IIA 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 51 

Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in 

Syria that have not been authorized by Congress. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2023 

Mr. PAUL introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from 

hostilities in Syria that have not been authorized by 

Congress. 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Congress has the sole power to declare war 

6 under the War Powers Clause of section 8 of article 

7 I of the Constitution of the United States. 

8 (2) There are 900 members of the United 

9 States Armed Forces deployed in Syria. 


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1 (3) Congress has not declared war against 

2 Syria or any organization or group in Syria. 

3 (4) The Authorization for Use of Military Force 

4 (Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) against 

5 the perpetrators of the terror attacks on September 

6 11, 2001, which was enacted on September 18, 

7 2001, and the Authorization for Use of Military 

8 Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 

9 107–243; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note), which was enacted 

10 on October 16, 2002, do not serve as specific statu11 tory authorizations for the use of force against 

12 Syria. 

13 (5) United States military operations in Syria 

14 began on September 22, 2014, more than 13 years 

15 after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with 

16 Operation Inherent Resolve targeting the Islamic 

17 State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

18 (6) Since September 22, 2014, the United 

19 States Armed Forces have been introduced into hos20 tilities in Syria, against both State and non-state ac21 tors. 

22 (7) The United States Armed Forces in Syria 

23 have targeted numerous entities, including the Syr24 ian Armed Forces and pro-Syrian government 

25 forces, terrorist organizations, including ISIS, the 


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1 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian-backed 

2 militias, the Russian-backed Wagner Group, and the 

3 armed forces of Turkey. 

4 (8) On October 30, 2015, the administration of 

5 President Barack Obama deployed members of the 

6 United States Armed Forces, announcing that up to 

7 50 special operations forces would be deployed to 

8 Syria. 

9 (9) On April 25, 2016, the Obama administra10 tion announced that an additional 250 special oper11 ations forces would be deployed to Syria. 

12 (10) On December 6, 2017, the Secretary of 

13 Defense revealed that there were approximately 

14 2,000 members of the United States Armed Forces 

15 deployed in Syria. 

16 (11) Since 2016, United States Armed Forces 

17 have targeted personnel, platforms, and facilities of 

18 the Syrian Armed Forces or forces allied with the 

19 Government of Syria on at least 11 occasions, in20 cluding on April 7, 2017, when United States Armed 

21 Forces fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at 

22 Shayrat Airbase controlled by the Syrian Govern23 ment. Syrian Government officials indicated the 

24 strike killed 16 people, including 7 military per25 sonnel. 


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1 (12) On February 7, 2018, members of the 

2 United States Armed Forces in Syria killed hun3 dreds of Russian citizens who were members of the 

4 Russian-backed Wagner Group. 

5 (13) On April 12, 2018, Director of the Central 

6 Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo told the Com7 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, ‘‘In 

8 Syria, now, a handful of weeks ago, the Russians 

9 met their match. A couple hundred Russians were 

10 killed.’’. 

11 (14) On December 19, 2018, President Donald 

12 J. Trump ordered the withdrawal of all United 

13 States Armed Forces from Syria, a policy that was 

14 not implemented, as 900 members of the United 

15 States Armed Forces remain in Syria. 

16 (15) On February 28, 2019, President Trump 

17 declared that 100 percent of the Islamic State ca18 liphate had been defeated, therefore achieving the 

19 objective of Operation Inherent Resolve. 

20 (16) On October 11, 2019, the Secretary of De21 fense reported that members of the United States 

22 Armed Forces in northern Syria came under artil23 lery fire from Turkish Armed Forces. 

24 (17) Former United States Special Presidential 

25 Envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition Brett McGurk 


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1 stated, ‘‘Turkish forces have fired on a declared 

2 United States military outpost in northern Syria. 

3 Turkey knows all of our locations down to the pre4 cise grid coordinate.’’. 

5 (18) On July 11, 2019, Presidential candidate 

6 Joseph R. Biden, Jr., promised to ‘‘end forever wars 

7 in Afghanistan and the Middle East’’ and stated 

8 that ‘‘Staying entrenched in unwinnable conflicts 

9 only drains our capacity to lead on other issues that 

10 require our attention.’’ 

11 (19) On October 6, 2019, President Trump or12 dered the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces 

13 from northern Syria. 

14 (20) United States Armed Forces in Syria are 

15 regularly attacked by Iranian-backed militias, result16 ing in casualties. 

17 (21) On February 25, 2021, President Joseph 

18 R. Biden, Jr., ordered the United States Armed 

19 Forces to carry out airstrikes in eastern Syria 

20 against facilities used by Iran-backed militias in re21 sponse to attacks against United States and allied 

22 personnel in Iraq that killed a Filipino contractor 

23 and injured a National Guardsmen and 4 United 

24 States contractors. 


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1 (22) On June 27, 2021, President Biden or2 dered the United States Armed Forces to carry out 

3 airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria in re4 sponse to drone attacks against United States per5 sonnel and facilities in Iraq. 

6 (23) On August 24, 2022, President Biden or7 dered the United States Armed Forces to carry out 

8 airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Deir al 

9 Zour, Syria, in response to attacks on a United 

10 States base in northeastern Syria that injured 3 

11 members of the United States Armed Forces. 

