IA 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 55 

To amend the War Powers Resolution. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 7, 2011 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. JONES) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in 

addition to the Committee on Rules, 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 amend the War Powers Resolution. 

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 ‘‘War Pow5 ers Amendments of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REVISION OF WAR POWERS RESOLUTION. 

7 The War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541–1548) 

8 is amended by striking out all after the resolving clause 

9 and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 


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1 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 ‘‘This joint resolution may be cited as the ‘War Pow3 ers Resolution’. 

4 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this joint resolu5 tion to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution 

6 of the United States and ensure that the collective judg7 ment of both the Congress and the President will apply 

8 to— 

9 ‘‘(1) the introduction of the Armed Forces into 

10 hostilities, 

11 ‘‘(2) the continued use of the Armed Forces in 

12 hostilities, and 

13 ‘‘(3) the participation of the Armed Forces in 

14 certain military operations of the United Nations. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY.— 

16 Among the powers granted to the Congress by the Con17 stitution are— 

18 ‘‘(1) the power to declare war; 

19 ‘‘(2) the power of the purse (‘No Money shall 

20 be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of 

21 Appropriations made by Law’); and 

22 ‘‘(3) the power to make all laws necessary and 

23 proper for carrying into execution not only its own 

24 powers but also all other powers vested by the Con25 stitution in the Government of the United States, or 

26 in any department or officer thereof. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3. EMERGENCY USES OF THE ARMED FORCES IN HOS2 TILITIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Armed Forces may be intro4 duced into hostilities only as follows: 

5 ‘‘(1) DECLARATION OF WAR.—Pursuant to a 

6 declaration of war by the Congress. 

7 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION.— 

8 In accordance with a specific statutory authoriza9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(3) ARMED ATTACK ON UNITED STATES.—To 

11 the extent necessary— 

12 ‘‘(A) to repel an armed attack upon the 

13 United States; 

14 ‘‘(B) to take necessary and appropriate re15 taliatory actions in the event of such an attack; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(C) to forestall the direct and imminent 

18 threat of such an attack. 

19 ‘‘(4) ARMED ATTACK ON THE ARMED

20 FORCES.—To the extent necessary— 

21 ‘‘(A) to repel an armed attack against 

22 Armed Forces located outside the United 

23 States; or 

24 ‘‘(B) to forestall the direct and imminent 

25 threat of such an attack. 


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1 ‘‘(5) EVACUATION OF UNITED STATES CITI2 ZENS.—To the extent necessary to protect United 

3 States citizens or nationals while evacuating them as 

4 rapidly as possible from a situation, outside the 

5 United States, that directly and imminently threat6 ens their lives or liberty and— 

7 ‘‘(A) the threatened deprivation of life or 

8 liberty is contrary to international law or is oth9 erwise illegal; and 

10 ‘‘(B) in a case where the source of the 

11 threat is within a foreign country, the threat is 

12 supported by the government of that country or 

13 the government of that country is unable or un14 willing to control the situation. 

15 The President shall make every effort to terminate 

16 any such threat without using the Armed Forces. 

17 Before using the Armed Forces to protect United 

18 States citizens or nationals being evacuated from a 

19 foreign country in accordance with this paragraph, 

20 the President shall, where possible, obtain the con21 sent of the government of that country. 

22 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS ON EMERGENCY USE OF ARMED

23 FORCES.—Any use of the Armed Forces in accordance 

24 with paragraph (3), (4), or (5) of subsection (a)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) is subject to the requirements of sections 

2 4, 5, and 6; and 

3 ‘‘(2) shall be limited, in terms of the Armed 

4 Forces which are used and the manner in which they 

5 are used, to such use as is essential in order to 

6 achieve the purpose described in that paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(c) FUNDING LIMITATION.—Funds appropriated or 

8 otherwise made available under any law may not be obli9 gated or expended for any introduction, other than an in10 troduction described in subsection (a), of the Armed 

11 Forces into hostilities. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 4. CONSULTATION BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND 

13 CONGRESS. 

14 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSULTATION.—(1) The 

15 President, in every possible instance, shall consult with the 

16 Congress before the Armed Forces are introduced into 

17 hostilities in accordance with paragraph (3), (4), or (5) 

