Ed Markey: “I rise in support of S.J. Res. 68, to prevent an unnecessary and unauthorized war against Iran. I thank my friend from…”

“I rise in support of S.J. Res. 68, to prevent an unnecessary and unauthorized war against Iran. I thank my friend from Virginia, Senator Kaine, as well as Senators Dick Durbin, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul, for standing up for our laws and for the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress, not the President, the power to make war and to authorize the use of military force. The assassination of Iranian General Soleimani was a massive, deliberate, and dangerous escalation of conflict with Iran by Donald Trump. Rather than deterring new attacks on American interests, as the administration insists, Soleimani's assassination invited them, and they came in the form of airstrikes on U.S. air bases in Iraq. But instead of sharing with Congress and the American people information and intelligence that justify the Soleimani attack, President Trump and his counselors have deflected, fabricated, and just plain refused to tell the truth about the so-called imminent threat that was prevented. We now have press reports confirming that President Trump authorized the killing of General Soleimani 7 months ago. The administration doesn't just look to be misrepresenting the imminent threat of Soleimani, it appears to be fabricating information intended to bypass Congress's constitutional role to authorize war.…”