IA 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 52 

To repeal and replace the Authorization for Use of Military Force. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2023 

Mr. MEEKS (for himself, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. DEAN

of Pennsylvania, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. CROW, and Mr. CARSON) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on 

Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

To repeal and replace the Authorization for Use of Military 

Force. 

Whereas the Constitution vests Congress with the sole authority to declare war and authorize the use of military 

force; 

Whereas Congress has not updated the Authorization for Use 

of Military Force (Public Law 107–40; 115 Stat. 224; 50 

U.S.C. 1541 note) since it was enacted into law seven 

days after the attacks of September 11, 2001; 

Whereas the Authorization for Use of Military Force has 

been expanded to authorize the use of military force 


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against entities that did not exist at the time of those attacks; 

Whereas the United States remains ready to defend itself, 

when necessary, against armed attack, or the imminent 

threat of such an attack, by foreign terrorist groups; and 

Whereas Congress recognizes that the members of the United 

States Armed Forces and all other Americans deserve to 

know whether the deployment of the Armed Forces for 

the use of military force under a congressional authorization remains necessary and aligned with current threats: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Authoriza5 tion for Use of Military Force Resolution of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF EXISTING AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF 

7 MILITARY FORCE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Authorization for Use of 

9 Military Force (Public Law 107–40; 115 Stat. 224; 50 

10 U.S.C. 1541 note) is hereby repealed. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

12 on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this joint resolution. 

14 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent necessary to 

2 defend against a direct and substantial armed attack 

3 against the United States or a threat of such armed 

4 attack by any of the entities described in paragraph 

5 (2), the President is authorized to use necessary and 

6 appropriate force against such entities. 

7 (2) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—The entities de8 scribed in this paragraph are the following: 

9 (A) The al Qaeda organization that is 

10 based in Afghanistan. 

11 (B) The Islamic State Khorasan organiza12 tion that is based in Afghanistan. 

13 (C) The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 

14 that is based in Iraq and Syria. 

15 (b) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION.— 

17 Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers 

18 Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), Congress de19 clares that subsection (a) is intended to constitute 

20 specific statutory authorization within the meaning 

21 of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution (50 

22 U.S.C. 1544(b)). 

23 (2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIRE24 MENTS.—Nothing in this joint resolution supersedes 


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1 any requirement of the War Powers Resolution (50 

2 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.). 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY IN CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

4 The authority provided in subsection (a)— 

5 (1) may not be construed to cease to apply with 

6 respect to an entity described in such subsection if 

7 the entity adopts a different name than the name 

8 specified in such subsection if— 

9 (A) the President notifies the appropriate 

10 congressional committees and leadership not 

11 later than 60 days after determining that the 

12 name has changed; and 

13 (B) the President determines that the enti14 ty has the same leadership, membership, and 

15 mission and continues to pose a direct and sub16 stantial threat of armed attack against the 

17 United States as the entity had at the time of 

18 the name change; 

19 (2) shall not apply to an entity that emerges as 

20 a result of a division of an entity described in such 

21 subsection, unless the President certifies to the ap22 propriate congressional committees and leadership 

23 not later than 60 days after determining that a divi24 sion occurred that— 


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1 (A) the entity that emerged has the same 

2 basic characteristics as the entity from which it 

3 formed as a result of division, including with re4 spect to its leadership, membership, and mis5 sion; 

6 (B) the entity that emerged retains the in7 tent and capability of posing a direct and sub8 stantial threat of armed attack the United 

9 States; and 

10 (C) the use of force against the entity that 

11 emerged remains necessary to respond to such 

12 threat of armed attack; and 

13 (3) shall not apply to an entity that is not de14 scribed in such subsection, whether or not the entity 

15 is involved in an armed conflict against a force of a 

16 United States ally or partner or is an affiliate, asso17 ciated force, or successor entity of an entity de18 scribed in such subsection. 

19 (d) SOLE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of law, the authority provided in sub21 section (a) shall be the sole statutory authority to use 

22 force or direct the use of force against the entities to which 

23 such subsection applies. No additional authority to use 

24 force or direct the use of force against the entities to which 

25 subsection (a) applies shall be inferred from any provision 


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1 of law (whether or not in effect before the date of the en2 actment of this joint resolution), including any provision 

3 contained in any appropriation Act, unless such provision 

4 specifically provides for authority to use force or direct 

5 the use of force against the entities to which subsection 

6 (a) applies and states that it is intended to constitute ad7 ditional authority within the meaning of this joint resolu8 tion. 

9 (e) TREATY COMMITMENTS, LAW OF ARMED CON10 FLICT, AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF STATES.—The 

11 authority provided in subsection (a) shall not be used in 

12 a manner inconsistent with the treaty obligations of the 

13 United States, the law of armed conflict, or in countries 

14 from which there is no armed attack emanating. 

15 (f) REPORT PURSUANT TO WAR POWERS RESOLU16 TION.—Any use of force against an entity that is not de17 scribed in subsection (a) or otherwise authorized by stat18 ute shall be reported to the Speaker of the House of Rep19 resentatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 

20 as an introduction into hostilities pursuant to section 

21 4(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, and shall be subject 

22 to the requirements of the War Powers Resolution as such. 

