Official Congressional Record
Mr. President, I want to start by thanking Senator Sheehy for his service to our country in our Armed Forces and thank every single soldier who serves our country in uniform and mourn the deaths of every single American servicemember who has been lost in this war and any other war. I listened carefully to the Senator from Montana. He is right that the Iranian regime doesn't care about what is happening in the United States; doesn't care about politics of the United States. You know what else they don't care about? They don't care about the Constitution of the United States of America. They don't care about that either, but we--we, in the Senate--we should care about the Constitution of the United States of America because the Framers of our Constitution deliberately vested the power to declare war in Congress because they understood the enormous consequences of sending Americans into harm's way. So if our Republican colleagues have the strength of their convictions, they should bring an authorization to use military force in Iran to this floor. We have not seen that. In 140 days, we have seen nothing. If you want to be true to the Constitution of the United States, that is what Republicans would do. And the Iranians don't give a damn about our Constitution, but I would hope that those in this body have been sworn to uphold it would give a damn about our Constitution because the Framers understood--they understood that decisions involving war and peace should not rest with any one individual. You can glorify President Trump all you want, but the Founders--the Founders, those who helped write the Constitution--understood that that power should not vest with one person, whoever that person may be regardless of party. That is what the Founders said. The Constitution entrusted that solemn responsibility to the Congress where the elected representatives could openly debate and vote on those questions before any President sent our sons and daughters to fight and die in foreign lands. We may disagree about whether this is a good idea or a bad idea, but we should not disagree that that is what the Constitution requires, and that is what our oath requires. So, yes, I rise to urge my colleagues to support my War Powers Resolution to end this disastrous and illegal war against Iran that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu launched over 140 days ago. The Constitution is unambiguous. This is not a close call. And yet, right now--right now--we are finding ourselves confronting exactly the circumstances that the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973 were designed to prevent. They were designed to prevent one person from taking this country to war. They were actually designed in the hopes that this Senate and this Congress would do their constitutional duty and vote yes or no but take responsibility for decisions that send our men and women into harm's way--take responsibility. Nearly 5 months ago, President Trump launched this illegal war. He launched it against Iran. And as I said, he launched it without any authorization. Since then, Senate Democrats and some Republicans have tried to reassert the constitutional role of Congress. We have voted 11 times on resolutions to end the war. And finally last month, both Chambers passed H. Con. Res. 86, directing the President to terminate hostilities against Iran. It was a historic vote. It marked the first time since the War Powers Resolution was enacted in 1973 that Congress successfully used this mechanism that was designed to halt the unauthorized use of force by the President, by any President. That resolution was not a suggestion; it is legally binding. The Iranian regime may not care about that resolution, but we should care and the Constitution requires that we care. The passage of that resolution should have marked the end of this disastrous war, but time and again, President Trump has shown he has no respect for the Constitution. He was asked months ago whether he had to abide by the Constitution. His answer: I don't know. That is a President who has no respect for the rule of law, but we should. Instead, what the Trump administration has done is steadily expanded this conflict, moved further away from diplomacy and further away from a durable peace. When the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran was signed in June, I stood on this floor and said I hoped it would become the foundation for a broader diplomatic settlement. Many Republicans opposed that memorandum of understanding. I hoped that it would finally begin the long task of climbing out of a big hole this illegal war has created. That hope is gone now. This moment--this moment we are in now--is a pivotal one in the war and for our role in it. Just this morning, the House of Representatives passed another resolution to end the war. That is how democracy works. The Iranian regime doesn't care about our democracy, but we should, and the Senate should pass this resolution just as the House passed a War Powers Resolution. This is the first War Powers Resolution since the United States resumed daily strikes against Iran and the first since we reimposed a full naval blockade. It is the first resolution since another four American soldiers were killed. It is the first resolution since shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has once again been ground to a halt. And I think all of us here in the Senate know the Strait of Hormuz was open before President Trump launched this war. In the weeks since the last vote, more civilians have been killed as well, and the United States and Iran are now deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. President Trump said that he will destroy a bridge or a powerplant in Iran for every ship attacked in the strait. It did not have to be this way. Many of us warned before this war began that military force would not achieve the vague, constantly shifting objectives its advocates promised. We warned that abandoning diplomacy would make the region more dangerous, not less. We warned that military action would strengthen the most hardline voices inside of Iran rather than weaken them. We warned that this conflict would destabilize the region, threaten the global economy, drive up costs for American families, and ultimately leave the United States worse off. And since then, every single one of those warnings has come true. I wish they hadn't, but they have. We have heard the arguments warmongers have used to justify this stupid war before. The promises of quick victories, that just one more bombing campaign would finally produce lasting peace. We have heard that regime change is just around the corner. We have heard repeated calls for military adventurism while diplomacy was dismissed as some kind of weakness. Those arguments were wrong before, and they are wrong today. This