U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett introduced legislation Thursday that aims to set an end date for military action in Iran.
Barrett (R-MI 7) put forward an Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, to place limits on United States military action in Iran.
The legislation sets a deadline for the war in Iran to cease by July 30, followed by a 30-day wind-down period to withdraw personnel and end all engagement.
Barrett said a primary reason for this deadline came from his own military experience.
"Having spent more than 20 years in the Army, my entire career was really spent during that 20-year-long Global War on Terror," he said Thursday. "I felt this was an important protection to have, that we go forward with a clearly defined objective, prevent or degrade the Iranians ability to develop or use a nuclear weapon, but not an endless conflict that will take another 20 years and another generation of Americans to go fight for."
In addition to placing a deadline on the war in Iran, the AUMF sets parameters for what military action can and cannot take place.
"It also has a prohibition against the use of ground troops, because I feel like that's something that we need to guard against," Barrett said. "It would also prevent any kind of nation building or other things that we've seen in the failed outcomes of what we witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The AUMF would only allow ground troops in specific circumstances, such as rescue missions or intelligence gathering.
The legislation would also require the president to report military actions to Congress every 30 days. This would include an assessment of civilian and military casualties.
Barrett said the legislation would "reinstate Congress's authority on the use of force."
"We have to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," he said. "But we also have to be guarded against the history that we've seen of these endless wars that have taken so long and not resulted in the outcome that we need to have happened."
In the past, President Donald Trump has denied that he required congressional approval for military action in Iran and said people claiming he did were "not patriotic."
Barrett's legislation would need to pass in both the House and the Senate to take effect.
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