Gregory W. Meeks

Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 8 wordsI yield myself the balance of my time.Procedure Mr. Speaker, Claims · 42 wordsI say to my colleagues that it has been 144 days of a senseless and a pointless war.¹ The President says he is there to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. In his first term, the President ripped up the JCPOA, ²Procedure · 7 wordsas the gentlewoman from Washington has indicated.Procedure Claims · 31 wordsI was in Congress at that time when the JCPOA was implemented. The United States was not by itself. It was a well-thought-out, diplomatic document that was produced that was clear. Positioning · 16 wordsIt wasn’t something that was done by individuals who heretofore only was involved in real estate.PositioningOff point Claims · 20 wordsIt was done with diplomats around the world and even some of our adversaries in Russia and China, the P5+1.³ Anecdote · 17 wordsI traveled several times to Geneva to have dialogue and conversation with the head of the IAEA, AnecdoteClaims · 180 wordsand I, along with some other colleagues, was told that at that particular time, for the first time, they had their eyes on Iran and its nuclear capabilities. They had cameras watching everything. All of the individuals said that Iran was, at the closest, a year to a year and a half, ⁴and could not progress because of what we were doing in a collective manner to prevent them from having a nuclear weapon. The IAEA was there until when? The President ripped it up. That is when the cameras and the watching of what was taking place there and the agreement that had been made through a diplomatic channel ended, and Iran pushed us out. That is when we no longer could see what was taking place. Diplomacy was preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon without the Strait of Hormuz being closed, without the death of the men and women of our military, without the cost of rising prices of food because fertilizer couldn’t get through the strait, or the cost of gas. We had allies with us. Reasoning · 15 wordsAre we better off now when we are doing all of this basically by ourselves? Claims · 13 wordsBecause everyone advised this President of the United States not to do it. Mr. Speaker, Claims · 41 wordswith 18 lives of servicemembers, too many Iranian civilians, including more than 100 schoolgirls, ⁵⁶and injured countless more, tens of billions of taxpayer dollars spent, ⁷and the administration still refuses to give us a full accounting of where that money went. Procedure · 11 wordsNow, even as they refuse to explain the cost, guess what?Procedure Claims · 73 wordsThey are asking for billions more for a war that they never asked the United States Congress to authorize, a war that the people of the United States of America never asked for.⁸ As indicated by the gentlewoman from Washington, 70 percent of Americans are against this war.⁹ But you know what, Mr. Speaker, the House and the Senate have spoken. They have already voted in a bipartisan way to end this war.¹⁰ The ask · 4 wordsToday, let’s vote again, Claims · 13 wordsand I believe we will get an even greater margin in this House. The ask · 13 wordsLet’s not give this President another blank check to wage an illegal war. Claims · 62 wordsThis is not what the Constitution demands of us. This is not what our constituents expect of us. They expect us to do our jobs. They expect us to abide by the Constitution of the United States of America. They expect us to stand up and tell this President that this illegal war must come to an end once and for all. The ask · 7 wordsVote ``yes’’ on this War Powers Resolution, Promise · 16 wordsand let the American people know that we will not be altered from doing our job. Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 8 wordsI yield back the balance of my time.Procedure