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U.S. Senators Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., are calling on Senators to end the 2002 use of force resolution against Iraq.
The Senators -- both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee -- believe that the 2002 resolution is outdated and that President Bush should make the case to the country to support any extended military action in Iraq.
"The 2002 authorization to use force has run its course. It is time, past time, to decommission this authorization and retire it to the archives. If the President has more that he wants to do in Iraq, then he needs to make that case to Congress and to the American public," Byrd said in Senate debate today. "The President must redefine the goals and submit his plan to achieve them to a thorough and open debate in the Congress and throughout the country. That is the American way. Success will elude us without the support of the people whose sons and daughters are being asked to die in the sands of Iraq."
"The American people have called for change, the facts on the ground demand change, the Congress has passed legislation to require change. It is time to sunset the authorization for the war in Iraq. If the president will not bring himself to accept reality, it is time for Congress to bring reality to him," said Senator Clinton on the Senate floor.
The Byrd-Clinton legislation would sunset the outdated 2002 use of force resolution at its five-year anniversary, on October 11, 2007. Byrd and Clinton would give President Bush the opportunity to return to Congress to make the case for the "new mission" in Iraq, a mission that Congress and the American people would then have to approve.
Ending the 2002 use of force resolution in October gives the Bush Administration the time it says it needs for its new security efforts, while giving the country and the Congress the ability to evaluate its success and decide on a future course.
"A fresh start could change the dynamic in this country. We need a new mission which makes clear the changed role of our troops. We need a diplomatic component to the plan which might encourage the national reconciliation so badly needed to quell the violence in Iraq. We need a plan to reach out to other countries in the area who share our interest in seeking stability in Iraq. But first we need to clear the cobwebs and the confusion caused by a grant of authority that no longer has any relevance to the present condition of Iraq," Byrd stated. ###
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