is the same kind of delusional thinking that sucked the United States into endless wars in the past, the kind of endless wars that this President promised he would keep us out of. When he promised he would focus on bringing down prices, he has done the opposite. So we must make better choices, and we cannot allow the past to repeat itself. But that is what happens when your objectives keep changing. That is what happens when you convince yourself against all available evidence, that just 1 more week or 1 more month of fighting will bring victory. You know, on March 1, the day after starting the war, President Trump was asked how long the war would go on. Does anybody remember what he said? ``Four to five weeks.'' It will be over in ``four to five weeks,'' he said. Well, the President said that about 20 weeks ago, and it was all a lot of nonsense. In late March, he repeatedly claimed victory. President Trump said ``We won.'' Go look it up. It is all over his social media channels. ``We won.'' ``We won.'' Colleagues, I have some questions. If we won back in March, why are more Americans getting killed in July? If we won back in March, why is the Strait of Hormuz closed? If we won back in March, why is the war expanding as Houthis attack ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Red Sea? If we won back in March, why are oil and gas prices and diesel prices shooting through the roof again, imposing costs on every American family? Is that their definition of winning? Well, I wondered what their answer to that question was. So earlier this week, I asked Secretary of Defense Hegseth what his definition of winning looks like. And there was no clear answer. That is because their objectives keep changing. He finally settled on the objective of making sure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. But colleagues, remember this: Last year--just last year--shortly after Operation Midnight Hammer, the 12-day war, here is what Secretary Hegseth told the country ``our bombing campaign obliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons.'' The President told us the same thing, and the President's Director of National Intelligence testified in this Senate just months ago that it was the assessment of the United States Government that Iran did not intend to start any enrichment program. The President, during the time the memorandum of understanding was in place, hailed the fact that the Iranians said they had no plans and would not build a nuclear weapon. Apparently, the President had not been informed that they had made that commitment over a period of years. The whole purpose of the JCPOA was to hold them to that commitment to make sure that we could identify immediately if they were violating that commitment. Of course, that is the agreement that President Trump tore up in his first administration. So when I pointed all this out to Secretary Hegseth, all he could go back to was tired, old talking points that has gotten us in this mess and keeps us in this mess. In fact, it clarified the reality of what we have known since day one, that the Iran war is a war in search of a mission. Colleagues, that is how forever wars begin. Eighteen American servicemembers have lost their lives. Hundreds more have been wounded, including over a 100 just from the last 2 weeks, and the civilian death toll continues to rise. At the start of the war, an American Tomahawk missile strike killed more than 150 Iranian civilians in Minab, more than 100 of them children. On top of those killings of schoolkids, thousands of other civilians have been killed or injured across Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and the rest of the region. On top of all that, oil prices jumped; then they settled a little bit during the memorandum of understanding; and now they are jumping again. They have risen back to a national average of around $4 a gallon and rising. Diesel prices have surged above $5 a gallon. All of us understand that when gas and diesel prices go up, those increased costs filter throughout the economy. Trucks that are trucking food from one place to another: higher diesel prices, higher food prices, higher grocery prices throughout our economy, imposed on families already struggling with the costs of groceries and housing and healthcare and childcare and other necessities. And, again, this is the President who said that he was going to end wars and focus on bringing down costs. This is a strategic blunder on a massive scale. It is a self- inflicted wound on our country and all for what? That is the question every one of us should be asking as we vote shortly on this War Powers Resolution. How has continuing this war made the American people safer? How has it made the Middle East more stable? How has it strengthened America's national security? I have yet to hear a credible answer to that question, and that is because there isn't one. You know, these are the kind of questions that should be asked before a war is started, before we put American troops at risk. Colleagues, there is no good way out of a bad war. But as I have said repeatedly, when you are digging yourself a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging, and that is what this resolution seeks to do. Let us stop pretending that Congress has no role to play while American servicemembers remain in harm's way. Many of the people who enthusiastically supported launching this war have been unwilling to take responsibility for authorizing it. That should concern every Member of this body. It should concern every American, regardless of party, because if a Member of the Senate truly believes that this war is justified and the right thing to do, put it up for a vote. Put it up for a vote for an authorization to use military force. I disagreed with the decision to go to war in Iraq. And President Bush asked for an authorization for military force, and this Congress acted on it. In my view, they made the wrong decision, but at least they took responsibility for their actions as the Constitution requires. So this is an opportunity, as the war escalates even further, as more American servicemembers are killed, as more civilians are killed, as oil and gas prices and other prices go up--this is an opportunity for this Congress to finally take responsibility. We passed the concurrent resolution in the past. We know the President has no respect for the law, but we have an obligation to our constituents. We should not duck that responsibility. We should not simply allow this war to go on without up-or-down votes on an authorization to use military force. And today, we have a chance to take accountability and send a message by supporting this War Powers Resolution. I urge all my colleagues to adopt it. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The minority leader.
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