Rep. Barbara Lee as House Foreign Affairs Committee Holds Hearing Proposed Iraq Legislation
To this point the only organized expressions of Congressional opinion have occurred in the House.Rep. Barbara Lee has taken the lead on this.
Last month, when the House of Representatives was deliberating on the FY 2015 Defense Appropriations Bill, she offered two amendments aimed at preventing US military intervention in Iraq. While both amendments were defeated, they gained significant support:
Rejected 165-250 Lee (D-CA) amendment to prohibit the use of funds to be used for the purposes of conducting combat operations in Iraq.
Rejected 182-231 Lee (D-CA) amendment to prohibit use of funds to be obligated or expended pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
More recently, Rep. Lee joined with Republican Representative Scott Rigell in circulating a letter to the President encouraging diplomacy and insisting that any use of military force must be debated and authorized by Congress. Eighty members of Congress have signed on. This letter is now re-opened for signers.
See list of signatories and text below:
Dear Mr. President:
We join you and with those in the international community who are expressing grave concern over the rise in sectarian violence in Iraq over the last days and weeks. The consequences of this development are particularly troubling given the extraordinary loss of American lives and expenditure of funds over ten years that was claimed to be necessary to bring democracy, stability and a respect for human rights to Iraq.
We support your restraint to date in resisting the calls for a “quick” and “easy” military intervention, and for your commitment not to send combat troops back to Iraq. We also appreciate your acknowledgement that this conflict requires a political solution, and that military action alone cannot successfully lead to a resolution.
We do not believe any such intervention could be either quick or easy. And, we doubt it would be effective in meeting either humanitarian or strategic goals, and we are certain that it could very well be counter-productive. This is a moment for urgent consultations and engagement with all parties in the region who could bring about a cease fire and launch a dialogue that could lead to a reconciliation of the conflict that is spreading like a conflagration through the region.
Any solution to this complex political crisis can only be achieved through such an effort, and nothing short of that can successfully bring stability to Iraq or the region and only if the process and outcome is inclusive of all segments of the Iraqi population.
As you consider options for U.S. intervention, we write to urge respect for the constitutional requirements for using force abroad. The Constitution vests in Congress the power and responsibility to authorize offensive military action abroad.
The use of military force in Iraq is something the Congress should fully debate and authorize. Members of Congress must consider all the facts and alternatives before we can determine whether military action would contribute to ending this most recent violence, create a climate for political stability, and protect civilians from greater harm.
We stand ready to work with you to this end.
Sincerely,
Justin Amash
Karen Bass
Earl Blumenauer
Julia Brownley
Paul Broun
Cheri Bustos
Michael Capuano
Lois Capps
Tony Cardenas
Andre Carson
Judy Chu
Katherine Clark
Yvette Clarke
Emanuel Cleaver
Steve Cohen
John Conyers
Lloyd Doggett
Anna Eshoo
Peter DeFazio
Rosa DeLauro
Lloyd Doggett
John J. Duncan Jr.
Keith Ellison
Sam Farr
Los Frankel
John Garamendi
Chris Gibson
Alan Grayson
Raul Grijalva
Janice Hahn
Alcee Hastngs
James Himes
Rush Holt
Michael Honda
Jared Huffman
Hakeem Jeffries
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr.
Walter Jones
Marci Kaptur
Kathy Kastor
William Keating
Joseph P. Kennedy III
Ann McLane Kuster
John. B. Larson
Barbara Lee
Sheila Jackson Lee
John Lewis
Zoe Lofgren
Alan Lowenthal
Stephen Lynch
Carolyn Maloney
Thomas Massie
Jim McDermott
Betty McCollum
Gloria McLeod
James McGovern
Michael Michaud
George Miller
James P. Moran
Jerrold Nadler
Grace Napolitano
Rchard Neal
Richard P. Nolan
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Beto O’Rourke
Fran Palllone
Ed Pastor
Dnald Payne
Colin Peterson
Chellie Pingree
Mark Pocan
Charles Rangel
Reid Ribble
Scott E. Rigell
Bobby Rush
Matt Salmon
John Sarbanes
Kurt Schrader
Robert C. “Bobby” Scott
Jose Serrano
Krysten Sinema
Louise Slaughter
Jackie Speier
Mike Takano
John Tierney
Bennie Thompson
Niki Tsongas
Nydia Velazquez
Maxine Waters
Peter Welch
