11 October 2002

Congress Authorizes Military Force, if Needed, to Disarm Iraq, October 11, 2002

(Senate joins House in strong approval of war powers measure)

By Ralph Dannheisser Washington File Congressional Correspondent

Washington -- The U.S. Congress has authorized President Bush to mount unilateral U.S. military action against Saddam Hussein's regime if other approaches fail to force Iraq to disarm.

Final action came in the form of a 77-23 vote by the Senate in the early morning hours October 11.

That followed a 296-133 vote in favor of the same resolution by the House of Representatives the previous afternoon.

The pair of votes marked a major victory for the Bush administration, which has been insisting for months that the president must have the authority to act in the face of a real and growing threat that Iraq would use its existing biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction against the United States or its friends and allies, could arm terrorist groups, and might soon add nuclear weapons to its arsenal.

Bush greeted the congressional action by declaring, "The days of Iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end."

"The Congress has spoken clearly to the international community and the United Nations Security Council," the president said. "Saddam and his outlaw regime pose a grave threat to the region, the world and the United States. Inaction is not an option, disarmament is a must."

His statement came against the background of continuing U.S. efforts to gain passage of a tough new disarm-or-else resolution by the Security Council -- an effort that thus far is being resisted by some members, notably France and Russia.

Final action in the Senate was foreshadowed when its members decided, by a 75-25 vote, to cut short extended debate on the issue that had been mounted by opponents of the war powers resolution led by Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the chamber's senior Democrat. "Let us not give this president, or any president, unchecked power," Byrd had appealed to his colleagues.

Forty-eight of the 49 Senate Republicans supported Bush on the final roll call, with only Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island dissenting. Among Democrats the vote was a relatively narrow 29-21 in favor -- with even many of those voting to authorize action by Bush, should he choose to take it, expressing concern over the potential impact of a preemptive, unilateral strike on Iraq.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (Democrat, New York) called her vote to grant the authority "probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make." But she said she had decided that bipartisan support would make U.S. success at the United Nations "more likely, and therefore, war less likely."

Senator Edward Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) opposed the resolution, saying that too many unanswered questions about a possible war remained. Not the least, "we have very little understanding about the full implications in terms of an exit strategy," he told reporters.

Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona), broadly respected on defense issues, was among the near-unanimous group of Republicans in both the House and Senate who favored the measure. He said Saddam Hussein's "defiance, if not ended, is a threat to every nation that claims membership in the civilized world by virtue of its respect for law and fundamental human values."

It was a floor statement by Senate Majority (Democratic) Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota that set the stage for certain passage of the resolution. Daschle, who had previously expressed his doubts about the measure, said he now supported it and told his colleagues, "I believe it is important for America to speak with one voice at this critical moment."

Daschle indicated he had been won over by changes in the wording of the resolution, made in the course of weeks of negotiations with the administration, which narrowed its impact somewhat.

The version finally approved by Congress still authorizes the president to use U.S. military forces "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate" to defend the nation against "the continuing threat posed by Iraq" and to enforce all "relevant" Security Council resolutions on Iraq. While it emphasizes the need to work with the United Nations in pursuit of a diplomatic resolution, it leaves Bush with broad latitude to employ unilateral military force if he deems it necessary.