Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on May 22, 2003.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of July 13, 2023, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 71) relating to a national emergency declared by the President on May 22, 2003, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in opposition to the resolution. The Iraq national emergency we are discussing today is the basis for sanctions against Iranian and Iran-backed terrorists who killed Americans and partner forces in Iraq, as well as supporters of al-Qaida. If we overturn this national emergency, these sanctions will automatically and immediately disappear.

This is especially and personally important to me. I am really grateful because my oldest son, Alan, served as field artillery in the Army in Iraq, and my second oldest son, Addison, was a Navy doctor serving in Iraq. They worked for the liberation of the people of Iraq.

Between 2003 and 2011, Iran-backed militias killed over 600 American soldiers serving in Iraq. Since 2018, sanctions issued pursuant to this authority have blocked over $80 million from reaching more than 200 dangerous entities and individuals, including Iran-backed militias, their affiliates, and their supporters.

If we remove these sanctions, that money will help arm the very same people responsible for murdering our troops. Our wounded and fallen soldiers deserve better. Our Gold Star families deserve better. They deserve thoughtful policies that carefully respond to dangerous threats and yield accountability. They do not deserve arbitrary decisions to recklessly overturn sanctions authorities.

As we stand here today, Americans in the region are still on the front lines of Iran's dangerous and murderous aggression. Iran-backed militias are responsible for dozens of attacks against U.S. forces in the region in the past few years.

Examples of individuals who would have sanctions on them removed if this resolution passed are Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani and Abu Dura, IRGC- backed militia leaders who have launched attacks on the United States and British forces in Iraq. It would also remove sanctions on Misha'an al-Juburi, a Syrian who, according to the Department of Treasury, worked with al-Qaida in Iraq's jihadist umbrella organization, the Mujahidin Shura Council, to fund Sunni extremist operations to kill Americans.

Terrorist supporters should not have access to the U.S. financial system, and Americans should not be able to do business with these people who plan to kill Americans.

There is a dangerous message being sent to our enemies if we terminate sanctions programs while those under sanctions openly attack Americans.

President Donald Trump agreed. His administration stood against Iranian-backed terrorists threatening Americans and renewed the Iraq national emergency on four separate occasions.

I urge the Biden administration to engage with Congress in a more open and forthcoming dialogue about its use of these emergency economic powers, and I urge my colleagues to stand up with our troops, with military families, and with Gold Star families to oppose this reckless resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time and the right to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Again, I am grateful for the bipartisan effort with Ranking Member Dean Phillips of Minnesota.

The immediate lifting of sanctions on terrorists who actively threaten

America is unconscionable. These national emergency economic authorities are scoped solely to economic sanctions authorities and are effective in preventing terrorists from accessing the financial networks they need to carry out atrocities against Americans and our allies.

American veterans of service in Iraq should be appreciated for their success in liberating the people of Iraq from a murderous dictator who was appropriately executed. This is a message toward criminal Putin that his invasion of Ukraine, totally unprovoked, will result in justice for his conduct of mass murder.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of my bill today, which would terminate the 2003 national emergency for Iraq. This legislation serves as a much-needed check on the Biden administration and forces Congress to do its job.

The National Emergencies Act was passed in 1976 and was originally enacted in response to Presidents FDR and Truman keeping the country in a perpetual state of emergency as part of their daily governance.

Specifically, section 202 requires Congress to vote on any resolution terminating each national emergency every 6 months: ``Not later than 6 months after a national emergency is declared, and not later than the end of each 6-month period thereafter that such emergency continues, each House of Congress shall meet to consider a vote on a joint resolution to determine whether that emergency shall be terminated.''

In other words, the bill requires Congress to rein in emergency declarations. However, despite this requirement, Congress has never reviewed the national emergency related to Iraq. This is recklessly endangering our Republic, our system of checks and balances, and due process, and it undermines we the people.

The extended national emergency declaration related to Iraq provides the President with broad statutory powers only meant for times of actual emergency, including the power to draft Americans without consent into Active Duty.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are tasked with reviewing dozens of extended national emergency declarations as required by law every 6 months.

It is long past time for Congress to do its job and terminate outdated declarations.

I have personally been deployed to Iraq three times as a Navy SEAL. I am not naive.

