Political Quotes

“this Chamber has the responsibility to debate tough issues that face our Nation. It has been devoid of such tough debates now for a very long time, essentially failing to perform its responsibilities to the American people under the vision of our Constitution. I am more troubled at this moment about this failure than any previous moment because, at this moment, the drums of war are beating, and this Chamber stays silent. At this moment, we have a bill before us to address security issues. Yet we are being denied the chance to debate the most important security issue of all--whether or not the United States goes to war. The question before us in the amendment put forward by Tom Udall of New Mexico and Tim Kaine of Virginia is this: Has there already been an authorization by this body for the President to go to war against Iran? Their amendment answers this question. It says with great clarity that the answer is no. The President does not have authority to go to war. The power to make that decision is vested with Congress, and no bending and twisting and contorting of any previous authority can be used in this situation. That is what their amendment says. It says: Mr. President, if you want to go to war, you have to come to Congress to get authority--authority voted on after the date of their amendment. It is a fundamental question: Are we going to follow the Constitution or not?…”