Tammy Baldwin

Mr. President, Positioning · 15 wordstoday, I rise, once again, in strong opposition to Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran.Positioning Claims · 276 wordsFor more than 6 months now, American families have paid the price for this President’s war of choice.¹ This conflict has cost the lives of 18 of our servicemembers.² It has cost American taxpayers $43 billion, ³and it has cost families, small businesses, and manufacturers, as the price of just about everything has skyrocketed. I have been traveling across Wisconsin to hear from my constituents as to just what this war has cost them. In Milwaukee, I have heard from veterans about the cost of war on our soldiers, their families, and their communities. In Madison, I have heard from parents who are seeing a 20-percent increase in the cost of back-to-school essentials, like lunch boxes and notebooks and paper.⁴ In La Crosse, I heard from a hardware store owner about the impact of the rising costs on goods in his store and what that means for his customers. In Green Bay, one manufacturer told me that his supplier of raw aluminum in the Middle East--a product that he can only get overseas-- was literally bombed. That is on top of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased costs from tariffs and the war generally. Our Wisconsin farmers are just getting hammered. They had higher fertilizer costs at the planting season, higher fuel costs just to run their equipment, and because of Trump’s trade wars, they have fewer places to sell their produce. During this year’s planting season alone, Wisconsin farmers spent nearly $44 million more on diesel fuel than they did last year.⁵ As of today, the price of diesel in Wisconsin is a whopping $6.59 a gallon for our farmers and our truckers.⁶ Positioning · 9 wordsThe devastating impact of this war cannot be overstated.PositioningUnearned certainty Claims · 60 wordsThese families are trying to put food on the table. Small business owners are trying to stay afloat. Farmers are just trying to break even. Wisconsinites never wanted this war. Yet they continue to pay for it every day. They are paying more at the pump, more at the grocery store, and more to keep their businesses and farms running. Reasoning · 25 wordsThe American people deserve better than an endless war that is costing American lives and making it harder for them to get by at home. The ask · 23 wordsI urge my Republican colleagues to join us in bringing an end to this war of choice and vote yes on this resolution. Procedure · 6 wordsWith that, I yield the floor.Procedure