18 of section 3(a). After every such introduction, the Presi19 dent shall consult regularly with the Congress until the 

20 Armed Forces are no longer in hostilities. 

21 ‘‘(2) The President, in every possible instance, shall 

22 consult with the Congress— 

23 ‘‘(A) before Armed Forces are introduced into 

24 the territory, airspace, or waters of a foreign country 

25 while equipped for combat, except for deployments 


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1 which relate solely to supply, replacement, repair, or 

2 training of such forces; 

3 ‘‘(B) before Armed Forces are introduced into 

4 the territory, airspace, or waters of a foreign country 

5 in which there are already Armed Forces equipped 

6 for combat if such introduction would substantially 

7 enlarge the number of Armed Forces equipped for 

8 combat located in that country or otherwise substan9 tially increase the military capabilities of such 

10 forces; or 

11 ‘‘(C) before committing Armed Forces to an op12 eration authorized by the United Nations Security 

13 Council under chapter VII of the United Nations 

14 Charter. 

15 ‘‘(b) EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE CONSULTATIVE

16 GROUP.—The consultation required by subsection (a) 

17 shall include participation by— 

18 ‘‘(1) the President and those senior executive 

19 branch officials designated by the President; and 

20 ‘‘(2) those Members of the House of Represent21 atives designated by the Speaker of the House, and 

22 those members of the Senate designated by the 

23 President pro tempore of the Senate. 

24 ‘‘(c) WHAT CONSULTATION REQUIRES.—In order to 

25 satisfy the consultation requirement of this section, the 


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1 President must ask Members of Congress for their advice 

2 and opinions before the decision is made to introduce the 

3 Armed Forces. Such consultation requires that all infor4 mation relevant to the situation must be made available 

5 to the Members of Congress being consulted. The con6 sultation requirement of this section is not met, however, 

7 if the Congress is merely informed about the situation. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 5. REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS. 

9 ‘‘(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The President 

10 shall submit the report described in subsection (b) within 

11 48 hours after the Armed Forces are introduced into hos12 tilities in accordance with paragraph (3), (4), or (5) of 

13 section 3(a). 

14 ‘‘(b) DESCRIPTION OF REPORT REQUIRED.—The re15 port required by subsection (a) is a written report sub16 mitted by the President to the Speaker of the House of 

17 Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Sen18 ate on the same calendar day, setting forth— 

19 ‘‘(1) the circumstances necessitating the intro20 duction of the Armed Forces; 

21 ‘‘(2) the specific constitutional and legislative 

22 authority under which such introduction took place; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the estimated scope and duration of the 

2 hostilities or the involvement of the Armed Forces, 

3 as the case may be. 

4 Any such report shall state expressly that it is being sub5 mitted pursuant to this section. 

6 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The President 

7 shall provide such other information as the Congress may 

8 request in the fulfillment of its constitutional responsibil9 ities with respect to committing the Nation to war and 

10 to the use of the Armed Forces abroad. 

11 ‘‘(d) CONTINUING REPORTS.—Whenever the Armed 

12 Forces are introduced into hostilities the President shall, 

13 so long as the Armed Forces continue to be involved in 

14 those or related hostilities, report to the Congress periodi15 cally on the status of such hostilities as well as on the 

16 scope and estimated duration of such hostilities, but in 

17 no event shall the President report to the Congress less 

18 often than once every six months. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 6. CONGRESSIONAL ACTION WITH RESPECT TO HOS20 TILITIES. 

21 ‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF SECTION 5(a) REPORT.—Each re22 port submitted pursuant to section 5(a) shall be referred 

23 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep24 resentatives and to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

25 of the Senate for appropriate action. If, when the report 


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1 is transmitted, the Congress has adjourned sine die or has 

2 adjourned for any period in excess of three calendar days, 

3 the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

4 President pro tempore of the Senate, if they deem it advis5 able (or if they are petitioned by at least 30 percent of 

6 the membership of their respective Houses) shall jointly 

7 request the President to convene the Congress in order 

8 that it may consider the report and take appropriate ac9 tion pursuant to this section. 

