# Barbara Lee The California Democrat who cast **the sole dissenting vote in either chamber** on the 2001 [[AUMF]] — 420–1 in the House, 98–0 in the Senate, three days after September 11. Her floor statement is the reason the vote is remembered as more than a curiosity. She warned that the resolution was a blank check and quoted a clergy member from the National Cathedral memorial service: *"As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore."* She received death threats and required a police detail for months. Twenty-plus years later the analytical point has held up better than the politics did at the time: the sixty words she voted against are still the operative legal authority for American military operations worldwide, and she spent the rest of her House career introducing repeal legislation. See [[Forever Wars]] for the structural argument and [[AUMF]] for the statute. ## See Also - [[AUMF]] · [[Forever Wars]] · [[War Powers Resolution]] [[People Hub]]