WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Thursday on an amendment introduced by Rep. Jamaal Bowman amending the annual National Defense Authorization Act reserving the power to declare war for Congress, and prohibiting the U.S. military from maintaining a presence in Syria. Thursday’s vote is a major show of momentum for Rep. Bowman’s amendment, which has in recent days picked up the support of Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN).

“It’s heartwarming to see this common-sense amendment pick up support and momentum,” said Rep. Bowman. “Congress, not the President, has the authority to declare war, and it’s past time for us to take back the reins to bring our open-ended engagement in Syria to a halt. Especially when we need to be building roads, schools, and businesses here at home, we shouldn’t be spending taxpayer money trying to destroy them overseas in defiance of the Constitution. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment and ending the U.S. military’s intervention in Syria as quickly as possible.”

Rep. Bowman’s amendment was introduced Monday and co-sponsored by War Powers Caucus founders Reps. DeFazio Khanna. It comes as U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act establishing the budget of the U.S. Department of Defense. Rep. Bowman’s amendment aims to restore Congressional oversight over military force, and end the U.S. military’s protracted incursion in Syria, which has since its inception in 2017 resulted in thousands of civilian casualties and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee as refugees.

Click here to watch Rep. Bowman’s floor speech on the amendment.

For the full text of Rep. Bowman’s amendment to the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, click here.