Tom Udall: “in February, a bipartisan majority of the Senate voted to affirm our constitutional authority to declare war and to…”

“in February, a bipartisan majority of the Senate voted to affirm our constitutional authority to declare war and to prohibit the President from starting a war with Iran. In March, the House of Representatives also cast a bipartisan vote to affirm that Congress, and Congress alone, has the authority to declare war. The President has vetoed that Iran War Powers resolution, rebuking the will of Congress, the will of the American people, and the directive of the U.S. Constitution. It is now up to Congress to reassert our authority, to override this veto, and to make good on the words of article 2, section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the sole power to ``declare War''-- because the last thing we need right now, at this time of grave crisis for our Nation, is a crisis of our own making in the Middle East--a protracted, unconstitutional conflict with Iran. Some would like to think that there is no chance that this President would begin a war with Iran in the middle of a global pandemic, a war that would kill Americans and Iranians alike. Think again. On March 11, a barrage of rockets hit an airbase north of Baghdad housing U.S. troops, and killing two. That day marked the birthday of Iran's General Suleimani, who was killed in January in an unprovoked attack ordered by the President. The attack was launched by a Shiite military group, whose leader also had been killed during the January attack on Suleimani.…”