WASHINGTON – The House voted on Thursday to repeal the nearly two-decade old war resolution that paved the way for the U.S. military invasion of Iraq, which proponents said marked a first step toward halting America’s “forever wars.” 

The House has approved similar measures before, but they died in the Senate when Republicans were in power. This time is different: the Senate’s Democratic leadership has vowed to take up the measure, and the White House has also endorsed it. 

“The Iraq war has been over for nearly a decade,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday in announcing his support for the repeal. 

Schumer and other proponents argued the 2002 measure is irrelevant, unnecessary and subject to abuse.

During Thursday’s debate, House