Libya War Powers Resolution

Floor Speech

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I rise in strong support of this resolution. We need to be crystal clear on this. Without prior congressional authorization, under the War Powers Act, the President may only commit Armed Forces to hostilities for 60 days if there is a direct attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its Armed Forces.

There was none, so there is no 60-day clock, and the unprovoked attack on Libya--from day one--constituted an illegal and unconstitutional act of the highest significance.

And the question is, What are we going to do about that? If the President felt there was moral justification to attack Libya, he was constitutionally required to make that case to the Congress and to get its authorization. He did not.

Now, the argument we hear against this resolution comes down to this: we're already committed; it's too late for Congress to order a withdrawal without harming America's reputation or undermining its allies. Well, if we take that position, we have just changed the entire Constitution to read as follows: the President may attack any country he wants for any reason that he wants and the Congress has no choice but to follow. That's what they're saying.

The President has crossed a bright constitutional line, and this Congress has a clear moral and constitutional duty to intervene, and only the Kucinich resolution actually does so, short of sending a strong letter to the President.

If we fail to do so, we will have destroyed the work of the American Founders by fundamentally changing the legislative and executive functions on the most momentous decision that our Nation can make, and we will take our country down dark and bloody roads that the American Founders sought to avoid.

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