10 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIFIC STATUTORY AU11 THORIZATION FOR CONTINUED INVOLVEMENT.—Within 

12 60 calendar days after the Armed Forces are introduced 

13 into hostilities in accordance with paragraph (3), (4), or 

14 (5) of section 3(a), the President shall remove the Armed 

15 Forces from those hostilities unless the Congress— 

16 ‘‘(1) has declared war; 

17 ‘‘(2) has enacted a joint resolution providing 

18 specific authorization for such use of the Armed 

19 Forces; 

20 ‘‘(3) has extended by law such 60-day period; or 

21 ‘‘(4) is physically unable to meet as a result of 

22 an armed attack upon the United States. 

23 This 60-day period shall be extended for not more than 

24 an additional 30 days if the President determines and cer25 tifies to the Congress in writing that unavoidable military 


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1 necessity respecting the safety of the Armed Forces re2 quires the continued use of the Armed Forces in the 

3 course of bringing about their prompt removal from hos4 tilities. 

5 ‘‘(c) FUNDING LIMITATION.—Unless one of the num6 bered paragraphs of subsection (b) applies, after the expi7 ration of the period specified in that subsection (including 

8 any extension of that period in accordance with that sub9 section), funds appropriated or otherwise made available 

10 under any law may not be obligated or expended to con11 tinue the involvement of the Armed Forces in the hos12 tilities. This subsection does not, however, prohibit the use 

13 of funds to remove the Armed Forces from hostilities. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 7. CONGRESSIONAL EXPEDITED PROCEDURES. 

15 ‘‘(a) RESOLUTIONS SUBJECT TO PROCEDURES.—As 

16 used in this section, the term ‘privileged resolution’ means 

17 a joint resolution— 

18 ‘‘(1) that provides specific authorization for the 

19 use of the Armed Forces in hostilities, so long as 

20 that resolution contains only provisions which are 

21 relevant to those hostilities; and 

22 ‘‘(2) that is introduced after the President has 

23 submitted a written request to the Congress for en24 actment of such an authorization with respect to 

25 those or related hostilities. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTA2 TIVES.—(1) This subsection applies to the consideration 

3 of a privileged resolution in the House of Representatives. 

4 ‘‘(2) A privileged resolution introduced in the House 

5 of Representatives shall be referred, upon introduction, to 

6 the Committee on Foreign Affairs. A privileged resolution 

7 shall not be sequentially referred. 

8 ‘‘(3)(A) If, at the end of 10 calendar days after the 

9 introduction of a privileged resolution, the Committee on 

10 Foreign Affairs has not reported that resolution, that 

11 committee shall be discharged from further consideration 

12 of that resolution and that resolution shall be placed on 

13 the appropriate calendar of the House. 

14 ‘‘(B) After a privileged resolution has been placed on 

15 the appropriate calendar, no other resolution with respect 

16 to the same or related hostilities may be reported by or 

17 be discharged from any committee under this subsection 

18 while the first resolution— 

19 ‘‘(i) is before the House of Representatives (in20 cluding remaining on the calendar), 

21 ‘‘(ii) is before the Senate (including remaining 

22 on the calendar) unless the Senate has had a vote 

23 on final passage with respect to the resolution and 

24 a majority of those voting did not vote in the affirm25 ative, 


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1 ‘‘(iii) is before a committee of conference or 

2 otherwise awaiting disposition of amendments be3 tween the Houses, or 

4 ‘‘(iv) is awaiting transmittal to the President or 

5 is before the President. 

6 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) At any time after a privileged resolution 

7 has been placed on the appropriate calendar, it is in order 

8 for any Member of the House of Representatives to move 

9 that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the 

10 Whole House on the State of the Union for the consider11 ation of that resolution. The motion is highly privileged. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The motion under clause (i) is in order even if 

13 a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed 

14 to. 

15 ‘‘(B) All points of order against a privileged resolu16 tion and consideration of the resolution are waived. If the 

17 motion under subparagraph (A) is agreed to, the privi18 leged resolution shall remain the unfinished business of 

19 the House until disposed of, to the exclusion of all other 

20 business (other than a motion to adjourn), except as pro21 vided in paragraph (5)(A). A motion to reconsider the vote 

22 by which the motion is disagreed to is not in order. 

