April 12, 2018
Your Action Call your three members of Congress and tell them Congress must assert its sole authority under the Constitution to authorize military action and require Trump to get Congressional approval before striking Syria or taking other military action. Background Most use of US military force since 9/11 has legally relied on a 2001 Congressional authorization for the use of military force (AUMF), which gave then President Bush authority to strike the 9/11 perpetrators and those that harbored them. An attack on Syria may well be justified by Assad’s horrific use of chemical weapons against civilians, but it is Congress and not Trump that has the sole authority to make that determination. With an ignorant and erratic president desperate for a diversion from the Russia investigation, Congress must do its Constitutional duty and reassert its obligation to approve or disapprove of military force. Script Hi! This is [NAME] and I’m a constituent in [ZIP]. I am concerned that president Trump will escalate our involvement in Syria. Congress must assert its sole authority under the Constitution to authorize military action and require Trump to get congressional approval before striking Syria or taking other military action. Congress reasserting its war authority is especially urgent with an inexperienced and erratic president like Trump.