(TheRedWire.com) – On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed bipartisan legislation which would repeal the Iraq and Gulf War military force authorizations.
The bill passed on a 13-8 vote, and was sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
Kaine noted that both of these authorizations remaining active despite the conflict ending means that any sitting president is capable of misusing them. As he noted, the 1991 Gulf War authorization and the 2002 Iraq War authorization are decades old. He added that Congress is responsible for repealing these authorizations in order to ensure that future presidents will not use these authorizations as ways to cause harm to servicemembers.
The Gulf War ended in 1991 following a brief U.S.-led military campaign in Kuwait and Iraq, while the 2003 invasion of Iraq ended in 2011 after former President Obama withdrew the U.S. troops from the country.
This is not the first time that Congress has been faced with attempts to bring these authorizations to an end. However, the efforts are now increasing with a companion bill introduced in the House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who has vowed to support the legislation once it hits the floor. Schumer also tweeted last week that it was time for the country to “put the Iraq War behind us once and for all.” He added that the only way to do that was by repealing the legal authority that was used in the way.
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