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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Rachel Nusbaum, 202-715-0834rnusbaum@aclu.org

White House's Military Force Proposal Lacks Critical Details, ACLU Says

The Obama administration sent proposed legislation authorizing the use of military force against ISIS to Congress today. The administration has been conducting airstrikes against ISIS since August 8, 2014, but Congress has not yet voted on whether to authorize the campaign.

Chris Anders, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, had this reaction:

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration sent proposed legislation authorizing the use of military force against ISIS to Congress today. The administration has been conducting airstrikes against ISIS since August 8, 2014, but Congress has not yet voted on whether to authorize the campaign.

Chris Anders, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, had this reaction:

"Among Congress's constitutional authorities, there is none more important than the authority to declare war. While the administration's proposal is a constructive one, it lacks crucial limitations. It fails to make clear that the new enactment will be the exclusive authority for the use of military force against ISIS, which leaves open the possibility that the executive branch will continue to rely inappropriately on the authorization that Congress passed in 2001. It lacks any geographic limitation, which means that the executive branch may interpret it to authorize the use of force far from the battlefield in Iraq. It also fails to state clearly the specific objective for which military force is being authorized, and so gives no clear picture of what it would mean to 'win.' If Congress grants any new authority for the use of military force, the authority must be significantly more limited than the authority the administration has proposed."

This statement is at:
https://www.aclu.org/national-security/aumf-proposal-lacks-critical-details-aclu-says

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

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