In World War I and World War II, the Congress met, declared war, and expressly committed the resources of the country. Each member of Congress was asked to individually take as clear and unambiquous a stand as their governmental ancestors did when they pledged their Lives, Fortunes, and sacred Honor in signing the Declaration of Independence. Together they said to the President, on the record in a roll call vote, in the face of their constituents, and where the enemy would know their name:

“..the President is authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States, and the resources of the Government to carry on war against [the Government of the particular nation]; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.”

No Congress since WWII has declared war or made that commmitment.

NEW JERSEY PEACE ACTION,      :
PAULA ROGOVIN, ANNA BERLINRUT : Civil Action
and WILLIAM JOSEPH WHEELER,   :
                              :
Plaintiffs,                   : Hon. Jose L. Linares
                              :
v.                            :
                              : 2:08-cv-02315-JLL-CCC
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT     :
OF THE UNITED STATES, IN HIS  :
OFFICIAL CAPACITY,            :
                              :
Defendant.                    :
______________________________:

New Jersey Peace Action v. George W. Bush was originally filed by The Constitutional Litigation Clinic at Rutgers School of Law–Newark on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, in the Federal District Court in Newark against President Bush over the war in Iraq. The Complaint seeks a Declaratory Judgment that the President's decision to launch a preemptive war against a sovereign nation in 2003 violated Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which assigns to Congress the power to Declare War.

All of the pleadings filed with the Court, so far, can be found on this website at: NJPA, et al v. Bush.

According to the press release distributed at the press conference held just after the filing of the original complaint, the unusual 20-page Complaint relies very heavily on the annals of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, at which the Founders deliberately denied to the president the power to wage war except in response to a sudden attack when Congress did not have time to act. "The Founders were very clear," said Professor Frank Askin, founding director of the clinic and attorney for the plaintiffs, "that only Congress could make that awesome decision. They were not permitted to delegate that power to the president and thus be able later to disclaim responsibility for a decision gone bad. It was that momentous decision that allowed Thomas Jefferson to proclaim that the Convention had 'chained the dog of war'."

The complaint also cites 19th century Supreme Court rulings holding that an all-out, or "perfect," war could only be declared by Congress, or the Congress could declare war by authorizing the president to wage a quasi, or "imperfect," war under strict limits as to scope and duration, without a full-scale Declaration.

Askin also noted that while several lawsuits challenging U.S. military actions without a Congressional Declaration since the end of World War II have failed, most of those were dismissed by lower courts on procedural grounds. The Supreme Court has never held that the president may wage an all-out war against a sovereign nation in the absence of such a Declaration. "In any event," Askin added, "the Constitution may not be amended by persistent violation."

The suit does not seek coercive relief. It does point to continuous threats by the Bush Administration of military action against Iran, and seeks a Declaration that such unilateral actions by the President violate Article I, Section 8, asserting that this is an issue "capable of repetition yet persistently evading review."

Askin noted that the case was greatly aided by research done by Rutgers-Newark law Professor Emeritus Alfred Blumrosen who, along with his lawyer-son Steven, has spent years analyzing and preparing a yet-to-be-published manuscript about the Constitutional Convention and the origins of the "Declare War" clause.

The Blumrosens' book goes back to the founding of the United States to better understand the interplay between Presidential ambition, Congressional complicity, and Judical intervention to protect Constitutional rights. It covers US history from the revolutionary era which produced the Articles of Confederation, through the Constitution and its interpretation by John Marshall, Bushrod Washington, and other early justices, to the Vietnam Era cases and the recently-decided case focused intently on the Iraq war: Doe v. Bush. Al and Steven Blumrosen closely examine both (1) the constitutional requirement that Congress, not the President, make the decision to go to war and (2) the right of a voter to know how his or her representative voted. (Disclosure: This website is Steven Blumrosen's and, aside from the filial relationship, is not connected with Rutgers School of Law–Newark.)

In 1956, after the French lost Dienbienphu and withdrew from Vietnam, the U.S. Military Assistance Advisor Group (M.A.A.G.) provided "training" to the South Vietnamese. In 1964, LBJ asked Congress for an AUMF, an "authorization to use military force." The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was granted with little deliberation, though evidence was flimsy. (George Washington University, National Security Archive / Cached 080512.) There was little opposition. Republican Congressman Eugene Siler of Kentucky opposed the resolution and was paired against another member who favored the resolution. Neither cast votes, so the final roll call was unanimous. In the Senate the only nay votes were cast by Democrats Wayne Morse of Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska. LBJ used this AUMF to justify escalating the war. Then, Nixon used it to prolong and expand hostilities. The result was 58,000 US deaths, 350,000 US casualties, and between one and two million Vietnamese deaths. (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/vietnam/index.cfm / Cached 080512).

