January 12, 2021

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Continues Efforts to Stop Endless Wars

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee today introduced two pieces of legislation to stop endless wars. Rep. Lee’s legislation would repeal the 2002 AUMF and initiate an eight-month sunset of the 2001 AUMF. In 2001, Rep. Lee was the lone vote against the 2001 AUMF and has spent her career in Congress fighting to put an end to wasteful investment in endless wars.  

“Nearly 20 years after I cast the sole “no” vote on the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), both the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs have been employed by three successive Presidents to wage war in ways well beyond the scope that Congress initially intended.                          

“Repealing the 2002 AUMF and Sunsetting the 2001 AUMF will help restore our constitutional obligation to do our job when it comes to matters of authorizing war. The 2001 AUMF has been used to justify waging war in at least seven different countries, against a continuously expanding list of targetable adversaries. 

 “The House took a historic step in the last Congress to stop our endless wars in passing my amendment to repeal the outdated 2002 AUMF.  It is far past time we remove this unnecessary authorization and put an end to the blank check wars.” 

In the 116th Congress, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced the legislation to initiate an eight-month sunset of the 2001 AUMF and the House  passed her amendment to repeal the 2002 Iraq Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) as a House Amendment to Senate Amendment to H.R. 550.

Additional information on the 2001 and 2002 AUMF legislation is available here: