Political Quotes

“Mr. President, fellow Senators, we are about to vote on an important piece of legislation. Of course, it is a piece of legislation that will never become law, but nonetheless it deserves our attention, and certainly it deserves serious consideration. We know two things as we approach this. No. 1, under the Constitution, it is absolutely crystal clear that only Congress can declare war. No. 2, which is crystal clear, we know the President of the United States has the authority to defend the country. Finally, No. 3--and this is very important, as it relates to this--no one wants war with Iran. No one agrees that we should proceed to war with Iran. That is simply not the situation here today. There are constitutional questions here that we know we have to wrestle with, and they are difficult ones. It is important to note here, first of all, that the dispute that has been going on with Iran for a long, long time has really nothing to do with the Iranian people. We support the Iranian people. They have a long history, a proud tradition, and they deserve substantially better than what they are getting in leadership today. This is an important debate we are going to have today about war powers and the use of military force. One thing also that is clear but that muddies the water is that there is no clear line of delineation between actual war and the use of kinetic force. As I said, it is important to have this debate. I really believe it should not be held in this context.…”