23 ‘‘(C) General debate on a privileged resolution shall 

24 not exceed 4 hours, which shall be divided equally between 

25 a Member favoring and a Member opposing the resolution. 


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1 ‘‘(D)(i) At the conclusion of general debate, a privi2 leged resolution shall be considered for amendment under 

3 the 5-minute rule. 

4 ‘‘(ii) Debate on all amendments shall not exceed 12 

5 hours. After the expiration of that period, no further 

6 amendments shall be in order. 

7 ‘‘(iii) Except as provided in the next sentence, debate 

8 on each amendment, and any amendments thereto, shall 

9 not exceed one hour. If the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

10 reports an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the 

11 text of a privileged resolution, that amendment shall be 

12 considered to be original text for purposes of amendment 

13 and debate on each amendment to that amendment, and 

14 any amendments thereto, shall not exceed one hour. 

15 ‘‘(E) At the conclusion of consideration of amend16 ments to a privileged resolution, the Committee of the 

17 Whole shall rise and report the resolution back to the 

18 House, and the previous question shall be considered as 

19 ordered on the resolution, with any amendments adopted 

20 in the Committee of the Whole, to final passage without 

21 intervening motion, except one motion to recommit with 

22 or without instructions. 

23 ‘‘(5)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if, 

24 before the passage by the House of Representatives of a 

25 privileged resolution of the House, the House receives a 


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1 privileged resolution from the Senate with respect to the 

2 same or related hostilities, then the following procedures 

3 shall apply: 

4 ‘‘(i) The resolution of the Senate shall not be 

5 referred to a committee. 

6 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the privileged resolution of 

7 the House— 

8 ‘‘(I) the procedure in the House shall be 

9 the same as if no resolution had been received 

10 from the Senate; but 

11 ‘‘(II) the privileged resolution of the Sen12 ate shall be considered to have been read for 

13 the third time; the vote on final passage shall 

14 be on the resolution of the Senate (if the resolu15 tions are identical), or on the resolution of the 

16 Senate (if they are not identical) with the text 

17 of the resolution of the House inserted in lieu 

18 of the text of the resolution of the Senate; and 

19 the vote on final passage shall occur without de20 bate or any intervening action. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Upon disposition of a privileged resolution 

22 received from the Senate, consideration of the privi23 leged resolution of the House shall no longer be priv24 ileged under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) If the House receives from the Senate a privi2 leged resolution before any privileged resolution is intro3 duced in the House with respect to the same or related 

4 hostilities, then the resolution of the Senate shall be re5 ferred to the appropriate committee or committees, and 

6 the procedures in the House with respect to that resolu7 tion shall be the same under this subsection as if the reso8 lution received had been introduced in the House. 

9 ‘‘(C) If the House receives from the Senate a privi10 leged resolution after the House has disposed of an iden11 tical privileged resolution, it shall be in order to proceed 

12 by a highly privileged, nondebatable motion to consider13 ation of the resolution of the Senate, and that resolution 

14 shall be disposed of without debate and without amend15 ment. 

16 ‘‘(6) A motion to disagree with amendments of the 

17 Senate to a privileged resolution of the House and request 

18 or agree to a conference with the Senate, or a motion to 

19 insist on the House amendments to a privileged resolution 

20 of the Senate and request or agree to a conference of the 

21 Senate, is highly privileged. 

22 ‘‘(7)(A) If the conferees are unable to agree on resolv23 ing the differences between the two Houses with respect 

24 to a privileged resolution within 72 hours after the second 

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1 ference, they shall report back to their respective House 

2 in disagreement. 

3 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding any rule of the House of Rep4 resentatives concerning the printing of conference reports 

5 in the Congressional Record or concerning any delay in 

6 the consideration of such reports, a conference report with 

7 respect to a privileged resolution, including a report filed 

8 in disagreement, shall be acted on in the House of Rep9 resentatives not later than 2 session days after the first 

10 House files the report or, in the case of the House acting 

11 first, the report has been available for 2 hours. The con12 ference report (and any amendment reported in disagree13 ment) shall be deemed to have been read. Debate on such 

14 a conference report shall be limited to 3 hours, equally 

15 divided between, and controlled by the Majority Leader 

16 and the Minority Leader (or their designees). 

