No War Against Iran Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3159 To prohibit the use of funds for military force against Iran, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 8, 2020 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. WARREN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To prohibit the use of funds for military force against Iran, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No War Against Iran 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF UNAUTHORIZED MILITARY FORCE 6 IN OR AGAINST IRAN. 7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 8 ings: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3159.IS S3159 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3159 IS (1) Congress has the sole power to declare war 1 under article I, section 8 of the United States Con- 2 stitution. 3 (2) Congress has not declared war against Iran 4 nor has Congress enacted a specific statutory au- 5 thorization for the use of force against Iran. 6 (3) Article I, section 9 of the United States 7 Constitution vests Congress with the sole authority 8 over Federal expenditures and states, ‘‘No Money 9 shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Con- 10 sequence of Appropriations made by Law.’’. 11 (b) CLARIFICATION OF CURRENT LAW.—Nothing in 12 the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 13 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note), the Authorization for Use 14 of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public 15 Law 107–243; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note), or any other provi- 16 sion of law enacted before the date of the enactment of 17 this Act may be construed to provide authorization for the 18 use of military force against Iran. 19 (c) PROHIBITION OF UNAUTHORIZED MILITARY 20 FORCE IN OR AGAINST IRAN.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 22 graph (2), no Federal funds may be obligated or ex- 23 pended for any use of military force in or against 24 Iran unless Congress has— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3159.IS S3159 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3159 IS (A) declared war; or 1 (B) enacted specific statutory authoriza- 2 tion for such use of military force after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act that meets the re- 4 quirements of the War Powers Resolution (50 5 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.). 6 (2) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition under para- 7 graph (1) shall not apply to a use of military force 8 that is consistent with section 2(c) of the War Pow- 9 ers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541(c)). 10 (d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 11 (1) SELF-DEFENSE.—Nothing in this Act may 12 be construed to prevent the President from using 13 necessary and appropriate force to defend United 14 States allies and partners if Congress enacts specific 15 statutory authorization for such use of force con- 16 sistent with the requirements of the War Powers 17 Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.). 18 (2) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIRE- 19 MENTS.—Nothing in this Act may be construed to 20 relieve the executive branch of restrictions on the 21 use of force, reporting, or consultation requirements 22 set forth in the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 23 1541 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3159.IS S3159 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3159 IS (3) NO AUTHORITY FOR USE OF MILITARY 1 FORCE.—Nothing in this Act may be construed to 2 authorize the use of military force. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jan 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3159.IS S3159 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS