Rep. Roy Weighs in on Syria War Powers Resolution

Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) addressed the House chamber Wednesday ahead of the House’s vote on H. Con. Res. 21 addressing American War Powers in Syria.

Footage of the full speech can be found here, and a transcript is below:

It is important for us to have a full debate and a full of the use of war powers in the United States.

As James Madison pointed out, it was critically important that we put that power in Congress. We should have this debate. If we're going to have troops in Syria, this body, this House of Representatives, this Congress ought to speak to it.

We shouldn't hide behind a 2001 authorization of the use of military force and not update that authorization of the use of military force. I'm not here to say whether we should or should not be in Syria. I am here to say that Congress should speak to it, we should debate it, we should decide. We should have an actual conversation in this body, on this floor, when we're going to place our men and women in uniform in harm's way. That is the point that we should be considering.

I very much believe that the gentleman from Florida has brought something forward using privileged tools that we have here in the in the body, and that we should take that under consideration. We should support the resolution that gentleman has brought forward. If we have concerns, we should then have a debate. A full-throated debate about the use of military force and our men and women in uniform in Syria.