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Senate Votes to Keep War on Terror Auth03/23 06:18
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to continue congressional
authorization for the use of military force in the global fight against terror,
turning back an effort by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to repeal the 2001 measure.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to continue
congressional authorization for the use of military force in the global fight
against terror, turning back an effort by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to repeal the
2001 measure.
Senators rejected the amendment 86-9 as they are debating a separate repeal
of two authorizations of military force in Iraq. There is broad bipartisan
support to withdraw that congressional approval granted in 1991 and 2002 for
military strikes against Saddam Hussein's regime.
While those two authorizations are rarely used and focused on just one
country, Iraq, the 2001 measure gave President George W. Bush broad authority
for the invasion of Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism, approving
force "against those nations, organizations, or persons" that planned or aided
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Passed in September 2001, it is still used to this day to justify U.S.
military action against terror groups -- including al-Qaida and its affiliates,
such as ISIS and al-Shabab -- that are deemed to be a threat against America.
The 2002 measure that launched the invasion of Iraq 20 years ago this week
has been used much less frequently, and supporters of repealing it say it is
vulnerable to abuse. President Joe Biden has said he supports that repeal.
Senators in both parties said they might be open to eventually replacing the
2001 authorization for the war on terror and narrowing its authority, but they
argued that it should not be fully repealed. "We have not yet had that
substantive discussion," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob
Menendez, D-N.J., ahead of the amendment vote.
Paul said that by repealing only the Iraq authorizations, Congress is
"missing the point" since Hussein's regime no longer exists. By leaving the
2001 measure in place, Congress is keeping the authorization that approves "war
everywhere, all the time," he said.
The Senate is expected to vote next week to repeal the two Iraq measures. In
a test vote this week, 19 Republicans voted with Democrats to move forward on
the legislation.
It's unclear whether leaders in the Republican-controlled House will bring
the bill up for a vote, even if it passes the Senate. Forty-nine House
Republicans supported the legislation repealing the Iraq authorities when
then-majority Democrats held a vote two years ago, but current House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., opposed it then.
McCarthy signaled this week that he is open to supporting the measure, but
it's unclear whether House Republicans will move the Senate bill without any
changes. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said
he is interested in replacing the two Iraq authorizations instead of just
repealing them, a move that is unlikely to have support in the Senate.
McCaul met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday
on the authorizations of military force and other issues.
"I'm going to be for replacement," he said coming out of that meeting. "I'll
see what the leadership does."
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the lead Democratic author of the Senate bill to
repeal the Iraq authorizations, said he believes bipartisan support in the
House could move votes. Noting McCarthy's new openness, he said he views the
House as "getting better and better every day" on the issue.
Kaine and Indiana Sen. Todd Young, the Indiana Republican who is also
leading the push, have argued that repeal will help the United States'
strategic partnership with Iraq.
"That relationship I think is not lost on some of the members who were now
willing to vote for repeal," Kaine said.
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