| Rep. Udall Seeks to Curb Administration’s War Making Ability |
| Written by Andrew Kian Clayton | |
| Wednesday, 25 July 2007 | |
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The bill states that "no funds appropriated or otherwise made available by any act...may be obligated or expended for military operations or activities within or above the territory of Iran" without explicit Congressional consent. Exceptions to this provision would include responding to an Iranian attack and conducting intelligence operations. In addition, the military would not be prevented from pursuing hostile forces should they cross into Iranian territory from Iraq or Afghanistan. "The bill is intended to do one thing: to restore the balance between the executive and legislative branches with regard to authorizing large-scale military activities," Udall said. "It is a balance that needs restoring after the mismanagement of the war in Iraq, and it is a balance that should be monitored closely as some in the Administration continue to discuss presidential authority to wage war in contravention of the constitution." H.R. 3119 has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services. It is a companion to legislation introduced in the Senate in March by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). In explaining his sponsorship of S. 759, Webb similarly expressed his desire to reestablish a "constitutional balance" between the executive and legislative branches. In the past, non-binding resolutions have been introduced in the House seeking Congressional authorization for an attack on Iran. Representative Walter Jones' (R-NC) January attempt to introduce House Joint Resolution 14 failed to make it past committee. |
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