23 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

24 on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enact25 ment of this joint resolution. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this joint resolution, and annually 

4 thereafter for four years, the Secretary of Defense, the 

5 Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, 

6 the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the 

7 heads of any other relevant Federal departments and 

8 agencies shall jointly submit to the appropriate congres9 sional committees and leadership a report on the exercise 

10 of the authority provided in section 3(a). The initial report 

11 required by this subsection shall address the time period 

12 since the date of the enactment of this joint resolution 

13 and each subsequent report required by this subsection 

14 shall address the time period since the date of submission 

15 of the most recent prior report required by this subsection. 

16 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re17 quired by subsection (a) shall including the following: 

18 (1) For each entity against which the United 

19 States conducted activities pursuant to this joint 

20 resolution: 

21 (A) A description of any force used against 

22 such entity, the timeframes and geographic 

23 areas within countries in which such force was 

24 used, whether or not each such area is des25 ignated an area of active hostilities, and the 

26 legal and factual basis for determining that the 


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1 authority provided in this joint resolution ap2 plied with respect to the force used against such 

3 entity, including the United States constitu4 tional and statutory basis and whether such use 

5 is consistent with the obligations of the United 

6 States under its treaty obligations and the law 

7 of armed conflict. 

8 (B) The domains, including land, sea, air, 

9 cyber, space, or any other domains, in which 

10 operations were conducted against such entity, 

11 the nature of these operations, and whether 

12 such operations were conducted remotely. 

13 (C) Lists and descriptions of any oper14 ations against high value targets, any sensitive 

15 military operations (as such term is defined in 

16 section 130f of title 10, United States Code), 

17 and any sensitive military cyber operations (as 

18 such term is defined in section 395 of title 10, 

19 United States Code) conducted with respect to 

20 such entity. 

21 (D) Whether any force used against such 

22 entity was a function of deliberate or dynamic 

23 targeting and the number of combatant casual24 ties, disaggregated by country, in connection 

25 with force used. 


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1 (E) Assessments of the extent to which 

2 such entity posed a direct and substantial 

3 threat of an armed attack against the United 

4 States at the time force was used, the extent to 

5 which such entity continues to pose such a 

6 threat, and whether the force used against such 

7 entity helped to protect against such threat, in8 cluding the metrics used for such assessments. 

9 (F) Whether and to what extent such enti10 ty used force against United States forces. 

11 (2) An identification and description of the in12 volvement of any multilateral forces, multilateral or13 ganizations, ally or partner countries, or ally or 

14 partner forces in activities conducted pursuant to 

15 this joint resolution, including a description of any 

16 United States activities related to training, equip17 ping, advising, assisting, or accompanying any ally 

18 or partner force with respect to activities against en19 tity covered in section 3(a), including identification 

20 of each such ally or partner force, each entity cov21 ered under section 3(a) against with such ally or 

22 partner force engaged in armed conflict, and any 

23 other entity against which such ally or partner force 

24 engaged in armed conflict. 


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1 (3) A description of the civilian casualties re2 sulting from activities conducted pursuant to this 

3 joint resolution, including for each such entity the 

4 number of civilian casualties, disaggregated by coun5 try, in connection with force used by the United 

6 States against such entity, as determined by— 

7 (A) the United States Government; and 

8 (B) credible and reliable nongovernmental 

9 entities. 

10 (4) An explanation for the differences, if any, 

11 between the number of civilian casualties reported 

12 pursuant to paragraph (3)(A) and the number of ci13 vilian casualties reported pursuant to paragraph 

14 (3)(B), the standard of proof the United States gov15 ernment used to make its assessment and its criteria 

16 for distinguishing between combatants and civilians. 

17 (5) Descriptions of the mechanisms used to pre18 vent, limit, investigate, and mitigate civilian harm in 

19 connection with any force used against such entity, 

20 including descriptions of any ex gratia payments by 

21 the United States to those harmed as a result of 

22 United States, allied, partnered, or coalition oper23 ations. 

24 (6) An assessment of whether any ally or part25 ner force with which the United States conducts 


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1 joint operations under this authorization may have 

2 violated the law of armed conflict, including in its 

3 involvement in detention operations, during the time 

4 period since submittal of the most recent report pur5 suant to this section and a description of the steps 

6 the United States is taking to address any such vio7 lations. 

8 (7) A description of the diplomatic, develop9 ment, and humanitarian objectives, strategy, and ac10 tivities by which the United States intends to reduce 

11 extremism, violence, and fragility relative to each 

12 such entity in order to create the conditions for the 

13 end of use of United States military force against 

14 such entity, including the following: 

15 (A) How the United States has and plans 

16 to— 

17 (i) create or improve inclusive, trans18 parent, and accountable power structures, 

19 including effective, legitimate, and resilient 

20 national and sub-national institutions; 

21 (ii) promote strong foundations for 

22 human rights, rule of law, and equal access 

23 to justice; 

24 (iii) build resilience among relevant 

25 segments of the local population to resist 


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1 terrorist radicalization and recruitment 

2 and violent extremist ideology by address3 ing their appeal; and 

4 (iv) support peacebuilding and conflict 

5 resolution efforts, including through en6 gagement with local civil society. 

