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U.S. Military Interventions: A Congressional Scorecard

Brendan Hoffman/Getty

Presidents don’t have to seek congressional approval for all foreign interventions, but Congress will express its opinion one way or another. A strike in Syria would be the sixth major intervention of the past 20 years—and some 100 politicians have been in office to vote (or spout off) on all of them. However, their positions haven’t always remained the same. Here’s how the biggest pols came down on these interventions.

Democrat

Republican

Yes

No

No statement or No vote

House

 
1995
1999
2001
2003
2011
 
Politician
Bosnia
Kosovo
Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
 
BK
KV
AF
IZ
LY
Rob Andrews
R. Andrews
Xavier Becerra
X. Becerra
Sanford Bishop
S. Bishop
John Boehner
J. Boehner
Corrine Brown
C. Brown
Ken Calvert
K. Calvert
Dave Camp
D. Camp
Jim Clyburn
J. Clyburn
Peter Defazio
P. Defazio
Rosa Delauro
R. Delauro
John Dingell
J. Dingell
Jimmy Duncan
J. Duncan
Eliot Engel
E. Engel
Luis Gutiérrez
L. Gutiérrez
Alcee Hastings
A. Hastings
Steny Hoyer
S. Hoyer
Pete King
P. King
Jack Kingston
J. Kingston
Jim McDermott
J. McDermott
Buck McKeon
B. McKeon
George Miller
G. Miller
Jerry Nadler
J. Nadler
Nancy Pelosi
N. Pelosi
Hal Rogers
H. Rogers
Dana Rohrabacher
D. Rohrabacher
James Sensenbrenner
J. Sensenbrenner
José Serrano
J. Serrano
Louise Slaughter
L. Slaughter
Lamar Smith
L. Smith
Pete Visclosky
P. Visclosky
Maxine Waters
M. Waters
Henry Waxman
H. Waxman
Frank Wolf
F. Wolf

Senate

 
1995
1999
2001
2003
2011
 
Politician
Bosnia
Kosovo
Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
 
BK
KV
AF
IZ
LY
Max Baucus
M. Baucus
Barbara Boxer
B. Boxer
Thad Cochran
T. Cochran
Dianne Feinstein
D. Feinstein
Chuck Grassley
C. Grassley
Tom Harkin
T. Harkin
Orrin Hatch
O. Hatch
Jim Inhofe
J. Inhofe
Patrick Leahy
P. Leahy
Carl Levin
C. Levin
John McCain
J. McCain
Mitch McConnell
M. McConnell
Barbara Mikulski
B. Mikulski
Patty Murray
P. Murray
Harry Reid
H. Reid
Jay Rockefeller
J. Rockefeller
Richard Shelby
R. Shelby

House → Senate

 
1995
1999
2001
2003
2011
 
Politician
Bosnia
Kosovo
Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
 
BK
KV
AF
IZ
LY
Sherrod Brown
S. Brown
Ben Cardin
B. Cardin
Mike Crapo
M. Crapo
Dick Durbin
D. Durbin
Ed Markey
E. Markey
Bob Menendez
B. Menendez
Rob Portman
R. Portman
Jack Reed
J. Reed
Chuck Schumer
C. Schumer
Ron Wyden
R. Wyden