Most (31,000+) of the people who died in the United States military were 19 to 21 years old. (http://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics.html / Cached 080512).

Most (38,500+) were "killed in action," many (almost 9,000) died from wounds sustained in action, some (116) "died while captured," about 9,500 died from non-hostile causes, and 1,351 died while missing. (http://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics.html#typecas / Cached 080512).

More statistics are available at such sites as http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm / Cached 080512.

Over 2.5 Million US men and women served within the borders of S. Vietnam. Over 9 Million US military personnel were on active duty during the Vietnam Era. (http://www.mrfa.org/vnstats.htm / Cached 080512. This website is neatly formated, includes data on many factors, and provides a list of women who died in action.)

In the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, each member of Congress who voted for the AUMF did not take the courage stand their predecessors had taken when declaring war. Instead, they took the safer route of letting the President make the determination for war:

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Joint Resolution of Congress H.J. RES 1145 August 7, 1964

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.

Section 2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.

Section 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.

On September 11, 2001, a clear bright cloudless day in New York City, the US watched in shock as the World Trade Center was dramatically brought down in a way that left time for those trapped inside to experience the terror of the last minutes of their lives. The Pentagon building was blown open and amidst the smoke, rubble and chaos, workers died in the headquarters of the Amercan military machine. In the skies over Pennsylvania, brave men and women took the last moments of their lives into their own hands, and sacrificed themselves so others could live.

Within hours, the United States was locked down. The airtraffic control system was grounded. Not a plane was flying, unless it was military.

By the morning of September 12, the intelligence community was able to confirm confidently to the President that the mastermind behind these well-orchestrated co-ordinated sudden attacks on the United States was a fellow they knew well, Osama bin Laden, who was operating out of Afghanistan, a country then ruled by "The Taliban."

The Taliban

The Taliban were a small group of fundamentalist clerics who used their religious schools to teach their children how to fight against the Soviet Union. They fashioned themselves into a Sunni Islamist and Pashtun nationalist movement and received support from Pakistan's Intelligence Agency (ISI), which managed the migration of radical muslims and the importation of munitions to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. It seems to be a widely held belief, perhaps urban myth, that this included direct CIA involvement. Once the USSR left, Afghanistan was in the control of the Mujahideen. The Taliban took on the government and other warlords, and were victorious in seizing the capital, Kabul, and taking over most the country. They renamed their country the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" and gained diplomatic recognition from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. They instituted the system of law called Sharia which has existed from the time of Mohammed but has been implemented, and therefore interpreted, by people in different times, places and cultures.

They were denied recognition by the UN because of human rights violations. According to Wikipedia "Iran, India, Turkey, Russia, USA and most Central Asian republics opposed the Taliban and aided its rival (Afghan Northern Alliance)." (Cached 080608)

While there seems to be a great debate on the internet about whether the CIA provided direct assistance to bin Laden and the "Afghan Arabs," and the US Department of State denies such assistance, there is no dispute that the CIA was operating in the area in support of the "Afghans fighting for their country's freedom" (Cached 080608) and in trying to recover Stinger missles, but not information on bin Laden (Cached 080608), and that Pakistan's ISI found a delicate line to tread between the CIA and the Taliban, Jane's Security News (Cached 080608).

And, there is no doubt that the international intelligence community and the US government were aware of Osama bin Laden. On August 24, 1998, three years before 9/11, MSNBC published a "Brave New World" story titled "Bin Laden comes home to roost: His CIA ties are only the beginning of a woeful story" (Cached 080604) calling bin Laden "our new public enemy Number 1."

He is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, though the FBI does not number the 10 most wanted - on the theory that they are wanted equally. On September 27, 2001, Wired (Cached 080609) explained that:

Bin Laden is listed, but only for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. There is no mention of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or the attacks on the USS Cole in October 2000, both of which he is widely believed to have orchestrated. And forget about Sept. 11.

The reason? Fugitives on the list must be formally charged with a crime, and bin Laden is still only a suspect in the recent attacks in New York City and Washington. ...

