S. 316 would repeal the statutory authorizations for U.S. military operations against Iraq. The Congress has authorized such operations twice over the past 30 years, first in 1991 and again in 2002.
The bill would repeal Public Law 102-1, which authorized the President to use U.S. Armed Forces to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding the 1991 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The President did not cite the legal authorities of P.L. 102-1 as the basis for launching U.S. military operations against Iraq but asserted that the deployment was consistent with the War Powers Act. The President subsequently reported to the Congress that combat operations had been suspended on February 28, 1991, following the liberation of Kuwait.
