Army Ranger turned lawmaker wants Congress to alter war on terror authorization to hit Iran proxies

House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said that there have been talks among members of Congress about modifying legislation to push the Pentagon to be tougher on Iran for attacks on U.S. soldiers. 

"There is a discussion about that, and how do we deal with the Houthis," Davidson said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "I mean, they clearly are a terrorist organization, so the designation of them as a terrorist organization should be done."

At the start of this year, the Biden administration re-designated the Houthi militant group as a terrorist organization after delisting the Iran-backed group, formerly known as Ansarallah, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization less than one month into office.

This decision comes after the Houthis launched multiple attacks for months on U.S. military forces and other vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Republicans have frequently expressed concerns about the Biden-Harris administration and its foreign policies, including the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and the increasing tension with the Houthis in the Red Sea. 

Regarding some of the foreign policy concerns, Davidson said some of the issues can be traced back to the 2001 authorization that goes back to al-Qaeda. 

"This thing's been tortured to death," he said. "It's time to really restate our AUMF....[the] Authorization for Use of Military Force."

The AUMF gives the president of the U.S. authority to use the military to go after organizations, nations and groups that have been determined to aid terrorist attacks to the country. 

The Department of the Treasury says that Houthi terrorists are funded by Iran's Sa’id al-Jamal network, as well as PRC-based businessman Zhuang Liang (Zhuang) accused of engaging in money laundering and other schemes for the Sai’d al-Jamal network.

U.S. bases in Syria, Iraq and Jordan have been attacked by Iran-backed militias 173 times following Oct. 7 when the terrorist group Hamas conducted an attack on Israel, resulting in 1,200 people being killed.

According to the Military Times, the attacks conducted by the Iran-backed militias would have killed or injured U.S. soldiers had it not been for fortunate snags. It was also reported that earlier this month, five U.S. personnel were injured after two Katyusha rockets struck the Ain al-Assad air base located in Iraq. 

"I think one of the things that we should do is not only look at the Houthis as a terrorist organization backed by an Iran proxy war, but also look at the right of navigation," Davidson said. 

He explained that the threat to America is the disruption of shipping lanes. 

"America does have an interest in keeping those shipping lanes open, and I think we can do that without getting drawn into a broader war," he said.