congressman jim mcgovern on the house floor today delivered a withering indictment of how congress has blown this issue so far. watch this. >> our servicemen and servicewoman men are brave and dedicated. congress, however, is the poster child for cowardess. they need to live up to responsibilities and authorize this war or by continuing neglect and indifference, our troops should be withdrawn and come home. it is that simple. all we witness is complaining and whining and blaming others and the complete and total sheshg sherking of responsibility over and over and over again. enough. enough. if this house doesn't have the stomach to carry out the constitutional duty to debate and authorize this latest war, then we should bring our troops home. if the cowardly congress can go home each night to their families and loved ones, then our brave troops should receive that same privilege. >> joining us now is jim mcgovern of massachusetts. thank you very much for being with us thoonlts -- with us tonight. in the house, if you're not in the majority which democrats are not, it's perceived that y

jim mcgovern's amendment, they voted it down they said they wouldn't pull the troops out either. but to do all that they did have to stand up and be counted. and, yes, this is a baby step but it is still a step. there are all sorts of opinions on this war out there, whether with we should be fighting it, how we should be fighting it. how wide it should be, how narrow it should be. no matter where you come down on it is good news when our elected representatives in congress play the role they're supposed to play and actually have this debate themselves. at the end of a week when we need some good news there you go. two pieces of good news. we'll be right back. you pay your auto insurance premium every month on the dot. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't rais

. >> joining us now is jim mcgovern of massachusetts. if you're not in the majority, it's perceived you have no power, we've seen a little bit of bipartisan interest, do you think you can force a debate on the war against i.s.i.s.? >> i do. we tried to force a debate and the congress and house sided with us saying if we're engaged in sustained military operations, we ought to vote to authorize it. that never happened. we've been involved in the war for ten months but barbara lee and walter jones have a resolution that is part of a special procedure within the war powers that allows us to force a vote and a debate on whether or not we should withdraw our drops from hostilities when congress hasn't authorized them and we'll push the issue. congress, the leadership has a choice. they can actually deliberate and come out with their version or if the not, they will be forced to debate and vote on what we have proposed but i think it is not only an add vacation of the constitution responsibility, i think it is our moral responsibility when it

as has been said by speakers before me, last month, jim mcgovern and barbara lee sent another letter asking for a debate. nothing happened. that's the reason this resolution is on the floor. it's because, as madison said house, do your job. he didn't say executive branch, do your job. he said the legislative branch. that is us. we need to do this on behalf of the constitution and on behalf of our young men and women in uniform who will give their life for their country. it has been 314 days since president obama started launching air strikes and putting troops in iraq and syria without authorization by congress. according to the pentagon, we have spent $9 million a day for a total of $2.7 billion. isn't this another reason that we should be debating the middle east and our role in the middle east? i think so. let me repeat james madison. the power to declare war including the power of judging the causes of war -- may i have half a minute. gomb mr. mcgovern: i yield 30 seconds. mr. jones: i would like to say i bring these pictures to the floor of those who give their life for this cou

two weeks ago, rachel hosted a democratic congressman, jim mcgovern and he said he had come up with a plan that wouldn't exactly trick congress in to it but basically force congress in to actually debating the war in iraq and syria. and now we can tell you that plan -- well it seems to have worked because congress just had two hours of earnest, serious, combative debate about this war, a war that up until now they haven't been willing to say much at all about. >> do our job. i'm sorry so many people think it is a radical idea. >> we either stand up and fight isis now, or we sit on our niece and cowher before them later. >> have the debate on the house floor. national security threat yes, go after them. if not, than do something else. >> people are sick and tired of war. >> we continue to fight the terrorists with one hand behind our back. >> we are waging a war that is probably unconstitutional. >> the world has watched the last several years of our lack of a foreign policy plan. >> to force a debate that -- we wouldn't even be talking about the middle east if it wasn't for this resol

mcgovern and barbara lee and few others put forward. that was the only reason why we even had that debate. it's sort of the worst of the political system right now because the president put forward an aumf. you had republicans who don't like president obama very much who attacked it from the right. and then you had a number of democratic members that are uncomfortable with what going into iraq to begin with in 2002 for understandable reasons, but unfortunately, we've just allowed that debate to stop right there. rather than saying in some way we need to craft an authorization that makes clear that we need to fight isis that they are a dangerous threat that cannot be contained and be negotiated with. at the same time do so in such a way we don't inadvertently give a future president a decade from now the authorization to invade a country that we're not even thinking of at the moment. 13 months ago, if we -- we wouldn't have been talking about isis. we didn't even know the acronym, we're seeing what a major battle that we have to face aga

