IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 77 

Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Syrian 

Arab Republic that have not been authorized by Congress. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Ms. GABBARD submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War 

Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed 

Forces from hostilities in the Syrian Arab Republic that 

have not been authorized by Congress. 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

4 FROM HOSTILITIES IN THE SYRIAN ARAB RE5 PUBLIC THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED 

6 BY CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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•HCON 77 IH 

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

2 under article I, section 8 of the Constitution. 

3 (2) Congress has not declared war with respect 

4 to, or provided any specific statutory authorization 

5 for, United States military participation in any ac6 tivity related to securing, guarding, possessing, prof7 iting off of, or developing the oil fields of the Syrian 

8 Arab Republic. 

9 (3) President Donald Trump stated on October 

10 27, 2019, regarding Syria that ‘‘we are leaving sol11 diers to secure the oil. Now, we may have to fight 

12 for the oil. That’s OK. Maybe somebody else wants 

13 the oil, in which case they have a hell of a fight.’’ 

14 and that ‘‘it can help us, because we should be able 

15 to take some also. And what I intend to do, perhaps, 

16 is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our 

17 great companies to go in there and do it properly. 

18 Right now it’s not big. It’s big oil underground but 

19 it’s not big oil up top.’’. 

20 (4) When asked by CNN on October 28, 2019, 

21 whether the United States will prevent any Russian 

22 or Syrian Government forces from gaining access to 

23 the oil, Secretary of Defense Esper said, ‘‘The short 

24 answer is yes, it presently does.’’. 


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•HCON 77 IH 

1 (5) Section 8(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

2 (50 U.S.C. 1547(c)) defines the introduction of 

3 United States Armed Forces to include ‘‘the assign4 ment of members of such armed forces to command, 

5 coordinate, participate in the movement of, or ac6 company the regular or irregular military forces of 

7 any foreign country or government when such mili8 tary forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent 

9 threat that such forces will become engaged, in hos10 tilities.’’. 

11 (6) Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

12 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states that ‘‘at any time that 

13 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hos14 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its 

15 possessions and territories without a declaration of 

16 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces 

17 shall be removed by the President if the Congress so 

18 directs’’. 

19 (b) REMOVAL OF ARMED FORCES.—Pursuant to sec20 tion 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 

21 1544(c)), Congress hereby directs the President to remove 

22 United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Syrian 

23 Arab Republic, except for United States Armed Forces en24 gaged in operations directed at al Qaeda or associated 

25 forces, not later than 60 days after the date of the adopVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC77.IH HC77

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•HCON 77 IH 

1 tion of this concurrent resolution, unless a declaration of 

2 war or specific authorization for such use of United States 

3 Armed Forces has been enacted into law. 

4 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this con5 current resolution may be construed— 

6 (1) to limit, expand, or otherwise modify the 

7 scope of the Authorization for Use of Military Force 

8 (Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note); or 

9 (2) consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War 

10 Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), to au11 thorize the use of military force. 

Æ 


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