Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 31 January 2020

House backs measures asserting

congressional war powers

and peace in the midst of rization was approved by The bills sponsored by Lee
the Senate impeachment a 236-166 vote, while the and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-
trial, the Democratic-con- funding measure on Iran Calif., "severely restrict the
trolled House on Thursday passed 228-175. president's authority to pro-
approved measures reas- The actions follow a Jan. 9 tect Americans from ter-
serting congressional au- vote by the House assert- rorist threats and fight ISIS,''
thority over war powers. ing that President Donald Scalise said, referring to the
In separate votes, the Trump must seek approval Islamic State terrorist group.
House passed a proposal from Congress before en- The House bills are unlikely
to repeal the 2002 congres- gaging in further military to move forward in the Re-
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters sional authorization for the action against Iran. publican-controlled Sen-
during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on war in Iraq as well as a plan Democrats said the three ate, and they face veto
charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, at the to prevent tax dollars from measures, taken together, threats from the White
Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. being used to take military would reassert Congress's House.
Associated Press
action against Iran without constitutional author- The White House said re-
By MATTHEW DALY WASHINGTON (AP) — Re- congressional approval. ity in questions of war and peal of the 2002 war autho-
Associated Press focusing a debate on war Repeal of the 2002 autho- peace and sending Ameri- rization would undermine
can forces into harm's way. the president's ability to
"For far too long, Congress defend U.S. forces and in-
has been missing in ac- terests in the region against
tion on matters of war and threats from Iran and Irani-
peace," said Rep. Barbara an-sponsored proxies. The
Lee, D-Calif, who spon- White House also said it
sored the measure repeal- would "embolden our ene-
ing 2002 war authorization. mies with the recognizable
She called the repeal vote goal of outlasting us.''
long overdue. "It is time to Khanna said his measure
end giving blank checks would not prevent the
to any president to wage president from acting to
endless wars,'' she said. defend U.S. interests, but
Noting that presidents from says Congress must autho-
both parties have used the rize spending U.S. resources
"outdated" 2002 resolution on any military action.
to justify military action in "It's high time Congress re-
the Middle East, Lee said asserted our power of the
leaving the resolution in purse and made clear to
place "is not only danger- any president that they
ous but irresponsible." must come to us first be-
Republicans said Lee and fore taking any offensive
fellow Democrats were the military action. War should
ones acting irresponsibly. always be a last resort," he
"After President Trump took said.
decisive action to take out The House approved a
a brutal Iranian terrorist re- nonbinding resolution Jan.
sponsible for the deaths of 9 asserting that Trump
hundreds of Americans, must seek approval from
Democrats now seek to Congress before engag-
restrain our president and ing in further military action
restrict his ability to protect against Iran. The vote fol-
our nation,'' said Louisiana lowed a Jan. 3 U.S. drone
Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. strike that killed a top Ira-
2 House Republican. nian general in Iraq.q