congressman jim mcgovern said it was necessary to force the government to do its job. i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. royce: mr. speaker i rise in opposition to house concurrent resolution 55. but while i am opposed to the resolution, i do want to commend its author, mr. mcgovern, for his constant and principled attention to the issue of military engagement in iraq and syria and the role of congress in making this decision and these are some of the most important and challenging issues that we face. that we struggle with as an institution. and i know the gentleman from massachusetts is frustrated. i have listened to him on the floor of the house. in many ways i share his frustrations. isis is making too many gains, critical cities have fallen, but this resolution i believe will take us in the opposite direction of where u.s. policy should be. if the united states were to remove all of our forces from the theater as this resolution calls for isis would surely grow stronger. isis would surely continue on a process -- accelerate on

as has been said by speakers before me, last month, jim mcgovern and barbara lee sent another letter asking for a debate. nothing happened. that's the reason this resolution is on the floor. it's because, as madison said house, do your job. he didn't say executive branch, do your job. he said the legislative branch. that is us. we need to do this on behalf of the constitution and on behalf of our young men and women in uniform who will give their life for their country. it has been 314 days since president obama started launching air strikes and putting troops in iraq and syria without authorization by congress. according to the pentagon, we have spent $9 million a day for a total of $2.7 billion. isn't this another reason that we should be debating the middle east and our role in the middle east? i think so. let me repeat james madison. the power to declare war including the power of judging the causes of war -- may i have half a minute. gomb mr. mcgovern: i yield 30 seconds. mr. jones: i would like to say i bring these pictures to the floor of those who give their life for this cou

as has been said by speakers before me, last month, jim mcgovern and barbara lee sent another letter asking for a debate. nothing happened. that's the reason this resolution is on the floor. it's because, as madison said house, do your job. he didn't say executive branch, do your job. he said the legislative branch. that is us. we need to do this on behalf of the constitution and on behalf of our young men and women in uniform who will give their life for their country. it has been 314 days since president obama started launching air strikes and putting troops in iraq and syria without authorization by congress. according to the pentagon, we have spent $9 million a day for a total of $2.7 billion. isn't this another reason that we should be debating the middle east and our role in the middle east? i think so. let me repeat james madison. the power to declare war including the power of judging the causes of war -- may i have half a minute. gomb mr. mcgovern: i yield 30 seconds. mr. jones: i would like to say i bring these pictures to the floor of those who give their life for this cou

representative mcgovern is a democrat and president obama has not asked for a new aumf yet. host: there are some restrictions put in place. >> well, i need to talk to the republican leadership to see what the plan is. i commend him to bringing forth a discussion but i think we need to have a strategy from the president on what he needs to do to defeat isil and we have did not see it. he does not have a strategy he admit it and that starts at the top. we need to hear from him and members from congress will feel more comfortable passing an aumf once we see the plan. host: vicki hartzler is our guest. we'll start with bruce waiting in florida on our line or democrats. bruce good morning. caller: the first thing i would like to say is about the isis. if they want to fight isis, they need to declare war. and on the trade deal, the republicans have the minority in the house. they do not need one democrat to vote for this trade deal. they want the democrats to pass it because they know the american people will turn against the democrats. this is a political trap for democrats. so f

representative mcgovern is a democrat and president obama has not asked for a new aumf yet. host: there are some restrictions put in place. >> well, i need to talk to the republican leadership to see what the plan is. i commend him to bringing forth a discussion but i think we need to have a strategy from the president on what he needs to do to defeat isil and we have did not see it. he does not have a strategy he admit it and that starts at the top. we need to hear from him and members from congress will feel more comfortable passing an aumf once we see the plan. host: vicki hartzler is our guest. we'll start with bruce waiting in florida on our line or democrats. bruce good morning. caller: the first thing i would like to say is about the isis. if they want to fight isis, they need to declare war. and on the trade deal, the republicans have the minority in the house. they do not need one democrat to vote for this trade deal. they want the democrats to pass it because they know the american people will turn against the democrats. this is a political trap for democrats. so f