US House repeals 1991 authorization for use of military force against Iraq

Washington: The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed two bills to repeal the authorities it gave to the president to launch the 1991 war against Iraq and to fight communism in the Middle East.
A bipartisan majority of lawmakers voted in favor of HR 3261, which would repeal the 1991 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that allowed then-President George H. W. Bush to deploy troops to implement a United Nations resolution demanding Iraq leave Kuwait.
The legislation remains active today in what some lawmakers have called an open-ended authorization for war in the country.
The House on Tuesday also approved a bill to repeal a measure that gave the United States the authority to defend Middle Eastern countries from armed aggression by any communist country, such as the former Soviet Union.
The measure was enacted 64 years ago under the Dwight Eisenhower administration, which was concerned the Soviet Union would try to fill the power vacuum in the Middle East after the Suez Crisis.
Both measures will head to the Senate for consideration.
Lawmakers have in recent months begun an effort to repeal decades-old AUMFs, with the US House voting last week to repeal the 2002 AUMF in Iraq.