Veterans group urges passage of bipartisan measure to restore balance of power between Congress and White House on national security policy
ARLINGTON, Va.—Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) Executive Director Russ Duerstine issued the following statement regarding the reintroduction of the National Security Reform and Accountability Act (NSRAA).
The bipartisan bill, reintroduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (MA) and Rep. Nancy Mace (SC) would be a critical step toward restoring constitutional checks and balances in vital national security decisions.
Russ Duerstine, CVA’s Executive Director, had this to say about the bill:
“Congress has the opportunity to reassert its constitutional duty to make decisions about war and peace and to finally turn the page on decades of failed U.S. foreign policy.
By passing this bipartisan measure, Congress will send a clear message to the American people that they have been heard — and after the end of a 20-year war in Afghanistan, valuable lessons have been learned. And these lessons will prevent future wars from becoming open-ended, decades-long entanglements.”
WHAT NSRAA FIXES
Congress has a vital role to play in authorizing and overseeing national security decisions, particularly in determining where and when American troops are sent into harm’s way. The NSRAA’s reforms include:
War Powers
- Clearly defining missing key terms in the War Powers resolution, such as “hostilities.”
- Shortening the “termination clock,” after which unauthorized hostilities must end from 60 to 20 days.
- Adds enforceability by cutting off funding for unauthorized military action.
- Requires future Authorizations for Use of Military Force to sunset after two years and feature geographic and mission specificity.
- Sunsets outdated AUMFs, while creating a clear orderly framework for any needed replacements.
Arms Exports
- Requires affirmative Congressional votes to approve certain arms sales, allowing packaged votes to save time while enabling controversial line items to be removed and voted on separately.
National Emergencies
- Limits the abuse of emergency powers by ensuring that they can only be used to address a situation directly related to an existing emergency declaration.
- Requires Congress to affirmatively approve emergency declarations and the powers they grant within 30 days for them to continue.
- Requires emergency declarations to have a renewal vote after one year and to expire within five years, combatting the glut of outdated, even decades-old emergency declarations still active.
- Prohibits presidential abuse of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs without Congressional approval.
You can read CVA’s one-pager in support of the National Security Reforms and Accountability Act, and its previous Senate companion, the National Security Powers Act, here.
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