Washington, DC – Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Chip Roy issued the following statement today regarding the introduction of their bipartisan bill to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) related to Iraq. 

The full bill text can be found here. 

“Congress has long abdicated its constitutional authority over war and peace through open-ended AUMFs. The 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations are obsolete, yet administrations of both parties have exploited them to bypass Congress. There is broad bipartisan support to repeal these decades-old authorities; Thanks to Senator Tim Kaine’s leadership in the Senate and former Rep. Barbara Lee’s leadership in the House of Representatives, their repeal nearly passed both chambers in the 118th and 117th Congress. It is time to finish that work, pass this legislation, and finally reclaim Congress’ Article I war powers,” said Ranking Member Meeks. 

“For decades, Congress has completely abdicated its constitutional duty to deliberate on matters of war and peace. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of our decades-old Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). This dereliction of Congress's duty is a longstanding and bipartisan problem. We still have the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs on the books decades later and they serve no clear purpose. Few of the legislators who passed them are still in Congress, and many of them aren't even alive anymore. Times have changed, and so have the mission and objectives of America's foreign policy. We can't stop the cycle of endless wars unless Congress is willing to step up and do its job and ensure these authorizations can't be abused in the future. Repealing these AUMFs is an important first step to a more focused and more responsible foreign policy agenda,” said Rep. Roy.