17 ‘‘(C) As used in subparagraph (B), the term ‘session 

18 day’ means a day on which the House of Representatives 

19 convenes. 

20 ‘‘(8) This subsection is enacted by the House of Rep21 resentatives— 

22 ‘‘(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

23 the House of Representatives, and as such it is 

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1 lowed in the House in the case of a privileged resolu2 tion, and it supersedes other rules only to the extent 

3 that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

4 ‘‘(B) with full recognition of the constitutional 

5 right of the House to change its rules (so far as re6 lating to the procedure of the House) at any time, 

7 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

8 the case of any other rule of the House. 

9 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE.—(1) This sub10 section applies to the consideration of a privileged resolu11 tion in the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘ses13 sion days’ means days on which the Senate is in session. 

14 ‘‘(3) A privileged resolution introduced in the Senate 

15 shall be referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. 

16 ‘‘(4)(A) If the Committee on Foreign Relations has 

17 not reported a privileged resolution (or an identical resolu18 tion) at the end of 7 calendar days after the introduction 

19 of that resolution, that committee shall be discharged from 

20 further consideration of that resolution, and that resolu21 tion shall be placed on the appropriate calendar of the 

22 Senate. 

23 ‘‘(B) After a committee reports or is discharged from 

24 a privileged resolution, no other resolution with respect to 

25 the same or related hostilities may be reported by or be 


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1 discharged from such committee while the first resolu2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(i) is before the Senate (including remaining 

4 on the calendar), 

5 ‘‘(ii) is before the House of Representatives (in6 cluding remaining on the calendar), unless the 

7 House has had a vote on final passage with respect 

8 to the resolution and a majority of those voting did 

9 not vote in the affirmative, 

10 ‘‘(iii) is before a committee of conference or 

11 otherwise awaiting disposition of amendments be12 tween the Houses, or 

13 ‘‘(iv) is awaiting transmittal to the President or 

14 is before the President. 

15 ‘‘(5)(A)(i) When the committee to which a privileged 

16 resolution is referred has reported, or has been discharged 

17 under paragraph (4) from further consideration of that 

18 resolution, it is at any time thereafter in order (even 

19 though a previous motion to the same effect has been dis20 agreed to) for any Member of the Senate to move to pro21 ceed to the consideration of the resolution, notwith22 standing any rule or precedent of the Senate, including 

23 Rule 22. Except as provided in clause (ii) of this subpara24 graph or subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (insofar as 

25 it relates to germaneness and relevancy of amendments), 


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1 all points of order against a privileged resolution and con2 sideration of the resolution are waived. The motion is priv3 ileged and is not debatable. The motion is not subject to 

4 a motion to postpone. A motion to reconsider the vote by 

5 which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall be in 

6 order, except that such motion may not be entered for fu7 ture disposition. If a motion to proceed to the consider8 ation of a privileged resolution is agreed to, the resolution 

9 shall remain the unfinished business of the Senate, to the 

10 exclusion of all other business, until disposed of, except 

11 as otherwise provided in paragraph (6)(A). 

12 ‘‘(ii) Whenever a point of order is raised in the Senate 

13 against the privileged status of a resolution that has been 

14 laid before the Senate and been initially identified as privi15 leged for consideration under this subsection upon its in16 troduction, such point of order shall be submitted directly 

17 to the Senate. The point of order, ‘The resolution is not 

18 privileged under the War Powers Resolution’, shall be de19 cided by the yeas and the nays after four hours of debate, 

20 equally divided between, and controlled by, the Member 

21 raising the point of order and the manager of the resolu22 tion, except that in the event the manager is in favor of 

23 such point of order, the time in opposition thereto shall 

24 be controlled by the Minority Leader or his designee. Such 


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1 point of order shall not be considered to establish prece2 dent for determination of future cases. 

