A bill to provide a procedure for the exercise of congressional and executive powers over the use of any Armed Forces of the United States in military hostilities and for other purposes.

Summary

Provides that, in the absence of a declaration of war by the Congress, the President of the United States is authorized to commit Armed Forces of the United States to military hostilities only: (1) to repel any attack against the United States, its territories, or possessions; (2) to repel any attack against the Armed Forces of the United States on the high seas, in the air, or lawfully stationed on foreign territory; (3) to protect the lives of United States nationals abroad; and (4) to comply with a national commitment resulting from treaty, convention, or legislative enactment specifically intended to give effect to such commitment. Establishes a Joint Committee on National Security which shall meet within twenty-four hours after the initiation of such hostilities. Directs the President to report the initiation of such hostilities to the joint committee, together with a full account of the circumstances bearing on the necessity for the initiation of such hostilities. Provides that the joint committee shall not have authority to report legislation to the floor of either House, but it shall transmit information under this Act together with its recommendation for legislation to be considered or adopted. States that military hostilities by the Armed Forces of the United States shall not be continued for more than thirty days from the date such hostilities are initiated unless the authority to continue such hostilities for more than thirty days is contained in enabling legislation enacted by the Congress, including a declaration of war.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

1 official file

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 9 April 1973

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.