{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tomudall.senate.gov/news/press-releases/video-following-release-of-afghanistan-papers-udall-appeals-to-the-senate-to-reassert-its-constitutional-authority-over-authorizing-war", "VIDEO: Following Release of Afghanistan Papers, Udall Appeals to the Senate to Reassert its Constitutional Authority over Authorizing War", "2019-12-12", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Tom Udall", "U000039", "www.tomudall.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 12, 2019\n\t\t\t VIDEO: Following Release of Afghanistan Papers, Udall Appeals to the Senate to Reassert its Constitutional Authority over Authorizing War \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Following Post expos, Udall calls for a vote on the Udall, Paul bill to responsibly withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Says 2020 National Defense Authorization Act is a missed opportunity to prevent unauthorized war with Iran and end U.S. participation in Saudi campaign in Yemen  actions supported by bipartisan majorities of both houses of Congress\r\nVIDEO LINK:https://youtu.be/VAXgltjR2Oo\r\nWASHINGTON Today,U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D- N.M.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,spoke on the Senate floor imploring his colleagues to heed the lessons and failures of 18 years of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, end the longest armed conflict in U.S. history, and take action to prevent another unauthorized war with Iran and terminate U.S. support for the horrific Saudi war in Yemen.\r\nUdall's speech follows the Washington Post' release of the Afghanistan Papers, more than 2,000 pages of previously unpublished documents that exposed serious problems with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, including the revelation that senior military and administration officials knew there was no coherent strategy and misled the public and Congress about progress in the war.\r\nThe war in Afghanistan is the longest in U.S. history. But it no longer has a clear purpose,said Udall.These 2,000 pages of interviews and memos from senior military, diplomatic, and White House officials tell a shocking and tragic story. Three separate administrations have had no well-formed mission for the war, but fought on anyway, and repeatedly misled the American public.\r\nThat war has cost 157,000 lives. More than 775,000 American troops have been deployed.2,300 American military personnel have been killed, and more than 20,000 wounded. It has cost the American people over $2 trillion dollars,said Udall.These costs are tragic. Inexcusable.And it's time for this war to end.\r\nDuring his speech, Udall called for a Senate vote on hislegislationcosponsored byU.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.)to responsibly withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The act declares victory in Afghanistan, acknowledging the original objectives have largely been met, sets guidelines for the safe and orderly withdrawal of troops, and repeals the 2001 AUMF once and for all,said Udall. We should have a vote.\r\nDuring his speech, Udall also said that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) represents a missed opportunity to assert congressional war powers, because it does not include abipartisanamendmentthat would prevent the President from entering an unauthorized war in Iran or a bipartisan provision to stop U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen.\r\nI was encouraged earlier this year when the House passed  and a majority of the Senate supported --my amendment to prohibit war with Iran absent Congressional authorization,said Udall.The risk of war with Iran is very real  whether intentionally, or by mistake, miscalculation, or misjudgment.And the President claims he can go to war against Iran without Congressional approval.\r\nThis week the Senate and House conference committee just released their NDAA conference report. I'm deeply disappointed they did not include our amendment.This is a major missed opportunity to take back our authority.A missed opportunity to stop the expansion of war and U.S. interventionism in the Middle East,said Udall.\r\nUdall concluded by urging his colleagues to reassert their authority to declare war in order to prevent endless military conflicts that are unsupported by the American people. This is not a political issue. It's not red or blue. Republican or Democratic.It's constitutional. Everyone here has sworn to uphold the Constitution. We can do so by upholding not running from our constitutional responsibilities,Udall concluded.\r\nThe full text of Udall's remarks as prepared can be found below:\r\nI rise to discuss Congress's ongoing failure to assert our constitutional war powers.\r\nThis failure is the root cause of two pressing concerns that we currently face:\r\nFirst, the seemingly endless U.S. involvement in Middle East wars.\r\nAnd second: the very real possibility that the Trump administration will involve us in more of them.\r\nThe Founders were clear in their intent. The Constitution squarely places the authority to declare war with Congress, and Congress alone.\r\nThe founders did this for good reason. For centuries, European monarchs had drained royal coffers, levied heavy taxes, and lost countless lives in wars that benefitted themselves, not the people.\r\nAs Elbridge Gerry from Massachusetts said during the Constitutional Convention, after another delegate suggested giving this power to the president: [I] never expected to hear in a republic a motion to empower the Executive alone to declare war.\r\nThe founders vested this most consequential power in the legislative branch, so that any decision to go to war would have broad public support.\r\nSince the Republic's beginning, there has been a tension between the Congress and the executive branch regarding the use of this power.\r\nIn the modern era, the balance has been upended. Our ability  and willingness  to effectively check the executive on war powers is dangerously diminished.\r\nCongress has not declared war for any of our major conflicts since World War Two.\r\nBut after the bloody, prolonged, and politically divisive Vietnam War, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution of 1973overriding the veto of President Nixon. That resolution requires Congress to issue an authorization for use of military force, an AUMF.\r\nImmediately after 9/11, a nearly unanimous Congress, myself included, authorized force against the perpetrators  Al Qaeda  and those who harbored them, by which we meant the Taliban government in Afghanistan. The 2001 AUMF authorized the U.S. entering conflict in Afghanistan to root out Al Qaeda.