3 ‘‘(B)(i) Consideration in the Senate of a privileged 

4 resolution, and all amendments and debatable motions in 

5 connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 

6 12 hours, which, except as otherwise provided in this sub7 section, shall be equally divided between, and controlled 

8 by, the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, or by 

9 their designees. The Majority Leader or the Minority 

10 Leader or their designees may, from the time under their 

11 control on the resolution, allot additional time to any Sen12 ator during the consideration of any amendment, debat13 able motion, or appeal. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Only amendments which are germane and rel15 evant to a privileged resolution are in order. 

16 ‘‘(iii) Debate on any amendment to a privileged reso17 lution shall be limited to two hours, except that this limita18 tion does not apply to an amendment in the nature of a 

19 substitute to the text of the resolution that is reported 

20 by the Committee on Foreign Relations. Debate on any 

21 amendment to an amendment shall be limited to 1 hour. 

22 ‘‘(iv) The time of debate for each amendment shall 

23 be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover 

24 of the amendment and the manager of the resolution, ex25 cept that in the event the manager is in favor of any such 


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1 amendment, the time in opposition thereto shall be con2 trolled by the Minority Leader or his designee. 

3 ‘‘(v) One amendment by the Minority Leader is in 

4 order to be offered under a one-hour time limitation imme5 diately following the expiration of the 12-hour time limita6 tion if the Minority Leader has had no opportunity prior 

7 thereto to offer an amendment to the privileged resolution. 

8 One amendment may be offered to the amendment of the 

9 Minority Leader under the preceding sentence, and debate 

10 shall be limited on such amendment to one-half hour which 

11 shall be equally divided between, and controlled by, the 

12 mover of the amendment and the manager of the resolu13 tion, except that in the event the manager is in favor of 

14 any such amendment, the time in opposition thereto shall 

15 be controlled by the Minority Leader or his designee. 

16 ‘‘(vi) A motion to postpone or a motion to recommit 

17 a privileged resolution is not in order. A motion to recon18 sider the vote by which a privileged resolution is agreed 

19 to or disagreed to is in order, except that such motion 

20 may not be entered for future disposition, and debate on 

21 such motion shall be limited to 1 hour. 

22 ‘‘(C) Whenever all the time for debate on a privileged 

23 resolution has been used or yielded back, no further 

24 amendments may be proposed, except as provided in sub25 paragraph (B)(iii), and the vote on the adoption of the 


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1 resolution shall occur without any intervening motion or 

2 amendment, except that a single quorum call at the con3 clusion of the debate if requested in accordance with the 

4 rules of the Senate may occur immediately before such 

5 vote. 

6 ‘‘(D) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating 

7 to the application of the Rules of the Senate to the proce8 dure relating to a privileged resolution shall be limited to 

9 one-half hour of debate, equally divided between, and con10 trolled by, the Member making the appeal and the man11 ager of the resolution, except that in the event the man12 ager is in favor of any such appeal, the time in opposition 

13 thereto shall be controlled by the Minority Leader or his 

14 designee. 

15 ‘‘(6)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if, 

16 before the passage by the Senate of a privileged resolution 

17 of the Senate, the Senate receives a priviledged resolution 

18 from the House of Representatives with respect to the 

19 same or related hostilities, then the following procedures 

20 shall apply: 

21 ‘‘(i) The privileged resolution of the House of 

22 Representatives shall not be referred to a committee. 

23 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the privileged resolution of 

24 the Senate— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the procedure in the Senate shall be 

2 the same as if no resolution had been received 

3 from the House of Representatives; but 

4 ‘‘(II) the resolution of the House of Rep5 resentatives shall be considered to have been 

6 read for the third time; the vote on final pas7 sage shall be on the resolution of the House of 

8 Representatives (if such resolutions are iden9 tical) or on the resolution of the House of Rep10 resentatives (if not identical), with the text of 

11 the resolution of the Senate inserted in lieu of 

12 the text of the resolution of the House of Rep13 resentatives; and such vote on final passage 

14 shall occur without debate or any intervening 

15 action. 

16 ‘‘(iii) Upon disposition of a privileged resolution 

17 received from the House of Representatives, it shall 

18 no longer be in order to consider the resolution origi19 nated in the Senate. 

