Congress took a step Thursday toward repealing the legislation passed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks that the U.S. has used to justify its use of military action overseas in the years since.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., introduced the measure to remove the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). If the AUMF is indeed erased, Congress would have to vote on whether to continue America's fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), Politico reported.
"The last 16 years, it has become increasingly clear that this AUMF has essentially provided the president, any president, the authority to wage war in perpetuity," Lee said Thursday, according to Politico.
The measure was attached to the fiscal year 2018 defense spending bill. Lee posted this on her Twitter account after the vote in the House Appropriations Committee:
Lee, per Business Insider, was the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force in the days after 9/11.
The AUMF has been used more than 30 times since it was first enacted in 2001. In 2015, Lee called it "a blank check for endless war."
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