Rep. Barbara Lee was the lone vote in Congress against open-ended war, three days after 9/11.Lee spoke with Insider about winning allies, resetting US foreign policy, and why she's"not a pacifist."
has vindicated the Oakland congresswoman. She has annually re-introduced a bill that would repeal the 2001 AUMF, which over the years has increasingly gained Republican support.," and is still working to have her congressional colleagues assert their constitutional war-making responsibilities. by phone last week about winning GOP allies, resetting US foreign policy, and why she's"not a pacifist.
Could you characterize what you think congressional Democrats may have gotten wrong in those early days after 9/11? I know it's a counterfactual, but if there had been a little bit of time for reflection and debate, and the AUMF had limited the mission to going after Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, do you think under those circumstances that you might've supported the AUMF?
We're very close to the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and weeks removed from the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban. A lot of members of Congress are furious that the US pulled out in such a haphazard way. We're working together with Democrats across the political spectrum to try to get a repeal of the 2001 AUMF brought to the floor. I have introduced [a repeal bill] over and over and over again. It's always been killed in the Senate.