is necessary, long overdue, and must take place, whatever we believe about how we should vote. The American people deserve to have their Representatives speak for them on these grave matters which the Constitution requires.

Let me be clear. With the 2001 authorization still on the books in its current form, any administration can continue to rely on this blank check to wage endless war. That is why my amendment to prohibit funding for the 2001 AUMF after December 31, 2015, is so important.

There was very little debate. I remember that very moment that we had this debate on this resolution 12 years ago. I think the debate maybe was about 1 hour--pro and con, 30 minutes. I probably was the only one who voted and said ``no'' in terms of the debate, but it wasn't a very long debate, and I am sure, if we had had more time to debate this, more Members would have realized that this was a blank check.

Let's repeal this. I have introduced this legislation once again to get this off the books. Congress cannot continue to abdicate its constitutional responsibility while the United States now is embroiled in yet another open-ended war in the Middle East.

We can begin to address this today by passing this amendment, providing Congress and the President with plenty of time to decide what measures should replace this authorization before the end of the year.

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