U.S. military overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime within 3 weeks of being there, and we killed Saddam Hussein in 2006. We formally declared the end of the Iraq war an December 15, 2011. We should not leave this national declaration for Iraq in place as a green light for the Biden administration to fuel forever wars.

Mr. Speaker, since President Biden has been in office, he is now participating in a new proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and allowed an invasion at our southern border. Spending concerns, constitutional concerns, and concerns regarding the lives of our soldiers are easily and often overlooked by this administration.

Two-thirds of veterans and majorities of military families and the public support full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and a vast majority of the general public, 80 percent, believe our military engagement around the world should be reduced or stay about the same size. Only 6 percent believe we should be more engaged.

The U.S. has many vital national interests--securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, and achieving energy security and independence. Becoming further entangled in forever wars is not one of them.

Just like the Ukraine-Russia war, Americans see no end in sight and no clear strategy to resolve forever wars. This is a clear dereliction of duty, and Congress must act.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 71.

As a Gold Star son who lost his father in the Vietnam war, I understand firsthand the human cost of war. I also know my colleague from Arizona (Mr. Crane) knows that cost, as well, as a veteran of our armed services, and I honor that.

That is why, since I came to Congress, I have worked in a bipartisan fashion to repeal and replace the 2001 AUMF and have consistently supported the repeal of the 2002 Iraq war AUMF, as well. I wish we had been able to get that legislation through the Senate last Congress, but I remain hopeful that we can do so this year.

All of this is to say that I do not have a hawkish position on Iraq, but sanctions and military force are not the same thing. Again, sanctions and military force are not the same thing. Terminating the national emergency with respect to Iraq would trigger the immediate release of currently sanctioned assets of persons who the U.S. Government has determined are a threat to Iraq's stability and reform efforts, including terrorists and others who have committed acts of terrible violence.

This is not an exaggeration. Numerous Shia militia fighters and ISIS terrorists are sanctioned under the Iraq program. The Iraq executive order is reviewed every year. Perhaps it is not a surprise that the Bush administration renewed it annually, and also the Obama administration, even though President Obama formally ended the Iraq war in 2011 and ran for President in part based on his opposition to it.

The Trump administration also renewed the EO every year. Despite President Biden professing his full support of repealing the 2002 AUMF, the Biden administration also has sought to continue the Iraq sanctions program.

As Members can see from successive renewals and the ongoing situation in Iraq, these sanctions target groups and individuals that continue to operate against U.S. interests in Iraq and the region and are closely monitored on an ongoing basis.

We do not want terrorists to access funds to kill civilians and destabilize Iraq or the region, let alone target Americans overseas. It is important for our national security for these sanctions to remain in place, and I strongly urge Members of this body on both sides of the aisle to forcefully and in a bipartisan manner oppose this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, my argument is very simple: We cannot and we must not allow terrorists to obtain assets that could help them perpetuate attacks against their government, against civilians, or against Americans.

I strongly oppose H.J. Res. 71, and I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order at any time through July 20, 2023, to consider the following joint resolutions in the House if called up by the chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, or his designee: H.J. Res. 68, H.J. Res. 70, H.J. Res. 71, or H.J. Res. 74; that each such joint resolution be considered as read; that the previous question be considered as ordered on each such joint resolution to final passage without intervening motion, except for debate as follows:

For H.J. Res. 68, 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by Representative McCaul of Texas, Representative Meeks of New York, and Representative Boebert of Colorado, or their respective designees;

For H.J. Res. 70 and H.J. Res. 74, 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by Representative McCaul of Texas, Representative Meeks of New York, and Representative Gosar of Arizona, or their respective designees; and

For H.J. Res. 71, 30 minutes equally and divided and controlled by Representative McCaul of Texas, Representative Meeks of New York, and Representative Crane of Arizona, or their respective designees; and

That the provisions of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622) shall not apply to each such joint resolution through July 20, 2023.

Mr. Speaker, I missed votes today due to a death in the family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 333, H.J. Res. 68--Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on October 27, 2006, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 334, H.J. Res. 70--Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 25, 2011, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 335, H.J. Res. 74--Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on May 16, 2012, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 336, H.J. Res. 71--Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on May 22, 2003, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 337, H.J. Res. 79--Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on May 11, 2004, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 338, H. Con. Res. 57--Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of Israel.