12 (24) On March 24, 2023, President Biden or13 dered the United States Armed Forces to carry out 

14 airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria in re15 sponse to an attack in northeast Syria that killed a 

16 United States contractor and injured 5 members of 

17 the United States Armed Forces and another United 

18 States contractor. 

19 (25) On October 5, 2023, a United States F– 

20 16 aircraft shot down an armed Turkish drone oper21 ating in northeastern Syria. The drone was reported 

22 to have come within 500 yards of members of the 

23 United States Armed Forces. 

24 (26) Since October 17, 2023, United States 

25 Armed Forces in Syria and Iraq have been attacked 


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1 at least 52 times, with 28 attacks in Syria and 24 

2 attacks in Iraq. Such attacks resulted in at least 56 

3 members of the United States Armed Forces being 

4 injured, of whom at least 25 members have sus5 tained traumatic brain injuries. 

6 (27) On October 26, 2023, President Biden or7 dered United States Armed Forces to conduct air8 strikes against a weapons storage facility and an 

9 ammunition storage facility used by the Islamic Rev10 olutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed militias 

11 in Abu Kamal, Syria. 

12 (28) On November 8, 2023, President Biden 

13 ordered United States Armed Forces to conduct air14 strikes against a weapons storage facility used by 

15 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian16 backed militias in Maysalun, Syria. 

17 (29) On November 12, 2023, President Biden 

18 ordered United States Armed Forces to conduct air19 strikes against a training facility and a safe house 

20 used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and 

21 Iranian-backed militias in Abu Kamal and Mayadin, 

22 Syria. 

23 (30) Nine members of the United States Armed 

24 Forces have been killed in Syria since the com25 mencement of Operation Inherent Resolve: Staff 


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1 Sergeant Austin Bieren, Senior Chief Petty Officer 

2 Scott Dayton, Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar, 

3 Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan Farmer, Senior 

4 Chief Petty Office Shannon Kent, Specialist Antonio 

5 Moore, Sgt. Bryan Mount, Specialist Etienne Mur6 phy, and Private First Class Michael Thomason. 

7 (31) The 900 members of the United States 

8 Armed Forces deployed in Syria face significant 

9 risk, as is evidenced by regularly occurring attacks, 

10 and an imminent threat of wider hostilities involving 

11 such members of the United States Armed Forces in 

12 Syria. 

13 (32) Section 8(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

14 (50 U.S.C. 1547(c)) defines the ‘‘introduction of 

15 United States Armed Forces’’ to include ‘‘the as16 signment of members of such Armed Forces to com17 mand, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or 

18 accompany the regular or irregular military forces of 

19 any foreign country or government when such mili20 tary forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent 

21 threat that such forces will become engaged, in hos22 tilities’’. Activities that the United States Armed 

23 Forces have conducted in Syria fall within such defi24 nition, as is evidenced by United States support of 

25 the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian 


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1 Democratic Forces (SDF), the Free Syrian Army 

2 (FSA), and other regular and irregular military 

3 forces in Syria. 

4 (33) The United States Armed Forces have 

5 been introduced into active or imminent hostilities 

6 within the meaning of section 4(a) of the War Pow7 ers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1543(a)). Activities that 

8 the United States Armed Forces have conducted in 

9 Syria fall within such meaning, as evidenced by 

10 strikes on the Syrian Armed Forces, pro-Syrian gov11 ernment forces, various terrorist organizations, in12 cluding ISIS, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard 

13 Corps, Iranian-backed militias, the Russian-backed 

14 Wagner Group, and the Armed Forces of Turkey. 

15 (34) Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

16 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states, ‘‘at any time that 

17 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hos18 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its 

19 possessions and territories without a declaration of 

20 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces 

21 shall be removed by the President if the Congress so 

22 directs’’. 

23 (35) Section 1013 of the Department of State 

24 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

25 U.S.C. 1546a) provides, ‘‘Any joint resolution or bill 


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1 [to require] the removal of United States Armed 

2 Forces engaged in hostilities . . . without a declara3 tion of war or specific statutory authorization shall 

4 be considered in accordance with the procedures of 

5 section 601(b) of the International Security Assist6 ance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976’’(Public 

7 Law 94–329; 90 Stat. 765). 

8 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

9 FROM HOSTILITIES IN SYRIA THAT HAVE NOT 

10 BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS. 

11 Pursuant to section 1013 of the Department of State 

12 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

13 U.S.C. 1546a), and in accordance with the provisions of 

14 section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance 

15 and Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94– 

16 329; 90 Stat. 765), Congress hereby directs the President 

17 to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in 

18 or affecting Syria by not later than the date that is 30 

19 days after the date of the adoption of this joint resolution 

20 (unless the President requests and Congress authorizes a 

21 later date), and unless and until a declaration of war or 

22 specific authorization for such use of United States Armed 

23 Forces has been enacted. 


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1 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING AUTHORIZA2 TIONS FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE. 

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

4 Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), nothing in this joint 

5 resolution may be construed as authorizing the use of mili6 tary force. 

Æ 


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