DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(c) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM LEBANON

On 2026-06-29, Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5) delivered a floor speech titled "DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(C) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM " in the House.

DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(c) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM LEBANON

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 108 (Monday, June 29, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 108 (Monday, June 29, 2026)] [House] [Pages H4304-H4309] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(c) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM LEBANON Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to order of the House of June 29, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 108) directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Lebanon, and ask for its immediate consideration. The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the concurrent resolution is considered read. The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows: H. Con. Res. 108 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), SECTION 1. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM ANY HOSTILITIES IN LEBANON. Termination.--Pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)), Congress directs the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from any hostilities in Lebanon by not later than the date that is 7 days after the date of the adoption of this concurrent resolution. SEC. 2 RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO CERTAIN ACTIVITIES. Nothing in this concurrent resolution may be construed to prevent or limit security cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces or the protection of diplomatic facilities. SEC. 3 RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO THE NONAUTHORIZATION OF THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE. Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), nothing in this concurrent resolution may be construed as authorizing the use of military force. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The concurrent resolution shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by Representative Mast of Florida and Representative Meeks of New York, or their respective designees. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) each control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida. General Leave Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida? There was no objection. Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 108. While I voted against a previous iteration of this resolution, I believe this updated version has corrected the flaws of H. Con. Res. 84. The updated text is an important legislative assertion of Congress' constitutional authority over matters of war and peace that will not infringe upon America's national security interests in Lebanon, while ensuring we stay out of another forever war that is not in our national interest. We consider this resolution in the wake of the recently announced trilateral framework between Lebanon, Israel, and the United States. I welcome this agreement, which represents a critical step away from continued escalation and violence. However, what comes next is most critical: Ensuring a ceasefire is indeed observed by all, fully disarming Hezbollah, and preserving Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity. {time} 1920 Since the start of Trump's illegal war of choice with Iran, civilians in both Lebanon and Israel have suffered the consequences of continued strikes by both Hezbollah and the Israeli military. Now, I strongly condemn violence against civilians in all forms and support efforts by both the Israeli and Lebanese Governments to ensure the safety and security of their people. Every government has a right and a responsibility to protect its citizens, and Israel has a right to defend itself. However, this does not justify disproportionate airstrikes which have killed too many civilians, including medical workers and journalists, as well as destroyed civilian infrastructure throughout Lebanon. As I continue to condemn Hezbollah's drone and rocket fire into Israel, I note with deep concern the Israeli Defense Minister's public pronouncement to destroy all homes in southern Lebanon border villages and ``follow the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza'' where the Israeli military systematically destroyed thousands of Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure. These are not words of self-defense. They are the language of collective punishment, and that must be condemned. As we look to efforts to deescalate and move toward peace and stability for both Israelis and the Lebanese, I will state for the record that, to my knowledge, United States Forces are not currently engaged in any active hostilities in Lebanon with the Israeli military. Nonetheless, this resolution ensures that does not change without congressional authorization. We must not enter another illegal, reckless, and counterproductive war in the Middle East. While this resolution prohibits U.S. Forces from engaging in hostilities in Lebanon, it makes clear it shall not prevent or in any way limit the important mission that the United States Armed Forces are engaged in with Lebanon; that is, the longstanding training and support of the Lebanese Armed Forces, also known as the LAF, which are critical to Lebanon's stability and that of the region. In my many meetings with both Lebanese and Israeli leaders over the years, I deeply understand and appreciate the importance of supporting building up Lebanon's Armed Forces--a goal which successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have furthered. Protecting that mission, which has enjoyed bipartisan support across administrations, is precisely why this resolution is carefully drafted to preserve it. This resolution stands on the side of ending forever wars and ensuring U.S. forces are not drawn into hostilities in Lebanon. Any colleague who believes Congress must reassert its constitutional authority over matters of war and peace should stand with us today. Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same. I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I oppose this resolution. However, I will say that I am very glad to hear the debate offered by my colleague, Ranking Member Meeks. He spoke about Hezbollah. We went through an entire debate several weeks ago where the opposition refused to mention that Hezbollah even existed, so I am glad to hear Ranking Member Meeks bring that up. Hezbollah specifically targeting civilians with their every action, that is their MO. Israel specifically targeting terrorists, that is what is going on here. Now, as it relates to this piece of legislation, we have done this exercise before, and I am glad to hear the ranking member acknowledge that the United States is not engaged in any hostilities in Lebanon against Hezbollah. The U.S. is not at war in Lebanon. The U.S. is not engaged in hostilities in Lebanon. There are not U.S. combat forces conducting operations or engaged in hostilities in Lebanon. They are training the Lebanese Armed Forces. Why are they training them? Because there are at least 40,000, probably more, Hezbollah terrorists spread across the south of Lebanon that are actively engaged in targeting Israel and have been doing so for many years. Israel is over there doing a good job working to wipe those terrorists out right now, but this resolution is impossible to implement. Even if it passed, could the author explain to me which forces would be removed? If we don't have combat forces there, what forces are being removed? That is a very commonsense question. I don't think we will get an answer to it, Mr. Speaker. [[Page H4305]] I will say something else that I am glad about in today's debate: The really stupid mistake that was made in the last attempt to do this was removed, where the author was seeking to remove the marines from our embassies, from the gates, from the front doors. I am glad that that was removed from this one, thankfully. This resolution still is not any less ridiculous than the last one. Again, the U.S. is not at war in Lebanon. Since we are here, let's address something today that this resolution fails to mention and what the author of this bill I think wants to avoid. Hezbollah is one of the world's most capable and dangerous terrorist organizations. They have killed hundreds of Americans, which makes it interesting to me that my colleague, who opened the remarks saying that it is not in our national interest to address them, they have killed hundreds of Americans. That is a pretty damn big national interest to me. As a U.S. servicemember, as an American, as somebody with teenagers that will hopefully put on a uniform in defense of this country at some point, I would say it is in our national interest. But, again, they are one of the world's most capable, dangerous terrorist organizations who have killed hundreds of Americans and attacked U.S. diplomatic and military personnel over and over again. I am not sure why my colleagues don't want to talk about that, and especially, again, the author of this bill last time failed to even mention the word ``Hezbollah'' or refused to mention the word ``Hezbollah'' because this resolution is a win for terrorists. That is what it is. If you are trying to decide who should have control of Lebanon, who should it belong to, should Lebanon belong to the Lebanese or should Lebanon belong to the terrorists, this resolution is a win for Lebanon to belong to terrorists. Let's also be clear that Hezbollah is the one holdout that is sta

Referenced legislation: HCONRES84, HCONRES108