00:00Madam President, I rise today to ask a simple question.
00:07After 109 days of a failed war, and now a fragile, temporary, but welcome truce,
00:17will my Republican colleagues choose today to finally stand up to this president?
00:22Will my colleagues say enough is enough to the president who ran as a candidate promising no new wars?
00:36After 109 days of contradictory messaging, rampant and rank corruption,
00:45with people literally cashing in on news about this war,
00:52and devastating news stories from the Middle East?
00:57Will this be the vote when my colleagues finally stand up for their constituents,
01:03rather than simply standing up for Donald Trump?
01:07Here we are, tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, of American taxpayer dollars spent.
01:16Gas prices are well over $4 a gallon.
01:20Seven hard-working American families crushed under tens of billions of dollars
01:27in soaring energy prices and inflation driven by this unnecessary war,
01:32and the ultimate price, the ultimate price,
01:3713 service members tragically killed.
01:44The question is, where did all of that land us?
01:49What did it accomplish?
01:53And it appears that we are basically back at the status quo at best.
01:59Let me start by saying that I'm very proud of our military.
02:06That's not the question here.
02:08We have the most powerful, the most effective military force in human history.
02:15The problem is that the president has decided to use that military force
02:19and significantly deplete our defense arsenal for his own pet projects.
02:27He decided to launch an attack on Iran to decapitate the brutal leadership of an awful regime.
02:35But he had no plans for what he would do the next day.
02:42The next day.
02:46And so today the regime is still in place with younger and potentially more hard-lined and radical leadership.
03:00So even now with the war hopefully coming to an end,
03:03I still don't understand why we were in this war in the first place.
03:10It appears that the only thing this war has done is put service members' lives at risk,
03:17Americans in the region at risk.
03:20It has undermined our global standing,
03:26millions of civilians in harm's way.
03:31And so we pray for the families of the brave Americans who have already paid the ultimate sacrifice,
03:37our service members who are the best among us
03:41and who go no matter who the president is or what their politics are.
03:46They were simply following orders.
03:51Our service members embody courage and patriotism.
03:55They put it on the line for us.
03:59And I submit that they deserve better than this.
04:05We've learned, due in part to recent history,
04:09that it's easier to get into a war than it is to get out.
04:14The president said on multiple occasions,
04:18quote,
04:19it will all work out well in the end.
04:23It always does.
04:26Maybe it always does for him.
04:31But we're sending brave American service members into battle,
04:35and they return with visible and invisible wounds of war.
04:44This is something not to be handled in a cavalier manner.
04:48It is the most sacred responsibility of an American president.
04:53And so I promised the people of Georgia that I would walk with them even as I work for them.
05:00I have listened to agonized stories of war from veterans whose lives will never be the same.
05:06I've stood at Dover Air Force Base to receive the bodies of Georgia's heroes.
05:13I've looked into the grief-stricken eyes of their family members as they greeted a flag-draped coffin grappling with
05:19unbearable grief.
05:23It is gut-wrenching, and it is something that I think about whenever we consider the consequences of sending our
05:31service members into harm's way.
05:33The question is, did the president think about it?
05:40Did he think about those families?
05:45Even as he said, it will all just work out.
05:50It always does.
05:54I'm hopeful that this war may come to an end beginning this week.
06:00But let's be clear.
06:03This temporary truce agreement with Iran brings us back to the status quo at best.
06:12Let's not forget that the president of the United States, in deciding to launch this war, created a situation in
06:26which we lost our service members.
06:31We continue to grieve the dozens of fathers in Iran who will be without their school-aged daughters on Father's
06:39Day.
06:43As an elementary school in Manab was attacked on the first day, or a bomb was dropped on that school
06:50the first day.
06:52A horrific mistake with huge human consequences.
06:59And this was on day one of the war.
07:04Young children who didn't get a chance to grow up.
07:10Hundreds of dreams that will never be realized.
07:17Those Iranian babies are human beings.
07:24They, too, are children of God.
07:29And so this kind of consequential action requires much more thought.
07:36A much more serious-minded administration than what we have seen over the last year and a half.
07:45And so I hope that we are seeing the beginning of the end of this war.
07:53But we've paid a huge cost.
07:58And I'm not so sure what we're getting for that.
08:02But the question before this body is, will this president do this again?
08:11I think the answer is yes.
08:14He will continue to choose bombs over diplomacy because he is a failed warmonger.
08:21And that's why I'm urging my colleagues to speak up in this moral moment.
08:26Send a message that the president should not feel that he can easily and so cavalierly use American might while
08:39Congress stands idly by.
08:43The time is always right to do what I urge my colleagues to do what your constituents are begging you
08:50to do.
08:51And join me in putting a check on this president's lawless warmongering.
08:59Warmongering that has upended the global economy.
09:04Sent gas prices soaring.
09:09The Strait of Hormuz is closed.
09:14Iran perhaps seems even more emboldened to try it again.
09:20And what is the plan to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon?
09:24With Iran going into this truce with all of its enriched uranium, we had a deal.
09:32Donald Trump chose war over diplomacy.
09:37Hopefully, this Congress will stand up and do its job.
09:41The time is always right to do what's right.
09:46That time is now.
09:49I yield the floor.
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