Rep. Lee Leads Colleagues in Sending a Letter to President Biden Calling for an End to Forever Wars
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee, senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, led a group of her colleagues, including Reps. Gregory Meeks, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Jim McGovern, Chair of the House Rules Committee, Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, and Anthony Brown, Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, in sending a letter to President Joe Biden on his first full day in office urging his support for repealing the outdated and overreaching Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs):
“We agree that our government is past due for a reexamination of our security needs to determine whether we are directing our efforts and resources in ways that truly make Americans more secure,” wrote the lawmakers. “That process should begin early in your administration with an effort to engage with Congress to fulfill the commitment of the 2020 Democratic platform to ‘work with Congress to repeal decades-old authorizations for the use of military force and replace them with a narrow and specific framework that will ensure we can protect Americans from terrorist threats while ending the forever wars.’”
The lawmakers continued, “Both of these authorities should be reviewed closely. As a first step, we urge you to call for the immediate repeal of the 2002 AUMF, a policy which was adopted in a bipartisan vote by the House of Representatives in 2019, and which would not disrupt any ongoing operations. Additionally, we urge you to work closely with Congress to consider how the 2001 AUMF should be addressed.”
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. The 2001 AUMF has been used to wage war in at least seven different countries, against a continuously expanding list of targetable adversaries. These Administrations have identified to Congress combat-ready counterterrorism deployments to at least 14 additional countries.
To read the full letter, click here.