20 ‘‘(B) If the Senate receives a privileged resolution 

21 from the House of Representatives before any privileged 

22 resolution is introduced in the Senate with respect to the 

23 same or related hostilities, then the resolution received 

24 shall be referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

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1 lution shall be the same under this section as if the resolu2 tion received had been introduced in the Senate. 

3 ‘‘(7) If the Senate receives a privileged resolution 

4 from the House of Representatives after the Senate has 

5 disposed of an identical privileged resolution, it shall be 

6 in order to proceed by nondebatable motion to consider7 ation of the resolution received by the Senate, and that 

8 resolution shall be disposed of without debate and without 

9 amendment. 

10 ‘‘(8)(A)(i) The time for debate in the Senate on all 

11 motions required for the disposition of amendments be12 tween the Houses shall not exceed 2 hours, equally divided 

13 between, and controlled by, the mover of the motion and 

14 the manager of the resolution at each stage of the pro15 ceedings between the two Houses, except that in the event 

16 the manager is in favor of any such motion, the time in 

17 opposition thereto shall be controlled by the Minority 

18 Leader or his designee. In the case of any disagreement 

19 between the two Houses of Congress with respect to a 

20 privileged resolution which is not resolved, any Senator 

21 may make any motion or motions referred to in this clause 

22 within 2 session days after action by the second House 

23 or before the appointment of conferees, whichever comes 

24 first. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) In the event the conferees are unable to agree 

2 within 72 hours after the second House is notified that 

3 the first House has agreed to conference, they shall report 

4 back to their respective House in disagreement. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Notwithstanding any rule in the Senate con6 cerning the printing of conference reports in the Congres7 sional Record or concerning any delay in the consideration 

8 of such reports, such report, including a report filed or 

9 returned in disagreement, shall be acted on in the Senate 

10 not later than 2 session days after the first House files 

11 the report or, in the case of the Senate acting first, the 

12 report is first made available on the desks of the Senators. 

13 Debate in the Senate on a conference report or a report 

14 filed or returned in disagreement on any such resolution 

15 shall be limited to 3 hours, equally divided between, and 

16 controlled by, the Majority Leader and the Minority Lead17 er, and their designees. 

18 ‘‘(B) If a privileged resolution is vetoed by the Presi19 dent, the time for debate in consideration of the veto mes20 sage on such measure shall be limited to 20 hours in the 

21 Senate, equally divided between, and controlled by, the 

22 Majority Leader and the Minority Leader, and their des23 ignees. 

24 ‘‘(9) This subsection is enacted by the Senate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

2 the Senate, as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

3 of the Senate but applicable only with respect to the 

4 procedure to be followed in the Senate in the case 

5 of a privileged resolution, and it supersedes other 

6 rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with 

7 such rules; and 

8 ‘‘(B) with full recognition of the constitutional 

9 right of the Senate to change its rules (so far as re10 lating to the procedure of the Senate) at any time, 

11 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

12 the case of any other rule of the Senate. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 8. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

14 ‘‘(a) STANDING OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

15 Member of Congress may bring an action in the United 

16 States District Court for the District of Columbia for de17 claratory judgment and injunctive relief on the ground 

18 that the President or the Armed Forces have not complied 

19 with any provision of this joint resolution. 

20 ‘‘(b) JUSTICIABILITY.—In any action described in 

21 subsection (a), the court shall not decline to make a deter22 mination on the merits on the ground that the issue of 

23 compliance is a political question or is otherwise nonjus24 ticiable. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.—Notwithstanding the 

2 number, position, or party affiliation of any plaintiffs in 

3 an action described in subsection (a), it is the intent of 

4 the Congress that the court— 

5 ‘‘(1) infer congressional disapproval of the in6 volvement of the Armed Forces in hostilities; and 

7 ‘‘(2) find that an impasse exists between the 

8 Congress and the Executive which requires judicial 

9 resolution. 

10 ‘‘(d) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—Any court in 

11 which an action described in subsection (a) is heard shall 

12 accord such action the highest priority and shall announce 

13 its judgment as speedily as the requirements of Article III 

14 of the Constitution permit. 

