IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 40 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the President is prohibited under 

the Constitution from initiating war against Syria without express congressional authorization and the appropriation of funds for the express 

purpose of waging such a war. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2013 

Mr. JONES submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs, 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 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the President is prohibited under the Constitution from initiating war 

against Syria without express congressional authorization 

and the appropriation of funds for the express purpose 

of waging such a war. 

Whereas the Constitution’s makers entrusted decisions to initiate offensive warfare not in self-defense exclusively to 

Congress in article I, section 8, clause 11; 

Whereas the Constitution’s makers knew that the Executive 

Branch would be prone to manufacture danger and to deceive Congress and the United States people to justify 

gratuitous wars to aggrandize executive power; 


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•HCON 40 IH 

Whereas chronic wars are irreconcilable with liberty, a separation of powers, and the rule of law; 

Whereas the entry of the United States Armed Forces into 

the ongoing war in Syria to overthrow President Bashar 

al-Assad would make the United States less safe by 

awakening new enemies; 

Whereas the fate of Syria is irrelevant to the security and 

welfare of the United States and its citizens and is not 

worth risking the life of a single member of the United 

States Armed Forces; 

Whereas humanitarian wars are a contradiction in terms and 

characteristically lead to semi-anarchy and chaos, as in 

Somalia and Libya; 

Whereas if victorious, the hydra-headed Syrian insurgency 

would suppress the Christian population or other minorities as has been similarly witnessed in Iraq with its Shiite-dominated government; and 

Whereas United States military aid to the Syrian insurgents 

risks blowback indistinguishable from the military assistance provided to the splintered Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan to oppose the Soviet Union and culminated in 

the 9/11 abominations: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the President is prohibited under the Con4 stitution from the offensive use of the United States 

5 Armed Forces in Syria without prior express author6 ization by an Act of Congress or without a prior exVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:23 Jun 20, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC40.IH HC40

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•HCON 40 IH 

1 press appropriation of funds for that purpose by an 

2 Act of Congress; and 

3 (2) the President’s defiance of those constitu4 tional limitations on his authority to initiate war 

5 would constitute an impeachable high crime and 

6 misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Con7 stitution. 

Æ 


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