President Bush promises to reveal evidence linking bin Laden to the suicide hijackers who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Osama bin Laden

Just days after 9/11 Forbes magazine (Cached 080608) publically reported, mostly from information on the internet:

As a teen-ager, bin Laden joined the ultraconservative Wahhabi sect of Islam and served with the police enforcing sharia laws. (The Wahhabi movement is supported by the Saudi monarchy, among others, and today is one of the fastest growing tendencies in the Islamic world; it is ultra-puritanical and anti-modern; in things like avoiding contact with women or nonbelievers.) Bin Laden attended the King Abdul Aziz University in Jidda, where one of his teachers, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, would later play a prominent role in mobilizing Arab support for the Mujahedin fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Bin Laden graduated in 1979 with a degree in economics and management.

In January 1980, several weeks after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, bin Laden went to Peshawar, Pakistan, to join the anti-Soviet resistance movement. Although he would later participate in some battles against the Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan, bin Laden's main role was to stay behind the front lines, financing and organizing brigades of Islamic volunteers going into battle. He not only invested some of his personal financial resources to fund the combat brigades, he also received military and financial assistance from the intelligence services of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States. Bin Laden eventually came to control a force of about 2,000 Islamic fighters from different Arab countries. He established several guerrilla training camps: Al-Ansar and Masadat in Sudan and several others in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The fighters trained in these camps came from all over the Islamic world and were willing to fight wherever they felt Islam was being threatened. ...

Back in Saudi Arabia in 1990, bin Laden found the Saudi monarchy cooperating closely with the United States in repelling Sadam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Angered by the presence of U.S. troops on Saudi soil during the Gulf War, bin Laden criticized the Saudi monarchy for selling out to the "infidel" Americans. The Saudi authorities placed him under house arrest, but he fled to Sudan, where an Islamic fundamentalist regime had just taken power and unleashed a genocidal war against its own Christian minority in the southern part of the country.

In Sudan over the course of five years, bin Laden gathered several hundred of his Afghan veterans from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian refugee camps, Uganda, Eritrea, Somalia, Albania, Bosnia, Chechnya and the Philippines. With the blessing of the government of Sudan, he set up three terrorist training camps. His fighters made their first sallies against America in 1993, when they helped train the Islamic militias that attacked American troops performing a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Somalia and helped coordinate the first World Trade Center bombing a month later.

In 1995, bin Laden's operatives detonated a car bomb that killed five American servicemen stationed in Saudi Arabia. In 1996, a larger car bomb killed 19 American servicemen at a housing complex in Saudi Arabia.

By this time, the United States had focused on bin Laden as the primary terrorist threat to America. Intense diplomatic pressure forced Sudan to expel bin Laden in 1996 and close down his terrorist training camps there. He went back to Afghanistan, where he joined forces with the fanatical Taliban militia, which was in the process of taking over the country from the more moderate Islamic government.

Immediately following 9/11 there were no more attacks. The nation went into mourning. The bin Laden family was flown out of the country. As anger built, the Congress met to decide what to do: Would it couragously take a roll-call vote on an all-out Declaration of War or pass a statute with clear limitations on the Presidential use of the US military, or simply authorize the President to make his own decision on whether and how to use military force. They choose the later and took roll-call votes on whether to "let George decide." They did not even determine who the enemy was, as the WWII Congress did in passing a series of Declarations of War as new enemies emerged. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a self-described 'Army brat,' cast the lone nay vote. (http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2001/09/lee.html / Cached 080513.)

Authorization for Use of Military Force (Enrolled Bill)

--S.J.Res.23--

One Hundred Seventh Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the third day of January, two thousand and one

Joint Resolution

To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.

Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens; and

Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad; and

Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence; and

Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and

Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force'.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

(b) War Powers Resolution Requirements-

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/sept_11/sjres23_eb.htm

Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, October 2, 2002

Whereas in 1990 in response to Iraq's war of aggression against and illegal occupation of Kuwait, the United States forged a coalition of nations to liberate Kuwait and its people in order to defend the national security of the United States and enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq;

Whereas after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, Iraq entered into a United Nations sponsored cease-fire agreement pursuant to which Iraq unequivocally agreed, among other things, to eliminate its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs and the means to deliver and develop them, and to end its support for international terrorism;

Whereas the efforts of international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors led to the discovery that Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program, and that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than intelligence reporting had previously indicated;

Whereas Iraq, in direct and flagrant violation of the cease-fire, attempted to thwart the efforts of weapons inspectors to identify and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stockpiles and development capabilities, which finally resulted in the withdrawal of inspectors from Iraq on October 31, 1998;

