MEMBER OF CONGRESS

Gregory W. Meeks

Democrat NY 4 statements translated

Meeks concentrates on war powers and Iran, returning repeatedly to the argument that Congress, not the President, decides when the nation goes to war, and on opposing Republican cuts to State Department and development funding. He follows his party’s line closely, citing the bipartisan War Powers votes and blaming the administration and enabling Republicans for an unauthorized war, though he also brings his own follow-up legislation, including a bill to require the Speaker to sue the administration. He often answers something other than the question at hand, at a much higher rate than most members—responding to a war powers resolution with tributes to fallen servicemembers or personal recollections of his own diplomatic travel rather than the resolution before him. He also belittles opponents more than most, repeatedly mocking the President’s business background—diplomacy should be led by experts “not real estate developers”—in place of arguing the point. He does usually support his case with specifics, citing casualty figures, fuel prices, the JCPOA’s monitoring provisions, and the contents of the appropriations bill, and he grounds his argument in his own district, naming a fallen constituent from Ozone Park.Written by AI from their statements. Updated 2026-10-17.

Average grade

92 / 100 over 4 statements

Signal 81 / 100

Relevance 93 / 100

Reasoning 96 / 100

Respect Not scored yet

Clarity 98 / 100

Averaged over the 4 of 4 statements graded so far.

In their own words

Loses points more than most for

Talking about something other than the matter at hand: the question asked, or the bill, motion or speech under debate.2.5 times as often as most members.What the tags mean ×2.5

Statements 4

House of Representatives · 2026-09-14

Directing the President, Pursuant to Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to Remove United States Armed Forces from Hostilities with Iran

“I want the House to pass this resolution to pull our troops out of the war with Iran. The Constitution says only Congress can declare war, and we never approved this one. The war is costing billions of dollars, hurting American families, and killing our troops without making us safer.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Representative Moulton’s Iran War Powers Resolution. We are 7 months into a war of choice that President Trump said would only last 4 to 6 weeks. American families have paid over $100 billion more for gasoline and diesel, roughly $800 more per household, while gas averages more than $4 a gallon and diesel is near $6. This resolution closely follows my resolution, H. Con. Res. 86, which passed both the House and the Senate. That resolution made clear what the Constitution makes clear: Congress, not the President, has the power to decide when the United States goes to war. This Congress has not authorized a war with Iran, and yet this administration has kept our troops in harm’s way, without a declaration of war, without an authorization from Congress, and without any plan for how to win or end the war. Congress has already acted. H. Con. Res. 86 passed both Chambers, directing the President to remove U.S. Forces from hostilities with Iran, and in July, the House again passed H. Con. Res. 89 with the same message, a simple message: End this war. It is important that we do so again. I have also introduced a binding resolution demanding Speaker Johnson take legal action to defend congressional authority. When Congress’ constitutional authority is challenged, this institution has an obligation to defend its own prerogatives. The administration hasn’t just continued to wage this illegal war in direct violation of the Constitution, it has done so while Americans bear the costs: 19 fallen servicemembers and more than 750 servicemembers wounded, extended troop deployments, and billions of dollars in additional spending. The President’s mismanagement of this war has hurt America’s ability to prepare for future threats. I ask this body a simple question: Are Americans better off now than before this war started? Are we safer? Are we more secure? Has this war produced any of the results the administration promised the American people? The administration has yet to demonstrate that 7 months of war have produced a lasting strategic resolution to the threats posed by Iran. The Strait of Hormuz remains a source of enormous risk to global energy markets, and Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, despite what the administration claims, clearly remain. One only needs to ask our Gulf partners who continue to bear the brunt of Iran’s missile and drone attacks. This war has been a strategic failure. What is left are depleted weapons stockpiles and a tab of more than $100 billion that taxpayers will have to cover, while families continue to pay more for gas, groceries, and electricity. Let me be clear: This should not be a partisan question. It is a constitutional one. It is a vote about whether Congress still believes that the power to decide when this Nation goes to war belongs to the Congress, as the Constitution provides. Our servicemembers deserve clear objectives. Their families deserve accountability, and the American people deserve a Congress willing to exercise its constitutional authority. Let me remind this body that the House Foreign Affairs Committee has still not held a single public hearing with an administration official on this war, the committee charged with matters of war and peace, zero hearings. Our constituents did not send us here to be a rubber stamp for any administration. We cannot bomb our way out of this war. We need dialogue and diplomacy with our allies and adversaries alike. We need real diplomats at the table, not real estate developers who are in over their heads. We, this body, need to hold this administration accountable. I ask my colleagues to uphold the oath that we all took. Join us and make clear, once again, that this President cannot wage war without our consent. The American people have made it abundantly clear they do not want and they do not support this war. We should stand with them and not Donald Trump.”