\r\nThe Taliban was then expelled from power. Al Qaeda in Afghanistan has been defeated. Osama bin Laden is dead. And the now 18-year old AUMF has outlived its purpose -- as a stunning Washington Post expose?on the Afghan war has now made clear.\r\nThe war in Afghanistan is the longest in U.S. history. But it no longer has a clear purpose.\r\nThe Washington Post successfully sued for access to previously undisclosed government documents -- dubbed the Afghanistan Papers. These 2,000 pages of interviews and memos from senior military, diplomatic, and White House officials tell a shocking and tragic story. Three separate administrations have had no well-formed mission for the war, but fought on anyway, and repeatedly misled the American public.\r\nAccording to the head of the NATO command in Afghanistan in 2006, There was no coherent long-term strategy there.\r\nThe next NATO commander, Army Lieutenant General Dan McNeill said, I tried to get someone to define for me what winning meant, even before I went over, and nobody could. Nobody would give me a good definition of what it meant. There was no NATO campaign plan  a lot of verbiage and talk, but no plan.\r\nA senior diplomat under President Obama said, If I were to write a book, its [cover] would be: American goes to war without knowing why it does.'\r\nOver and over, senior officials describe the lack of strategic goals.\r\nAll the while, the government lied to the American people, claiming success when there was none.\r\nThat war has cost 157,000 lives. More than 775,000 American troops have been deployed. 2,300 American military personnel have been killed, and more than 20,000 wounded. It has cost the American people over $2 trillion.\r\nThese costs are tragic. Inexcusable. And it's time for this war to end.\r\nBut the executive branch isn't the only branch at fault. Congress has sat back and let the executive stretch the AUMF to the point of breaking. We've ducked the debates. We've ducked the hard votes.\r\nWe need to change that. And we can start with Afghanistan.\r\nIn March, Senator Paul and I introduced the American Forces Going Home After Noble Service Act or AFGHAN Service Act to responsibly pull our troops out of Afghanistan.\r\nThe act: Declares victory in Afghanistan, acknowledging the original objectives have largely been met, sets guidelines for the safe and orderly withdrawal of troops, and repeals the 2001 AUMF once and for all.\r\nWe should have a vote.\r\nBut Afghanistan is just the largest of our ongoing Middle Eastern wars.\r\nThe 9/11 AUMF has been used to justify military ventures all around the world  41 times to justify military action in 14 countries. I voted for this authorization, and I know full well Congress did not intend that.\r\nAnd more unauthorized conflicts are looming on the horizon.\r\nI was encouraged earlier this year when the House passed  and a majority of the Senate supported --my amendment to prohibit war with Iran absent Congressional authorization.\r\nTensions with Iran have grown since the President withdrew from the international agreement preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It's been a year and a half since the President dropped out of that agreement -- claiming he could get a better deal and mounting his maximum pressure strategy.\r\nSince then, we haven't gotten anywhere close to a better deal. But we have gotten close to war.\r\nThis June, we were 10 minutes away from the President calling a strike on Iran. Ten minutes away from military escalation in the Gulf.\r\nWhile the President's maximum pressure campaign has not succeeded in forcing Iran into a better deal, it has succeeded in pushing Iran to breach the nuclear agreement. And it's led to a cycle of violence in the region -- and from Iran -- attacking commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman, moving short-range ballistic missiles into Iraq, threatening U.S. troops and Israel.\r\nSince May, the President has increased troop presence by 14,000 in the Middle East. And, after initially denying it  the Pentagon is considering sending an additional 14,000 troops.\r\nThe risk of war with Iran is very real  whether intentionally, or by mistake, miscalculation, or misjudgment. And the President claims he can go to war against Iran without Congressional approval.\r\nIn September, this body held a historic vote, voting 50 to 40 to include the Udall-Kaine-Paul amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to prohibit funding for war with Iran without Congressional authorization. We took a giant step forward to assert our constitutional authority.\r\nThis amendment was germane and by rule it should have been included in the final Senate NDAA. But the majority leader forced a 60-vote threshold that should not have applied.\r\nNevertheless, the House version did include the prohibition. And with Senate majority support, it should have been included in conference.\r\nThis week the Senate and House conference committee just released their NDAA conference report. I'm deeply disappointed they did not include our amendment. This is a major missed opportunity to take back our authority. A missed opportunity to stop the expansion of war and U.S. interventionism in the Middle East.\r\nAnother terrible missed opportunity is the NDAA's failure to include a provision to eliminate U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's disastrous war in Yemen.\r\nUnder the authority of the 2001 AUMF, our troops are supporting Saudi Arabia in its war against the insurgent Houthi. But the Houthi are also fighting Al Qaeda  the actual target of the 9/11 AUMF. So -- we are fighting a group fighting against Al Qaeda. This is a prime example of the misuse of this authorization.\r\nAnd the human cost is horrific. Since 2015, more than 100,000 people have been killed in Yemen  including more than 12,000 Yemeni civilians. More than 20 million Yemenis need humanitarian aid.\r\nThere is no compelling U.S. national interest in aiding the Saudis in this war. We should not be lending support to a war that the international community recognizes as a humanitarian disaster.\r\nIn April, both houses voted on a bipartisan basis to remove our troops from this conflict unless Congress authorized force. The President vetoed that bipartisan bill.\r\nThe NDAA conference committee missed an opportunity to step up, and direct the President to take us out of the Saudi-Yemen conflict.\r\nAgain, Congress is ducking its duties.\r\nFor too long, Congress has hidden from making the hard decisions, from taking the tough votes. We've deferred to the executive, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike.\r\nThe founders placed this power in our hands for good reason. Those reasons are as sound today as they were two centuries ago.\r\nThis is not a political issue. It's not red or blue. Republican or Democratic. It's constitutional.\r\nEveryone here has sworn to uphold the Constitution. 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