(TheRedWire.com) – On Wednesday the Senate voted to repeal a pair of Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) with bipartisan support. With this decision, the Senate is putting the Iraq War, which started 20 years ago, further behind it.
In a 66-30 vote it was decided both the 1991 authorization for the Gulf War and the 2002 AUMF which allowed the Iraq War to take place, would be officially repealed the following March. The Senate pass means that it will not be up to the House to take action. Currently, a bill to repeal the two AUMFs has been introduced in the House but it has not advanced out of committee. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and other Republicans have spoken in favor of the legislation.
The Senate process to repeal the authorizations was lengthy, as the chamber has spent the past week debating and voting on a number of amendments both related and unrelated.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), who co-sponsored the bill, have argued that Iraq is now one of the U.S.’ strategic allies in the region and the repeal of the AUMF is a signal of support to the country. Kaine also argued Congress had “rushed” into the Iraq War, with the 2002 authorization pending for only three days before it was approved by the Senate. In comparison, it took two weeks of debates for the Senate to end the war authorizations.
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