7 (B) The roles of each relevant Federal de8 partment or agency in the activities described in 

9 subparagraph (A). 

10 (C) How the use of force by the United 

11 States and any ally or partner force against en12 tities covered in section 3(a) in such country af13 fects achievement of the objectives outlined this 

14 paragraph. 

15 (D) The outcome metrics used to assess 

16 progress towards the objectives described in this 

17 paragraph and an assessment of progress on 

18 each such metric. 

19 (E) A strategy to sustain political, secu20 rity, and development gains relative to each 

21 such entity once the United States no longer 

22 uses force against such entity. 

23 (8) A comprehensive and current description, 

24 both for the reporting period and in aggregate as of 

25 the date of submittal, of— 


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1 (A) amounts expended by the United 

2 States for and in support of military operations 

3 and other activities pursuant to this joint reso4 lution; and 

5 (B) United States military personnel, 

6 United States civilian personnel, and United 

7 States contractors involved in activities against 

8 such entity, including the numbers located in 

9 each foreign country, their missions, and as10 sessments of progress towards completing those 

11 missions during the reporting period, as well as 

12 the outcome metrics used to assess such 

13 progress. 

14 (9) A description of any other force that was 

15 used or any other significant activities that were 

16 conducted in connection with the authority provided 

17 in this joint resolution, as well as any other matters 

18 the President may consider appropriate. 

19 (c) FORM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report required by sub21 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form. 

22 (2) CLASSIFIED FORM.—The report required by 

23 subsection (a) may contain a classified annex if the 

24 President determines it is necessary to protect the 

25 national security of the United States. Any such 


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1 annex shall be separated from the unclassified report 

2 and accompanied by unclassified written findings to 

3 support such a determination. 

4 (d) BRIEFINGS.—The Secretary of Defense, the Sec5 retary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, the 

6 Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the heads 

7 of any other relevant Federal departments and agencies 

8 shall provide a briefing to any of the appropriate congres9 sional committees or leadership upon request of such com10 mittee or leadership, but not less often than every 180 

11 days, on the activities undertaken pursuant to this joint 

12 resolution. 

13 SEC. 5. SUNSET; REAUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) SUNSET.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), the authority provided in section 3(a) 

17 shall terminate on the date that is four years after 

18 the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, 

19 unless reauthorized by an Act of Congress enacted 

20 after the date of the enactment of this joint resolu21 tion. 

22 (2) LIMITED WIND-DOWN PERIOD.—For such 

23 time as may be necessary, but not to exceed 180 

24 days after the date described in paragraph (1), the 

25 authority provided in section 3(a) may be exercised 


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1 only as necessary to end the deployment or engage2 ment of United States Armed Forces. 

3 (b) REAUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) STRATEGY.—Not later than one year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, 

6 and annually thereafter for four years, the Presi7 dent, in order to inform any potential reauthoriza8 tion of the authority provided in section 3(a), shall 

9 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

10 and leadership a strategy for— 

11 (A) defeating or sufficiently degrading 

12 each entity described in section 3(a)(2); and 

13 (B) creating the conditions under which 

14 the exercise of such authority is no longer nec15 essary to defend against a direct and substan16 tial armed attack against the United States or 

17 a threat of such armed attack by such entity. 

18 (2) REPORT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

20 before the date described in subsection (a)(1), 

21 the President shall submit to the appropriate 

22 congressional committees and leadership a re23 port on any potential reauthorization of the au24 thority provided in section 3(a). 


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1 (B) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The re2 port required by subparagraph (A) shall in3 clude— 

4 (i) a certification of whether each en5 tity described in section 3(a)(2) continues 

6 to pose a direct and substantial threat of 

7 armed attack against the United States; 

8 (ii) evidence to support the certifi9 cation required by clause (i), including rel10 evant intelligence regarding the current in11 tentions and capabilities of each such enti12 ty; and 

13 (iii) any recommendations the Presi14 dent determines to be necessary for the ex15 tension or modification of such authority, 

16 including any recommendations and jus17 tifications for adding or removing entities 

18 from the list of entities described in section 

19 3(a)(2). 

20 (3) BRIEFING.—The President shall brief the 

21 appropriate congressional committees and leadership 

22 on any recommendations for the reauthorization of 

23 the authority provided in section 3(a) that are in24 cluded in the report required by paragraph (2). 


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1 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES AND 

2 LEADERSHIP DEFINED. 

3 In this joint resolution, the term ‘‘appropriate con4 gressional committees and leadership’’ means— 

5 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

6 Committee on Armed Services, the Permanent Select 

7 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Appro8 priations, the Speaker, the majority leader, and the 

9 minority leader of the House of Representatives; and 

10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

11 Committee on Armed Services, the Select Committee 

12 on Intelligence, the Committee on Appropriations, 

13 the majority leader, and the minority leader of the 

14 Senate. 

Æ 


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