15 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REMEDY.—(1) If the court in an ac16 tion described in subsection (a) finds that the President 

17 has failed to submit a report required by section 5(a) of 

18 this joint resolution, the court shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) direct the President to submit that report; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) specify the date on which the Armed 

22 Forces were introduced into hostilities. 

23 ‘‘(2) If the court in an action described in subsection 

24 (a) finds that section 3 or section 6(b) of this joint resolu25 tion has been violated, the court shall direct the President 


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1 to remove the Armed Forces from the hostilities. The 

2 Armed Forces shall be removed pursuant to the court’s 

3 order— 

4 ‘‘(A) immediately, or 

5 ‘‘(B) if the President determines and certifies 

6 to the Congress in writing that unavoidable military 

7 necessity respecting the safety of the Armed Forces 

8 requires the continued use of the Armed Forces in 

9 the course of bringing about their prompt removal 

10 from hostilities, within a period not to exceed 30 

11 days after the order is issued. 

12 ‘‘(f) APPEALS.—Any judgment in an action described 

13 in subsection (a) shall be directly appealable to the United 

14 States Supreme Court. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 9. RULES OF INTERPRETATION. 

16 ‘‘(a) OTHER STATUTES AND TREATIES.—Authority 

17 to introduce the Armed Forces into hostilities shall not 

18 be inferred— 

19 ‘‘(1) from any provision of law (including any 

20 provision in effect before the date of enactment of 

21 this joint resolution), including any provision con22 tained in any appropriation Act, unless that provi23 sion specifically authorizes the introduction of the 

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1 tended to constitute specific statutory authorization 

2 within the meaning of this joint resolution; or 

3 ‘‘(2) from any treaty heretofore or hereafter 

4 ratified unless that treaty is implemented by legisla5 tion specifically authorizing the introduction of the 

6 Armed Forces into hostilities and stating that it is 

7 intended to constitute specific statutory authoriza8 tion within the meaning of this joint resolution. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL ACTION OR INACTION.—The 

10 failure of the Congress to adopt a measure— 

11 ‘‘(1) terminating, limiting, or prohibiting the in12 volvement of the Armed Forces in hostilities, or 

13 ‘‘(2) finding that the President or the Armed 

14 Forces are acting in violation of this joint resolution, 

15 may not be construed as indicating congressional author16 ization or approval of, or acquiescence in, the involvement 

17 of the Armed Forces in any hostilities or as a finding by 

18 the Congress that such involvement is consistent with this 

19 joint resolution. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘For purposes of this joint resolution, the following 

22 definitions apply: 

23 ‘‘(1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘Armed 

24 Forces’ means the armed forces of the United 

25 States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) HOSTILITIES.—The term ‘hostilities’ in2 cludes a situation where overt acts of warfare are 

3 taking place, such as— 

4 ‘‘(A) the exchange of fire between regular 

5 or irregular military forces, or 

6 ‘‘(B) the aerial or naval bombardment of 

7 military or civilian targets by regular or irreg8 ular military forces, 

9 regardless of whether the Armed Forces are partici10 pating in the exchange of fire or the bombardment; 

11 ‘‘(3) INTRODUCE.—The term ‘introduce’ in12 cludes— 

13 ‘‘(A) any commitment, engagement, or 

14 other involvement of the Armed Forces in hos15 tilities, including the taking of self-defense 

16 measures by the Armed Forces in response to 

17 an attack or threatened attack; 

18 ‘‘(B) the assigning or detailing of members 

19 of the Armed Forces to command, coordinate, 

20 participate in the movement of, accompany, or 

21 provide logistical support or training for any 

22 foreign regular or irregular military forces if 

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1 gent forces or the military forces of a foreign 

2 country); and 

3 ‘‘(C) the assigning or detailing of members 

4 of the Armed Forces to an operation authorized 

5 by the United Nations Security Council under 

6 chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. 

7 ‘‘(4) UNITED STATES; COUNTRY.—The terms 

8 ‘United States’ and ‘country’, when used in a geo9 graphic sense, include territories and possessions. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 11. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE. 

11 ‘‘If any provision of this joint resolution or the appli12 cation thereof to any person or circumstance is held in13 valid, the remainder of the joint resolution and the appli14 cation of such provision to any other person or cir15 cumstance shall not be affected thereby.’’. 

Æ 


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