On this day in ...... 1991, both chambers of Congress adopted a Persian Gulf War Resolution authorizing President George H.W. Bush to deploy U.S. troops to liberate Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded the previous August. The vote in the House of Representatives was 250 to 183; in the Senate, 52 to 47. (That these votes were far from unanimous may be a reflection on public sentiment, evinced by the then-popular T-shirt at left.) The U.S. resolution invoked U.N. Security Council Resolution 678 (1991), which, as Congress put it, "authorized member states of the United Nations to use all necessary means, after January 15, 1991, to uphold and implement all relevant Security Council resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area." What became known as the 1st Gulf War would begin 4 days later and conclude with a ceasefire at the end of February.
(Prior January 12 posts are here and here.)
