Armed Services Bill VII
S. 931
A BILL
IN
THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
To
require certain information from the President before certain deployments of the
Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled,
SECTION
1. REPORT ON CERTAIN INFORMATION BEFORE CERTAIN DEPLOYMENTS OF ARMED FORCES.
(a)
PROHIBITION ON USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS FOR DEPLOYMENT BEFORE REPORT- Except as
provided in subsection (d), the President may not obligate or expend any
appropriated funds for a deployment of the Armed Forces referred to in
subsection (b) until the President submits to the appropriate officials and
committees of Congress a report on the deployment meeting the requirements of
subsection (c).
(b)
COVERED DEPLOYMENTS- A deployment of the Armed Forces referred to in this
subsection is a deployment of the Armed Forces--
(1)
into hostilities;
(2)
into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated
by the circumstances;
(3)
in a contingency operation; or
(4)
to or with a multilateral organization.
(c)
REPORT- The report on a deployment under this section shall--
(1)
specify the vital national interests at stake that require the deployment, the
likely consequences of the deployment on such interests and on any other
national interests, and the adverse consequences to such interests of the
absence of such deployment;
(2)
specify why diplomatic and other means (other than the deployment) are unable to
secure the interests specified under paragraph (1);
(3)
identify concrete policy objectives that are to be achieved by the deployment,
the specific military missions that are designed to achieve each such policy
objective, and the anticipated date, or the set of conditions, that defines the
endpoint of the deployment; and
(4)
specify the authority for the deployment under the Constitution and under
international law.
(d)
EXCEPTION- (1) Subsection (a) shall not apply in the case of a deployment in
response to a war declared by Congress, or a national emergency declared by the
President or Congress, that is caused by an attack on the United States, or its
territories or possessions, or on the Armed Forces abroad.
(2)
If subsection (a) does not apply with respect to a deployment by reason of
paragraph (1), the President shall submit to the appropriate officials and
committees of Congress a report on the deployment that meets the requirements of
subsection (c) as soon as practicable after the date of the deployment.
(e)
CONSTRUCTION WITH WAR POWERS RESOLUTION- (1) Compliance with the provisions of
this section with respect to a deployment shall satisfy the requirements of
section 4(a) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1543(a)) with respect to
the deployment.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall affect the applicability of section 5 of the War
Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544) to any deployment referred to in subsection
(b).
(f)
DEFINITIONS- In this section:
(1)
The term `Armed Forces' has the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(4) of
title 10, United States Code.
(2)
The term `appropriate officials of Congress' means the following:
(A)
The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(B)
The President pro tempore of the Senate.
(3)
The term `appropriate committees of Congress' means the following:
(A)
The Committees on Armed Services and on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(B)
The Committees on Armed Services and on International Relations of the House of
Representatives.
(4)
The term `contingency operation' has the meaning given that term in section
101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code.