The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (House
Joint Resolution 114) was signed October 16, 2002, as Public Law 107-243 by
President George W. Bush.^[1]
On Thursday, October 10, 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives voted
296-133^[2] and, on Friday, October 11, 2002, the U.S. Senate voted 77-23 to "authorize President
Bush to attack Iraq if Saddam Hussein refuses to give up weapons of mass destruction as required
by U.N. resolutions."^[3]
The resolution required President Bush "to declare to Congress either before or within 48 hours after beginning military action that
diplomatic efforts to enforce the U.N. resolutions have failed."^[4]
The resolution required Bush to "certify that action against Iraq would
not hinder efforts to pursue the al
Qaeda terrorist network" that attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001. It also required the Bush administration "to report to Congress
on the progress of any war with Iraq
every 60 days."^[5]