WASHINGTON – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved an authorization of the use of military force (AUMF) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Thursday that included language authored by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) to ensure that the war is paid for. The amendment says that, “any funds made available for activities authorized by this joint resolution should be fully offset through reduced spending, increased revenue, or both.”
“Paying for our war against ISIL is not just fiscally but also I think, morally responsible,” Senator Coons said at Thursday’s markup. “It is not right to expect the men and women of our armed forces and their families, our veterans, to bear the full cost of war and have no discussion about how we will either raise the revenue or reduce the spending that will achieve an offset of those costs… I am grateful to the Chairman for including in the manager’s amendment a provision that calls on the Administration not just to present a military strategy but a fiscal strategy, so that those of our constituents who question what is our path forward, can have a full and informed insight into the strategy, the costs, the scope, and the duration of this. As we try to work together to achieve a broadly supported, bipartisan AUMF in this debate and in the debates to come, it is my hope we will also keep right in front of us how we will pay for that war.”
Every war from the War of 1812 to the first Gulf War was paid for through revenue increases or reduced spending.
The language included in the authorization was taken from an amendment Sen. Coons filed on December 10. The original amendment is available as a PDF here: http://coons.senate.gov/download/pay-for-amendment-to-aumf
A video of Thursday’s hearing is available here: http://1.usa.gov/12zdHLL