On Wednesday, for the first time in nearly 16 years, the Senate debated an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) measure that, if enacted, would have rescinded the 2001 and 2002 war resolutions that codified the generational struggle that is the war on terrorism. The amendment, which would give Congress six months to craft a new and updated AUMF more in tune with today’s strategic environment, was offered by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and attached to the annual National Defense Authorization Act—a bill that is widely categorized in Washington as one of the only must-pass pieces of legislation in town.
While the amendment went down in a 61-36 vote after a short floor debate on Wednesday, Paul’s stubbornness on this issue for so many years has been, and unfortunately remains, the only mechanism pushing fellow senators to do the bare minimum expected of them by voters and our men and women in uniform: debate and vote on whether to wage war.
