Legislative Background
Recent Action Authorizing Military Force Against Iraq
Regime change in Iraq has been an official U.S. policy since 1998, when Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed into law the Iraq Liberation Act. The Act gave the President authority to provide funds to opposition groups in Iraq, and stated that the United States should support efforts to remove Saddam Hussein’s regime. Bush Administration Actions. Throughout most of its first year, the Bush Administration continued most elements of the Clinton Administration policy. After September 11, 2001, however, the Administration’s stance became more assertive, with the President threatening, in his first State of the Union address, to take unspecified…
