00:00Mr. Speaker, James Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1789, the Constitution supposes
00:06what the history of all governments demonstrates, that the executive branch of power is the
00:13most interested in war and most prone to it.
00:16It has accordingly, with studied care, vested the question of war in the legislature.
00:22The Constitution is clear.
00:24Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 of our Constitution provides Congress initiatory powers of war.
00:31Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 of our Constitution gives the President operational powers of war
00:38to wage that war.
00:40Even if this body were to pretend that the 1973 War Powers Resolution supersedes the clear
00:46language of the Constitution, the President still has not met the conditions required
00:52by that law itself.
00:53The 1973 War Powers Resolution states plainly that the President may only introduce U.S.
01:01Armed Forces into hostilities pursuant to three conditions.
01:05Either one, declaration of war, two, specific statutory authorization, or three, a national
01:13emergency created by an attack upon the United States.
01:16None of those conditions exist today.
01:19Iran has not attacked the United States, Congress has not declared war, and Congress has not
01:24granted specific statutory authorization.
01:28Beyond the Constitutional question, here lies an even more important one.
01:32Why are we going to war with Iran?
01:35We owe our military service members a clear mission.
01:39And American families in my district want to know how this is going to help them pay for
01:44groceries.
01:45How does this make them any safer in their schools or in their neighborhoods?
01:50How does this help them pay for housing?
01:52Have we learned nothing from the laundry list of wars and regime change experiments we sparked
01:57across the Middle East that have racked up a total of at least $8 trillion of debt in Iraq,
02:04Libya, Syria, Afghanistan?
02:05A sustained war with Iran will not stabilize the region.
02:11It's already ignited the region.
02:13It will radicalize new generations of terrorists and it will send more swarms of refugees into
02:19Europe and the United States.
02:21Iran is not Venezuela.
02:23The Ayatollah was not a president.
02:25He was a religious leader from a region notorious for radical Islamists.
02:30And the United States and Israel turned him into a martyr.
02:33And in the process of doing so, we've already expanded billions of dollars and more solemnly,
02:39six American families must now lay to rest their sons and daughters.
02:43And for what?
02:44This administration can't even give us a straight answer as to why we launched this preemptive
02:50war.
02:51The president says we had to strike first because an Iranian strike was imminent.
02:55Meanwhile, the Department of Defense conceded there was no evidence of an imminent Iranian strike.
03:01Some told us this war was about nuclear weapons.
03:05But six months ago, we were assured our last strike on Iran decimated their nuclear program.
03:11So which is it?
03:12I think the most candid answer came from the Secretary of State, who told the press that
03:19Israel forced our hand and dragged us into this war.
03:22And that truth is the very reason why it is Congress that must decide war.
03:30If American lives are to be risked and American blood is to be shed, that decision must be debated
03:35and voted on by the representatives of the American people.
03:38And that debate is meant to be arduous.
03:41And that vote is meant to be hard.
03:43I have a theory.
03:45I think my colleagues don't want to go on record because we have a terrible track record
03:52of meddling in the Middle East.
03:54They don't want their name associated with this when it doesn't turn out well.
03:58But Congress cannot be bothered with its constitutional duty because for many in this chamber,
04:04it's easier to simply allow someone else's sons and daughters to be sent to combat
04:10without their vote.
04:11And to be clear, we aren't even here to declare war today.
04:14All we're voting on is a War Powers Resolution to reassert the Constitution,
04:18that Congress must decide questions of war.
04:21And if Congress wants war, then the Speaker should hold a vote to declare it.
04:25Some say Congress authorizes war when we pay for it, when we pass the budget bill.
04:31Here's the problem.
04:32We haven't taken on the hard work of defining the mission
04:35for our sons and daughters who are going to fight.
04:37That's not in the budget bill.
04:39It never is.
04:41And to the men and women who are engaged in combat,
04:44I sincerely thank you and I pray for your safety.
04:48It is for you that I wrote this resolution.
04:50It is for you that all of us are here on this floor working so hard to force this vote
04:56so that
04:56you will have a clear mission that you deserve, so that you will know when you achieve it,
05:00you can come home.
05:02And with that, I urge support for this resolution and I yield back.
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