Combat Veteran Congressman Sounds Alarm on What Congress Must Do Before It’s Too Late

Liberty Check

• Congress has abdicated its constitutional war powers to the executive branch for decades
• A 22-year Army veteran in Congress is fighting to restore constitutional checks on endless wars
• The War Powers Act requires congressional approval after 60 days — but it’s routinely ignored

As tensions with Iran escalate, one voice in Congress is reminding Americans of a constitutional duty that’s been abandoned for far too long. After 22 years in the Army and deployments around the world, Rep. Tom Barrett knows the true cost of war — and he’s determined to ensure Congress doesn’t repeat the mistakes that led to two decades of endless conflict.

More than 100 years after World War I was supposed to end all wars, America finds itself trapped in what George Orwell predicted in “1984”: a state where “by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist.” When war becomes normalized, it transforms from an extraordinary measure into a chronic condition we simply manage rather than cure.

That’s why Barrett took one of his proudest votes in his first year in Congress: repealing the 2002 authorization for use of military force in Iraq — almost 17 years to the day after he returned from his own deployment in that war. It marked the first time in his lifetime that Congress successfully repealed a war authorization.

Now Barrett has introduced bipartisan reform legislation that would repeal another dormant authorization and require future authorizations to be reapproved at least every five years. The package would also give Congress more tools to quickly and clearly define future missions after the president uses force to confront urgent threats.

The Constitution is crystal clear on this matter: Only Congress can declare war and decide to engage in the use of military force. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act, which delegated some authority to the president for up to 60 days before Congress must give consent for the effort to continue.

But that constitutional requirement has been routinely ignored, and Barrett is calling out the pattern. The decision of when and how to go to war is perhaps the most consequential that a government can make — it literally involves life and death.

“Iran must never get a nuclear weapon, but the people’s representatives must have a say when American lives and taxpayer dollars are on the line,” Barrett argues.

The Michigan congressman warns against a dangerous mindset that has taken root: the belief that America can fight wars using other people’s sons and daughters with technology that keeps us far from the battlefield. Without a draft in over 50 years, it’s easy for many Americans to feel insulated from the effects of war.

But an entire generation of Global War on Terror-era veterans sees it very differently. They lost friends and battle buddies who either didn’t make it home or came back physically or psychologically wounded, with thousands more losing the battle to suicide than to combat.

Barrett carries these memories with him to the House floor. Staff Sergeant Duane Dreasky was his friend and roommate on a deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Dreasky was struck by an IED in Iraq and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, just three miles from where Barrett now casts his votes as a member of the United States Congress.

Other friends were lost to suicide or overdose. Barrett thinks about the total human cost of war as he carries their memories and the thousands of other War on Terror veterans with him as he makes these decisions in the Capitol.

“I owe it to this generation of warfighters to set clear, unambiguous objectives, prevent mission creep and protect against endless conflicts and nation building,” Barrett says.

When military force is necessary, a clearly defined mission allows for overwhelming force to defeat the enemy quickly and decisively — not the open-ended nation-building exercises that consumed two decades and countless lives in the Middle East.

The fundamental question remains: Will Congress reclaim its constitutional authority, or will it continue to rubber-stamp executive branch decisions that lead to endless wars? Barrett’s legislation represents a critical step toward restoring the checks and balances the Founders intended.

The Constitution must be defended.