As U.S. Sends More Troops to Iraq, McGovern Calls on Congress to Vote on War Authorization for Mission Against ISIS

Washington, DC, April 19, 2016

With this week’s announcement that the U.S. will send more than 200 additional troops to Iraq and send eight Apache helicopters for the first time in the mission to defeat ISIS, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) called on Congress to finally vote on an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) for the nearly two-year war.

Congressman McGovern has been a leading voice calling for Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty to vote on a war authorization for the fight against ISIS, forcing a debate on the House floor last year and continuing to keep the issue in the national spotlight.

With this latest troop escalation, the official number of U.S. troops in Iraq will total more than 4,000. And with hundreds more in the country who are not counted on the official rolls, the real number of U.S. troops in Iraq is over 5,000, according to defense officials.

Click here for video of today’s speech.

Text of Congressman McGovern’s Floor Speech is Below:

“Drip, drip, drip, M. Speaker.  That’s the sound of U.S. escalation in Syria and Iraq.  Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that the U.S. will send 217 additional troops to Iraq, pushing the official number of U.S. troops there to more than 4,000.  Mainly Army Special Forces, they will be embedded with Iraqi brigades and battalions. They will be stationed close to front lines. They will include trainers and maintenance crews for the new deployment of Apache helicopters.

“More U.S. commandos could also head to Syria, bolstering the roughly 50 special operations forces advising and training rebel forces on the ground.

“Just when is the House going to debate and vote on an authorization for deploying U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria?  When is the House going to debate these escalations that add more firepower and put more U.S. troops close to the front lines?

“Our troops carry out their constitutional duties.  When will Congress act and carry out its constitutional responsibility? The American people are tired of endless wars. And putting these wars on remote control – with no debate and no votes – is shameful.”

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