On the recordJuly 11, 2019
Madam Chair, colleagues, this vote is about several things. It is about war with Iran. The President and John Bolton have manufactured a crisis by withdrawing America from the Iran nuclear deal with no alternative, and Iran has a strategic advantage over us now that they did not have before under the deal. This vote is about the Authorization for Use of Military Force passed almost 20 years ago that does not authorize war with Iran. We do not underestimate the Iranian threat. It is real, it is significant, but that does not make going to war now legal or necessary. But most of all, this vote is about the Constitution and our duty to uphold it. It is the Commander in Chief's job to strengthen our national security, not weaken it, as he has done, and it is Congress' job to decide when we send young Americans to war. The oath that we all took to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States is the same oath, word-for-word, that I took as a Marine officer. Our troops are upholding that oath. They are doing their jobs. It is time for us in Congress to do ours.