Whereas in 1998 Congress concluded that Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threatened vital United States interests and international peace and security, declared Iraq to be in "material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations" and urged the President "to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations" (Public Law 105-235);

Whereas Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations;

Whereas Iraq persists in violating resolutions of the United Nations Security Council by continuing to engage in brutal repression of its civilian population thereby threatening international peace and security in the region, by refusing to release, repatriate, or account for non-Iraqi citizens wrongfully detained by Iraq, including an American serviceman, and by failing to return property wrongfully seized by Iraq from Kuwait;

Whereas the current Iraqi regime has demonstrated its capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people;

Whereas the current Iraqi regime has demonstrated its continuing hostility toward, and willingness to attack, the United States, including by attempting in 1993 to assassinate former President Bush and by firing on many thousands of occasions on United States and Coalition Armed Forces engaged in enforcing the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council;

Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;

Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of American citizens;

Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001 underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations;

Whereas Iraq's demonstrated capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction, the risk that the current Iraqi regime will either employ those weapons to launch a surprise attack against the United States or its Armed Forces or provide them to international terrorists who would do so, and the extreme magnitude of harm that would result to the United States and its citizens from such an attack, combine to justify action by the United States to defend itself;

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 authorizes the use of all necessary means to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 660 and subsequent relevant resolutions and to compel Iraq to cease certain activities that threaten international peace and security, including the development of weapons of mass destruction and refusal or obstruction of United Nations weapons inspections in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, repression of its civilian population in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 688, and threatening its neighbors or United Nations operations in Iraq in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 949;

Whereas Congress in the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1) has authorized the President "to use United States Armed Forces pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) in order to achieve implementation of Security Council Resolutions 660, 661, 662, 664, 665, 666, 667, 669, 670, 674, and 677";

Whereas in December 1991, Congress expressed its sense that it "supports the use of all necessary means to achieve the goals of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 as being consistent with the Authorization of Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1)," that Iraq's repression of its civilian population violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 and "constitutes a continuing threat to the peace, security, and stability of the Persian Gulf region," and that Congress, "supports the use of all necessary means to achieve the goals of United Nations Security Council Resolution 688";

Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act (Public Law 105-338) expressed the sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime and promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime;

Whereas on September 12, 2002, President Bush committed the United States to "work with the United Nations Security Council to meet our common challenge" posed by Iraq and to "work for the necessary resolutions," while also making clear that "the Security Council resolutions will be enforced, and the just demands of peace and security will be met, or action will be unavoidable";

Whereas the United States is determined to prosecute the war on terrorism and Iraq's ongoing support for international terrorist groups combined with its development of weapons of mass destruction in direct violation of its obligations under the 1991 cease-fire and other United Nations Security Council resolutions make clear that it is in the national security interests of the United States and in furtherance of the war on terrorism that all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions be enforced, including through the use of force if necessary;

Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001 or harbored such persons or organizations;

Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;

Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States, as Congress recognized in the joint resolution on Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40); and

Whereas it is in the national security of the United States to restore international peace and security to the Persian Gulf region;

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq".

SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS

The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by the President to--

(a) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions applicable to Iraq and encourages him in those efforts; and

(b) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay, evasion and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION. The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to

(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and

(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq.

(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.

In connection with the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President shall, prior to such exercise or as soon there after as may be feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that

(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq, and

(2) acting pursuant to this resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorists attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.

(c) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS. --

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION. -- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS. -- Nothing in this resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.

SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS

(a) The President shall, at least once every 60 days, submit to the Congress a report on matters relevant to this joint resolution, including actions taken pursuant to the exercise of authority granted in section 2 and the status of planning for efforts that are expected to be required after such actions are completed, including those actions described in section 7 of Public Law 105-338 (the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998).

(b) To the extent that the submission of any report described in subsection (a) coincides with the submission of any other report on matters relevant to this joint resolution otherwise required to be submitted to Congress pursuant to the reporting requirements of Public Law 93-148 (the War Powers Resolution), all such reports may be submitted as a single consolidated report to the Congress.

(c) To the extent that the information required by section 3 of Public Law 102-1 is included in the report required by this section, such report shall be considered as meeting the requirements of section 3 of Public Law 102-1.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021002-2.html / Cached 080521

Since 1787, when the Constitution was written, there have been few cases interpreting the War Powers clause. An interesting one is:

Bas v. Tingy, 4 U.S. 4 Dall. 37 37 (1800)