Letter to Speaker Ryan Requesting a New AUMF Against ISIS be Passed before the House Adjourns

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The Honorable Paul D. Ryan
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-237 U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

The shocking and barbaric terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Paris by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on November 13th made one thing clear:  the Administration’s current effort to fight and destroy this aggressive terrorist organization is not working.

Many of us have raised very serious concerns with the President’s ineffective and feckless AUMF proposal from earlier this year, along with the manner in which the Administration is executing this fight and shoe-horning the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs. The fact remains that even if the Administration refuses to define the enemy for whom and what they are – radical Islamist terrorists – we must fulfill our responsibilities as Congress.

There are real consequences to not having a current AUMF on the battlefield.  Recently, Naseer Nouri, a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying that most Iraqis believe the Iranian-driven propaganda which claims that the U.S. is supporting ISIS.  In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on December 1, General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified that “we are technically not at war.”  While we are parsing words, ISIS is beheading journalists, killing Christians, bringing down airliners and holding cities full of civilians hostage.  A new, congressionally-passed AUMF will clarify and strengthen the U.S.’s position with our allies in the region.

Mr. Speaker, the United States has demonstrated a tactical effectiveness in combating terrorist threats in the past, yet what is missing is the strategic guidance and authorization specific to ISIS.  The failure to do so is no less than an invitation to the metastasizing enemy of ISIS to attack our homeland.  There is no time to waste.  Congress must not go home for the holidays without passing a new AUMF.   

The President’s failure to do his job doesn’t prohibit Congress from doing ours. It is past time for this Administration to aggressively confront and destroy ISIS. It is for these reasons; Congress must unequivocally declare ISIS and its affiliates as enemies of the United States and authorize a decisive and robust AUMF to destroy them.

With urgency,