After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, threatening the world's oil supplies, President George Bush sent U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf. Claiming this was a defensive action—and calling it Operation Desert Shield—to protect neighboring Saudi Arabia, the President did not initially ask for congressional approval. But in January 1991 the President sought congressional approval to use military force—Operation Desert Storm—in support of United Nations resolutions that set a deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
Recalling that in 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution had led to the Vietnam War, senators and representatives recognized that their approval would be the equivalent of a declaration of war. With a large national audience watching on television, Congress held a dramatic debate over the Persian Gulf Resolution. Most Republicans supported the President, while most Democrats favored continuing the use of economic sanctions against Iraq. But enough Democrats joined Republicans to pass the Persian Gulf Resolution by a vote of 52 to 47 in the Senate and 250 to 183 in the House. Combat began four days later, and U.S.-led forces drove Iraq out of Kuwait.
Notable in this incident was Congress's failure to invoke the War Powers Act, which raised serious doubts about that act's effectiveness. Under the War Powers Act, military troops must be withdrawn from combat after 60 days unless Congress has declared war or otherwise authorized the use of military force. The President's supporters in Congress believed that applying the War Powers Act would limit his ability to act. Opponents of the war feared that triggering the War Powers Act would actually sanction the use of the military in combat for 60 days. Therefore, neither side called for enforcement of the War Powers Act.
See also Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; War powers