Speech on a bill

Reasoning 100 of 100

This statement drew 6 conclusions and gave a reason for each one.
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House of Representatives · 2026-07-22

Directing the President Pursuant to Section 5(C) of the War Powers Resolution to Remove United States Armed Forces from Hostilities with Iran

“I want the House to pass this resolution to end the war with Iran. Congress never approved this war. It has cost American lives and billions of dollars, and diplomacy was already working to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I say to my colleagues that it has been 144 days of a senseless and a pointless war. The President says he is there to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. In his first term, the President ripped up the JCPOA, as the gentlewoman from Washington has indicated. I 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. It wasn’t something that was done by individuals who heretofore only was involved in real estate. It was done with diplomats around the world and even some of our adversaries in Russia and China, the P5+1. I traveled several times to Geneva to have dialogue and conversation with the head of the IAEA, and 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, and 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. Are we better off now when we are doing all of this basically by ourselves? Because everyone advised this President of the United States not to do it. Mr. Speaker, with 18 lives of servicemembers, too many Iranian civilians, including more than 100 schoolgirls, and injured countless more, tens of billions of taxpayer dollars spent, and the administration still refuses to give us a full accounting of where that money went. Now, even as they refuse to explain the cost, guess what? They 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. As indicated by the gentlewoman from Washington, 70 percent of Americans are against this war. 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. Today, let’s vote again, and I believe we will get an even greater margin in this House. Let’s not give this President another blank check to wage an illegal war. This 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. Vote ``yes’’ on this War Powers Resolution, and let the American people know that we will not be altered from doing our job. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”

Speech on a bill

Reasoning 100 of 100

This statement drew 3 conclusions and gave a reason for each one.
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“I support this resolution to stop fighting Iran. The Constitution says only Congress can send our troops to war. The president never asked us for permission, and our troops are dying in an illegal war that hurts our country. We need diplomacy, not more bombings.”

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the hardest part of this job for me for all the time that I have been in Congress, all the bills that we have to vote on-- when I put my hand up and swore that I would abide by and protect the Constitution of the United States of America, that Constitution also says that Congress determines when we send our women and men into war. I have had to vote on that several times previously in this Congress. It is a responsibility that is tough, to make that determination of when our men and women are sent to war. Presidents, based upon that Constitution, should come to this body and make their case, and then we have the awesome responsibility of making the determination of whether or not they should or should not. Those have been the toughest votes for me to have and for me to make as a Member of the United States Congress. Unfortunately, in this instance, we didn’t have a voice. My heart goes out to the 18 members of the United States armed services who lost their lives. To them, their families, they are patriots, just as Mr. Mast doing his service and Mr. Crow and Mr. Moulton. I thank them for their service because if this Congress says, Go to war, they put their lives on the line. I wish I had the opportunity to talk to all 18 families who lost loved ones in this war. Unfortunately, I can’t do all 18. One of the three that lost their life over the last weekend, Sergeant Angel Rampersad, is from my district, my constituent, in Ozone Park, New York, who was killed on July 17 in Jordan. I am going to visit that family when I get back to New York on Friday. My office has already reached out to them. I am going to have a flag flown on top of the Capitol. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Representative Jayapal’s Iran War Powers Resolution because I believe that the President needs to come to us so that we can make that decision and take on that responsibility, as the Constitution says. Let me be clear: This body has already spoken. The War Powers Resolution passed with bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate. The Trump administration was required to end its hostilities against Iran. It has not. A dual-Chamber concurrent resolution has never been struck down by the courts, certainly not in the war powers context. Any claim otherwise is simply wrong. I will also be introducing legislation that would require the Speaker to bring suit against the administration to force it to abide by Congress’ vote on the War Powers Resolution. We are here today because the administration broke the law. Three more U.S. servicemembers have made the ultimate sacrifice for an illegal, unauthorized war that the American people don’t want. This administration has never sought an Authorization for Use of Military Force from Congress, and most Republicans in this Chamber continue to enable it. As I have said before on this floor, this war has achieved none of our core objectives, and more bombings will not change the reality that is on the ground. With respect to Iran’s nuclear program, its hard-line regime, its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, or any of its malign practices, none of that has changed. Addressing those threats requires diplomacy, not more war. Diplomacy must be led by seasoned diplomats and nonproliferation experts, not real estate developers. We need our European allies, our Gulf partners, and, yes, our adversaries back at the table because just bombing without strategy, Mr. Speaker, is not a foreign policy. It is a tantrum. It is a tantrum by a President who cannot clean up the mess that he has made. Let us make no mistake: The President’s tantrum is why gas prices are back over $4 a gallon, and they will keep climbing now that the Houthis have threatened their own blockade of the Red Sea. That tantrum is why American troops are under fire. It is why our munitions stockpiles are being drained, and it is why we are teetering on the edge of the forever war we warned this would be. To my Republican colleagues, this war is indefensible. Deep down, many of them really know it. I say: Let’s just simply uphold the oath that we took when we took this office, uphold the Constitution of the United States. Stand with us, and let’s make clear once again that this President is not a king. He is not a dictator. He is the President of the United States. But there are two bodies called the House of Representatives and the Senate that are equal to the executive branch. He cannot go around this. It is in violation of the Constitution, and he cannot wage war without our consent. If Republicans still believe this war should continue, then I say, fine. Vote in support of this measure and demand the administration come to this Congress and demand that he tells us what his plan is, how it is going to end, and how much money it is going to cost the American people. Also he should follow the Constitution as the law requires. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”

House of Representatives · 2026-07-15

National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027

“I oppose this bill and urge a no vote. It cuts foreign aid and diplomacy funding by 20 percent. These cuts hurt our national security, weaken American leadership against China and Russia, and leave us unprepared for global disease outbreaks.”