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Congress Alert

House Members Make the Case for Ending US Participation in the War on Yemen

Wednesday October 11, 2017

Three members of the United States House of Representatives wrote in a Tuesday editorial at the New York Times about their legislation (H.Con.Res. 81) that would use the authority of Congress under the War Powers Resolution to end US participation in the war in Yemen. In the editorial, the representatives — Ro Khanna (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Walter Jones (R-NC) — also describe key US participation in the war as well as the war’s devastating consequences.
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Rep. John Duncan: Shut Off the Afghanistan War Money Spigot

Tuesday September 19, 2017

Speaking this month on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) sharply criticized the Afghanistan War, declaring that the war “has always been about money — increased appropriations for the Defense Department and huge profits for the contractors, which hire retired admirals and generals.”
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Ron Paul: More Work Ahead to Repeal Old War Authorizations

Thursday September 14, 2017

On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) amendment that would repeal authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs) from 2001 and 2002 that successive presidents have perversely used to justify just about any military action a president wants to pursue across the world was tabled in the United States Senate by a vote of 61 to 36. This procedural vote prevented a vote on the actual bill and thus is in line with the Congress’ year-after-year practice of deferring to the executive branch regarding war instead of fulfilling the legislative branch’s constitutional power regarding the matter.
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New Senate Intelligence Authorization Bill Includes Language Threatening WikiLeaks

Tuesday August 22, 2017

The Senate Intelligence Authorization Act (SB 1761), introduced Friday by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and already approved by the committee, concludes with a one sentence section — Section 623 — that appears to threaten WikiLeaks with potential harsh actions. The section categorizes the news organization, which helps expose information obtained from whistleblowers, as resembling "a non-state hostile intelligence service."
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Rep. John Duncan, Conservative Peace Proponent, Will Not Seek Reelection to US House

Tuesday August 1, 2017

Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) announced on Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2018 to the United States House of Representatives. In addition to being one of the longest-serving Republican members of the House (representing the second district of Tennessee since 1988), Duncan, who argues that being antiwar is a conservative position, is also one of the House’s strongest proponents for peace.

In his April of 2015 editorial “A Return to The Peace Party,” Duncan lamented the Republican Party drifting toward being a war-supporting party and argued that it should revert to its past position as the peace party. “When I was a teenager,” Duncan wrote, “I remember reading a publication from the Republican National Committee that said, ‘Democrats start wars, Republicans end them.’” Duncan wrote in the editorial that he not only thought the party’s shift toward hawkishness is wrong but also declared, “I think it is a recipe for defeat if my Republican party becomes known as a party favoring permanent, forever wars—war without end.”
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House Passes New Russia Sanctions, Pumps Adrenaline Into Cold War 2.0

Tuesday July 25, 2017

Late this afternoon the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed HR 3364, the "Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act." The vote was 419-3, with the only nays coming from Republicans Justin Amash (R-MI), John Duncan (R-TN), and Thomas Massie (R-KY). 

The bill adds additional sanctions on Russia as punishment for the as-yet-unproven claims that Moscow somehow interfered in US elections to help secure a victory for Donald Trump. It also seeks to punish Russia for its supposed involvement in Ukraine -- ignoring that unrest in Ukraine stems from the US-initiated coup against the democratically elected government of Yanukovich in 2014.

The legislation ties the president's hands in an unprecedented way, as should Trump decide in the course of his Constitutional authority as Executive to pursue a foreign policy requiring the canceling of sanctions he is not free to do so. He must write to Congress asking permission to end the sanctions and give convincing reason why Congress should agree. Congress then has 30 days to consider the President's request during which time he is forbidden from taking any action on the matter.
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Rep. Walter Jones to President Trump: 'Get Us Out of Afghanistan!'

Friday July 21, 2017

Dear Mr. President: Many of us in the U.S. House of Representatives believe we have been denied our sacred duty to debate and declare war. You could say that I am disappointed by this. Disappointed because after 16 years in Afghanistan, Congress deserves another vote on this conflict. Disappointed because almost $1 trillion of taxpayers’ money has been spent with no direct goal or strategy. And most importantly, I am disappointed because we continue to lose American lives.


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US Senate to Take Off Less Time from Abusing Our Rights

Tuesday July 11, 2017

Each year we could look forward to the traditional August recess for some relief from legislators in Washington, DC passing more laws to grow government at the expense of liberty. Not so much this year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday that this summer the United States Senate will stay in session for the first two weeks of its planned August recess.


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