Walter B. Jones Restoring Power to Congress Act Would Repeal the 2001 AUMF

by | Feb 15, 2019

Walter B. Jones Restoring Power to Congress Act Would Repeal the 2001 AUMF

by | Feb 15, 2019

In his work opposing United States wars overseas, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), before his death Sunday, put much effort into seeking a repeal of the 2001 authorization for use of military force (AUMF) that has been used by successive presidents as a basis for intervention and war across the world in the name of fighting terrorism. In the week before Jones’ death, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced the Walter B. Jones Restoring Power to Congress Act (HR 966), with Jones as the original cosponsor, that would repeal that AUMF and thus eliminate a reason used for presidents to intervene overseas without particular congressional approval.

Garamendi spoke fondly of Jones in Garamendi’s press release announcing the introduction of the bill,:

‘Congress has a Constitutional responsibility to debate and declare war, and we have abdicated that responsibility for far too long,’ Garamendi stated. ‘That is why I am introducing this legislation to repeal the 2001 AUMF within one year of enactment, which would provide ample time to debate this important issue in Congress. I am also grateful to recognize the leadership of my dear friend, Walter Jones, who is currently in hospice care. Walter has championed this cause for years, I have worked with him closely on this issue in Congress. I am grateful for his wisdom, passion, and advocacy.’

In March of 2017, Jones and Garamendi spoke in-depth in a C-SPAN interview about their effort to end funding for the US government’s war in Afghanistan. You can read about and watch that interview here.

In that interview, Jones said the 2001 AUMF has helped lead to a situation where “Congress is letting the president determine what is going to be done with our military when we have a constitutional duty to declare whether we want to send our men and women to die for this country or not.”

On Monday, Ron Paul spoke at his Ron Paul Liberty Report about Jones, Paul’s friend and US House of Representatives colleague who was a member of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity’s advisory board. You can watch Paul’s discussion of Jones here.

Republished from ronpaulinstitute.org.

Our Books

Shop books published by the Libertarian Institute.

Podcasts

scotthortonshow logosq

coi banner sq2@0.5x

liberty weekly thumbnail

Don't Tread on Anyone Logo

313x0w (1)

313x0w (1)

313x0w (1)

Our Books

Recent Articles

Recent

America’s Vestigial Constitution

America’s Vestigial Constitution

Does the United States Constitution grant President Donald Trump the power to unilaterally blow up boats of alleged drug smugglers on the high seas? No. “The Congress shall have Power To... To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and...

read more
The Allies Could Have Done More, and Chose Not To

The Allies Could Have Done More, and Chose Not To

Over the last year, a renewed controversy has arisen over the morality of World War II. For the last eighty years, World War II has been sold in the West as "The Good War" in which the United Kingdom and the United States, in spite of committing some war crimes, saved...

read more
Answering Ron Paul’s ‘What If…’ Speech

Answering Ron Paul’s ‘What If…’ Speech

On February 12, 2009, Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) delivered one of his most striking speeches on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Since referred to as the “What If…” speech, Paul’s remarks offer a precise distillation of the libertarian critique of U.S. foreign...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This