Murphy Statement on Senate Foreign Relations Committee Vote to Repeal Outdated Authorizations for Use of Military Force

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday released the following statement after the committee voted to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force against Iraq:

“If you want to understand why this vote is so important, look no further than last week––when the Department of Defense used a twenty year old authorization of military force against Al Qaeda to justify strikes in Somalia. And this isn’t some new phenomenon. Over the past two decades, Democratic and Republican administrations have used these outdated authorizations to enter the United States into war in all sorts of places that have never been contemplated by the American public,” said Murphy. “But today, Congress took the first step to right this wrong and reassert our Constitutional authority over matters of war. I hope the Senate will take up and pass this legislation without delay.”

Last month, Murphy along with U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), introduced sweeping, bipartisan legislation to reclaim Congress’s critical role in national security matters. The National Security Powers Act specifically safeguards congressional prerogatives in the use of military force, emergency powers and arms exports. In each of these cases, the president is required to consult congressional leaders and obtain congressional authorization before exercising the powers in question. Any congressional authorization will have to meet specific requirements, including an automatic sunset. Under the National Security Powers Act, any activities lacking such authorization will face an automatic funding cutoff after a specified number of days. You can read more about the bill here. 

Murphy authored an op-ed in War on the Rocks making the case that U.S. national security is stronger when Congress is involved and outlining his new legislation that would get Congress back to the table. The National Security Powers Act is supported by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for American Progress, the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), the Center for International Policy, Common Defense, Concerned Veterans for America, Demand Progress, Foreign Policy for America, Freedom Works, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Human Rights First, International Crisis Group, Indivisible, Niskanen Center, Open Society Policy Center, Oxfam America, Project on Government Oversight, Protect Democracy, Public Citizen, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, R Street Institute, VoteVets, Win Without War, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

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