“Since the enactment of the
War Powers Act in the 1970s, which I supported
then and support now, Congress has been
reluctant to assert its authority when
Presidents see fit to send American military
personnel into harm’s way—Korea, Vietnam,
Lebanon, Grenada, and Panama. The essence of the
War Powers act is that any President must seek
the approval of the people, in this case through
their representatives in the Congress, for such
action.
I believe the American people would decide in
favor of stopping innocent people from being
killed or wounded by the forces aligned with
Gaddafi. However, the integrity of the United
States government before the world, and before
its own people, insists on Congress stepping up
to assume its responsibility.
We just passed the eighth anniversary of the
invasion of Iraq, which we went into thinking
that there were weapons of mass destruction and
that our troops would be “greeted as
liberators.” Eight years later, we know that
liberating Iraq was not “a cakewalk.”
It is the responsibility of Congress to consider
our President’s decision before involving
ourselves in any military conflict. If we don’t
assert our constitutional authority in something
as serious as war, we are slowly undermining our
democratic principles.
There is no question that in my mind President
Obama is the greatest president of my lifetime.
I am confident that the President cares for the
safety of our brave men and women placing in
harm’s way. I just reintroduced the universal
national service bill, including a military
draft, so the American people, through their
representatives in Congress, understand the
costs and obligation this nation is undertaking
when it engages in something as serious as war.
It is the continuing expenses of those endless
military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan that
continue to hamstring our efforts to dig us out
of the economic hole the last administration
left us in. Presently, we are now engaged in a
budget process that closes senior citizen
centers, undermines our investments in education
and health care.
I plan to work with President Obama and my
colleagues to address concerns at home on
innovation, jobs, education and health care, and
not merely providing a tax cut for the wealthy.
Congress should be called into session
immediately. This could be the beginning of
another Korea or Iraq. We went into these
conflicts without knowing how long they would
last. War in Korea still has not ended and we
have just entered the ninth year in Iraq. This
has to stop sometime. It is up to the U.S.
Congress to fulfill its constitutional
authority.”
