Authorization for Use of Military Force in the Fight Against ISIS
WASHINGTON -- Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) called for a full, open and honest debate on an Authorization for Use of Military Force in the fight against ISIS.
Below is a video and transcript of the speech.
Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as it stands today, the 113th Congress will go down in history as the Congress of abandoned authority.
With little exception, this Congress has failed to address the issues the American people sent us here to take on.
Tax reform, immigration, transportation infrastructure, climate change—this Congress has shown little progress.
And in so doing, we've ceded more and more of our power as a legislature to the executive.
Nowhere has our abandoned authority inflicted greater harm on Congress as an institution than in our abdication of leadership in the fight against ISIS.
The Constitution gives Congress and Congress alone the power to declare war.
But while unilateral executive action on every other issue has been met with partisan attacks,
This Congress seems content with allowing the President to call the shots on military engagement with ISIS.
Mr. Speaker, this abandoned authority must end.
Before the end of the 113th Congress, we must restore our constitutional authority over the nation's war powers.
We must commit to a full, open and honest debate on an Authorization for Use of Military Force in the fight against ISIS.
Our brave men and women are risking their lives, and we're afraid to even risk a vote.
It's time for Congress to put some skin in the game.
It's time for Congress to outline in clear terms the legal authority under which the U.S. will wage this war, and in so doing, future conflicts.
The fact of the matter is that right now, the U.S. is at war.
From August 8th to November 12th, we have spent an average of $8 million a day and $776 million in total on military operations to combat ISIS.
As of October 23rd, the U.S. has conducted 632 airstrikes, involving 6,600 sorties, dropping more than 1,700 bombs.
We are at war with ISIS. And we're waging that war without congressional authorization.
No one should doubt the inhumanity of ISIS. They pose a unique threat to the region, our allies, and the innocent civilians of Iraq and Syria.
Left unchecked, the threat and reach of ISIS will grow.
ISIS has made no secret of its plans to broaden its reach in the region and to attack Western nations, even threatening the homeland of the United States.
The President was right to target and attack ISIS with our military assets and to begin to train local on-the-ground forces. But this is just a start.
As our Commander in Chief, I do believe the President has the legal authority to begin these military operations.
But the authority to begin a military operation is not a substitute for the full, legal authority required to continue military operations that must be debated here in the United States Congress.
The President has said he welcomes a new AUMF.
And we have debated repealing the Affordable Care Act more than five dozen times in this Congress.
On ISIS though? On our wartime operations? On sending our brave men and women into harm's way?
We continue to sit idly.
We had a debate on a last minute amendment to a temporary spending bill that authorized only one small piece of a larger overall strategy.
That is not a true debate. That's certainly not a substitute for war authorization.
Americans did not send us here for piecemeal amendments to last minute spending bills.
You disagree with the President and think we shouldn't be arming Syrian rebels? Let's write an AUMF.
You think we should be working toward a contingency plan in which American ground forces get involved? Let's write an AUMF.
You think, as I do, that our fight against ISIS should have clear, defined goals and a timeline before we consider further authorization.
Well, then let's write an AUMF.
Mr. Speaker, I call on Congressional leadership to take up this task.
Your members are ready for a debate. The American people are ready for a debate.
We simply have no excuse to let this opportunity pass us by.
Let's step up to the plate. We should not end the 113th Congress without debating and passing an Authorization for Use of Military Force.
Thank you and I yield back.
