Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 114 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 114 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 161 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015 No. 182 House of Representatives The House met at noon and was MORNING-HOUR DEBATE AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF called to order by the Speaker pro tem- MILITARY FORCE pore (Mr. KELLY of Mississippi). The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- f ant to the order of the House of Janu- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ary 6, 2015, the Chair will now recog- Chair recognizes the gentleman from DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO nize Members from lists submitted by North Carolina (Mr. JONES) for 5 min- TEMPORE the majority and minority leaders for utes. The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- morning-hour debate. fore the House the following commu- Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago nication from the Speaker: The Chair will alternate recognition when Secretary of Defense Ash Carter WASHINGTON, DC, between the parties, with each party testified before the House Armed Serv- December 15, 2015. limited to 1 hour and each Member ices Committee, I asked him if Con- I hereby appoint the Honorable TRENT other than the majority and minority gress’ debating and voting on an Au- KELLY to act as Speaker pro tempore on this thorization for Use of Military Force, day. leaders and the minority whip limited PAUL D. RYAN, to 5 minutes, but in no event shall de- Speaker of the House of Representatives. bate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. NOTICE If the 114th Congress, 1st Session, adjourns sine die on or before December 24, 2015, a final issue of the Congres- sional Record for the 114th Congress, 1st Session, will be published on Thursday, December 31, 2015, to permit Members to insert statements. 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Members of the House of Representatives’ statements may also be submitted electronically by e-mail, to accompany the signed statement, and formatted according to the instructions for the Extensions of Remarks template at https://housenet.house.gov/legislative/research-and-reference/transcripts-and-records/electronic-congressional-record-inserts. The Official Reporters will transmit to GPO the template formatted electronic file only after receipt of, and authentication with, the hard copy, and signed manuscript. Deliver statements to the Official Reporters in Room HT–59. Members of Congress desiring to purchase reprints of material submitted for inclusion in the Congressional Record may do so by contacting the Office of Congressional Publishing Services, at the Government Publishing Office, on 512– 0224, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. By order of the Joint Committee on Printing. GREGG HARPER, Chairman. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H9309 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Dec 16, 2015 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 8633 E:\CR\FM\A15DE7.000 H15DEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H9310 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE December 15, 2015 an AUMF, would help in the cause of gion, but we do share the belief that it is We firmly believe that among the most im- defeating ISIL. Secretary Carter said it past time for the Congress to fulfill its obli- portant duties of Congress is that of debat- would be helpful because we would need gations under the Constitution and vote on ing and voting on whether to send U.S. to show the troops that Congress sup- an AUMF that clearly delineates the author- armed forces into battle. On this matter, the ity and limits, if any, on U.S. military en- Constitution is crystal clear: it is the duty of ports them. gagement in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding Congress to authorize such engagement. We Two weeks ago, the Obama adminis- region. U.S. bombing campaigns have been believe that it violates our oath of office to tration announced that it would be going on for more than a year, and U.S. continue to ignore this urgent and serious sending an expeditionary force into troops on the ground have been increasingly matter. Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS. In his col- close to or drawn into combat operations, in- Ten months ago, the president sent a draft umn last week entitled ‘‘Obama’s Quiet cluding the recent death in combat of a spe- AUMF to Congress for consideration and last Shift in War on ISIS,’’ syndicated col- cial operations soldier in Iraq. Sunday he called, once again, on Congress to Consistent with your pledge to return to approve a new AUMF. It is now the role of umnist Doyle McManus wrote: ‘‘If the regular order, we urge you to direct the com- the Speaker to direct the committee of juris- first expeditionary forces succeed, as mittees of jurisdiction to draft and report diction to approve the Administration’s their record suggests they will, they out an AUMF as soon as possible. We do not draft, or to amend it, or to draft a new will almost surely be followed by believe in the illusion of a consensus author- version of the AUMF and to schedule that more.’’ I completely agree with Mr. ization, something that only happens rarely. resolution for consideration and a vote by McManus. We do believe the Congress can no longer ask the full House as expeditiously as possible. our brave service men and women to con- Mr. Speaker, on November 6, my col- Once again, we strongly urge you to bring tinue to serve in harm’s way while we fail in an AUMF before the House in January 2016 league JIM MCGOVERN and I, along with carrying out our constitutional responsi- so that the House may debate and vote on 33 of our colleagues, wrote a letter to bility in the area of war and peace. authorizing U.S. military operations in Iraq, Speaker RYAN urging him to allow de- As long as the House fails to assert its con- Syria and elsewhere against the Islamic bate on an AUMF on the House floor. stitutional prerogatives and authority, the State. We look forward to receiving your re- We never received a response. Last Administration may continue to expand the sponse. mission and level of engagement of U.S. Sincerely, week, JIM and I wrote Speaker RYAN Armed Forces throughout the region. We another letter urging him to allow a JAMES P. MCGOVERN, strongly urge you, Mr. Speaker, to bring an Member of Congress. debate on the AUMF on the House floor AUMF to the floor of the House as quickly as WALTER B. JONES, as one of the first actions Congress possible. Member of Congress. takes when we come back in January Sincerely, Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, if we do not 2016. James P. McGovern; Tom Cole; Barbara meet our responsibility, we will be- Mr. Speaker, President Obama con- Lee; Walter B. Jones; Peter Welch; come complicit in the loss of life tinues to escalate our involvement John Lewis; Bill Posey; John Abney Culberson; Ryan K. Zinke; Richard L. among our troops. How many young against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Our Hanna; Thomas Massie; Ted S. Yoho; children will have a loved one that fight with ISIS isn’t going away any Ed Whitfield; Dana Rohrabacher; Jus- doesn’t come home from fighting for time soon, which is why it is high time tin Amash; Mark Sanford; Paul A. this country? Congress fulfills its constitutional duty Gosar; Mick Mulvaney; John J. Dun- The picture here, Mr. Speaker, is the can, Jr.; Matt Salmon; Rau´ l R. Lab- and debates our role in the Middle first one that I brought after we went East. As James Madison said: ‘‘The rador; Janice D. Schakowsky; Peter A. DeFazio; Charles B. Rangel; Louise M. into an unnecessary war known as Iraq. power to declare war, including the His daddy, Phillip Jordan, was a gun- power of judging the causes of war, is Slaughter; Janice Hahn; Joseph P. Kennedy; Michael C. Burgess; Chellie nery sergeant who was killed in 2003. fully and exclusively vested in the leg- Pingree; John Garamendi; Joseph The little boy’s name is Tyler Jordan. islature.’’ The most important vote by Crowley; David N. Cicilline; John Con- This is actually 12 years ago, and now a Member of Congress is to commit a yers, Jr.; Beto O’Rourke; Daniel T. Kil- he is 18 years of age. How many more young man or woman to fight and die dee. children will have to go without a fa- for this country.