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CVA statement on Congressional effort to reclaim war powers

By Concerned Veterans for America

Veterans group praises Kaine/Young bill to repeal outdated authorizations, reinstate constitutional duty

 

ARLINGTON, Va.—Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) Executive Director, Nate Anderson, on Thursday released the following statement in support of a bipartisan bill from Sens. Kaine and Young to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq and reassert Congress’ vital role in declaring wars and deciding where, when, and why we send American troops into harm’s way.

“We welcome any effort by Congress to reclaim its constitutional duties in matters of war and peace, and we applaud Sens. Kaine and Young for their measure to repeal outdated, and misinterpreted AUMFs. Not only have these authorizations been all but ignored by Congress to avoid debating and voting on when and where we send our troops into harm’s way, but the result of this practice has ceded near-absolute war making power to the executive branch and kept our troops fighting wars that no longer serve America’s best interests. We stand ready to support lawmakers to pass this measure and urge principled leaders in Congress to support it.”

This bill is an effort to prevent the future misuse of the expired Gulf and Iraq War authorizations and strengthen Congressional oversight over war powers. Notably, it has a broad array of cosponsors from both sides of the aisle: Sens. Duckworth, Lee, Coons, Grassley, Durbin, and Paul.

 

BACKGROUND

For years CVA has been working to end outdated and misused authorizations, having supported measures in both chambers to repeal these and similar AUMFs. In 2019, CVA teamed up with traditional rival VoteVets in an effort to raise awareness and fight to finally end war in Afghanistan and force Congress to reexamine authorization for military operations around the world.

CVA recently launched the latest phase of its End Endless Wars campaign, a $1.25 million digital ad campaign combined with a robust grassroots push across the country. CVA has spent over $3 million on digital, television, and direct mail advertising urging a full withdrawal from Afghanistan. The campaign is aimed at educating and encouraging the American public to contact their elected representatives. In total, the campaign has generated over 700,000 emails to leaders in Washington urging them to end our “forever wars.” The End Endless Wars campaign evolved from CVA’s Rethink Foreign Policy effort, which the group launched in mid-2019.

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