Senators Clinton, Byrd call to 'sunset the authorization for the war in Iraq'
Josh Catone
May 3, 2007
This is an excellent idea...and I wish Sen. Byrd and Sen. Clinton much success.
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), said today that he would introduce legislation that would cause the 2002 Iraq war authorization to expire on October 11, 2007, the fifth anniversary of when it was passed.
Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) joined Byrd in supporting the "sunset" legislation.
"President Bush marked the fourth anniversary of his announcement that 'major combat operations in Iraq have ended' by vetoing war funding legislation because he claimed that it limited his ability to prosecute a war unconditionally and indefinitely," said Byrd, in remarks delivered on the Senate floor. "He was wrong in 2002 when he sought authorization to go to war and he is wrong today."
Byrd proposed that October 11, 2007 would become the "expiration date for the 2002 authorization, and that the President seek a new authorization from the elected representatives of the people in Congress."
The senator would put the onus on the president to clearly establish his goals for operations in Iraq in order to seek a new war authorization.
