00:00Why are our troops back in conflict in the Middle East?
00:05Why has Donald Trump started a new war with Iran?
00:09Stand at a dangerous moment for our troops and for the Middle East and even perhaps for the world.
00:16Well, Mr. President, today the Senate grieves the deaths of four U.S. service members who were killed in action
00:23this weekend.
00:24We hold their families in our hearts.
00:26We pray for all American families who have loved ones serving right now in uniform.
00:33And we pray for everyone across the Middle East who are right now in harm's way.
00:37Many who have relatives here in America, including relatives who fled the regime in Iran
00:43and all who are worried for their families and friends back home across the region.
00:50Mr. President, today many Americans across the country and across the political spectrum are wondering,
01:00why are our troops back in conflict in the Middle East?
01:07That's what Americans are wondering.
01:09Why has Donald Trump started a new war with Iran?
01:13Let me be clear, I will not shed a tear for Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran who was
01:21killed in the initial rounds of airstrikes over the weekend.
01:25For decades, Khamenei sponsored terrorist attacks against American troops.
01:30He called for the destruction of Israel and America.
01:33And under his rule, the people of Iran have suffered immensely.
01:39But, Mr. President, no matter how you feel about the Iranian regime,
01:44we stand at a dangerous moment for our troops and for the Middle East and even, perhaps, for the world.
01:52Donald Trump has just launched America into a full-scale conflict against one of our most fervent adversaries
01:59without a plan, without an endgame, and without authorization for Congress or even a debate in full view of the
02:08American people.
02:09The consequences are already mounting.
02:12As I've said, four American service members have been killed, several others have been wounded,
02:17and the President says many casualties, many more casualties, are likely to come.
02:23This is not what the American people want.
02:28The American people want more effective action to address the rising costs that are crushing them.
02:34They want more access to health care, affordable health care, and to buy homes and to get good-paying jobs.
02:42They don't want a war that leads to lost American lives and that costs billions and billions of taxpayer dollars.
02:49They don't want a war that raises the price of gas at the pump.
02:56Make no mistake about it.
02:58This is a war of choice, not necessity.
03:03And regardless of whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent,
03:07or even if you don't pay attention to politics, there's one thing almost everyone agrees on.
03:12We are sick and tired of endless wars in the Middle East.
03:16And there is real danger that this is the road we are on right now.
03:22Americans are sick of Donald Trump paying so much attention to military escapades while costs keep going up here at
03:30home.
03:31Venezuela, Somalia, Iran, and on and on.
03:37Where is Donald Trump going to strike tomorrow?
03:40He is one of the most trigger-happy presidents in all of American history.
03:45Donald Trump ran for office on the promise to wind down America's endless wars.
03:51What he's doing is exactly, exactly the opposite.
03:57He's picking military fight all over the world and not taking care of business here at home.
04:04One year into office, Donald Trump has broken his promise to end forever wars again and again and again,
04:11from Venezuela to threats against Greenland to now a new war with Iran.
04:17Congress must act to rein in Donald Trump's belligerence.
04:22Very soon, the Senate will vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution I am leading with Senators Cain and Schiff
04:30and Paul.
04:31Our resolution affirms what the Constitution already says.
04:35The President cannot send U.S. forces to fight a war in Iran without congressional approval.
04:42As soon as our resolution comes to the floor, senators need to pick a side.
04:48Stand with Americans who don't want war or stand with Donald Trump as he single-handedly starts another war.
04:57I urge my colleagues to support our resolution.
05:01The American people will be watching how senators vote.
05:07And they will remember those whose thumbs pointed I and whose thumbs pointed nay.
05:16I yield the floor.
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