U.S. Senator Tim Kaine is among two legislators leading a bipartisan push to reassert Congress’ constitutional right to decide when the military is sent to war.
“It’s time for Congress to start once again authorizing our Article I powers over war, peace and diplomacy,” the Virginia Democrat said Thursday during a virtual news conference.
Kaine and Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, reintroduced a bill last week to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force and formally end the Gulf and Iraq wars.
The congressman said allowing the authorizations to stay on the books invites presidents to bypass Congress and use them in “creative ways.”
Additionally, he said Iraq is no longer an enemy of the United States.
“Iraq invited us back in to the country to help them defeat ISIS,” he said. “Iraq is also a partner in our efforts to check Iranian aggression in the region — you shouldn’t label as an enemy a nation that is now a security partner.”
Kaine appeared optimistic about the bill’s prospects.
The measure has the votes to get through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said, and has support from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In a news release last week, Schumer vowed to quickly move the bill to the Senate floor.
“Every year we keep this authorization to use military force on the books is another chance for a future President to abuse or misuse it,” Schumer stated. “War powers belong squarely in the hands of Congress.”
Kaine said support for the bill has grown since he first introduced it in 2019. It has 22 co-sponsors, and he expects it will pass the Senate.
Although previous presidents have seemed hostile or indifferent to the idea, Kaine said President Joe Biden is “not threatened” by the bill, which he attributed to Biden’s long tenure in Congress.
Kaine added he understands it could be tempting to leave more power in the hands of the executive branch.
“War votes are hard, and if you can let the president make the call and take the heat, then why not let the president make the call and take the heat?” he said.
But, the congressman said, that was not what the founding fathers intended.
“They diverted the course of human history in which war had been a matter for the executive by having the decision to initiate war be a congressional one,” he said. “Congress was given this power, and we should be jealous about it.”
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