Political Quotes

“I have admittedly lost count on how many of these resolutions we have brought before the body. This must be our seventh, eighth, or ninth. That is extraordinary, duplicative, redundant, but necessary because, at least in my time in the Senate, never before has this country engaged in such a significant, consequential, deadly, and costly military operation overseas without the consent of the people and without the consent of Congress. The Founding Fathers were really intentional in lodging the warmaking power not in the executive branch but in the legislative branch. There are few questions we confront that are more serious than about when we send our men and women to die overseas, when we decide to expend such a sizable amount of our hard-earned taxpayers' money on military operations. And it should not--it cannot--be simply one individual who makes those decisions. It has to be all of us. So these are increasingly heartbreaking motions to make because it shouldn't be up to the minority party. The majority, who asked for the consent of the governed to lead this Senate, should do their responsibility under the Constitution and have a full debate on an authorization for military force. Here is my guess: It would not pass. If Leader Thune brought an authorization for military force against Iran here in the Senate, it would not pass. I don't think it would even get 50 votes.”