Duckworth Statement on Trump’s Illegal Attack on Iran
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today issued the following statement after Donald Trump launched an illegal military campaign against Iran without Constitutionally-required authorization from the democratically-elected Congresspeople who represent both the troops whose lives Trump is risking and the American people who he may be forcing to fund yet another forever war in the Middle East:
“Donald Trump cannot stop breaking his promises to the American people. Too many Americans believed him when he promised that he would get our nation out of foreign wars and bring prices down for families. They can clearly see with their own eyes that he was lying.
“Instead, Donald Trump chose to put American lives and national security at risk while threatening to draw us into yet another expensive, taxpayer-funded forever war without Constitutionally-required authorization, a defined end-state or a real plan to prevent the instability that could come next. He is making that choice while his chaotic policies here at home continue driving costs for middle-class Americans to record highs. And the long-planned and deeply-calculated nature of these strikes wholly undermine any attempt to claim they are in response to a legitimate imminent threat—Donald Trump made a choice he did not have to make.
“I first ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating again in Washington, I’d be in a position—standing on the titanium legs I earned in a different unjustified war in the Middle East—to make sure that our nation’s leaders fully consider the true costs of their decisions. Not just in dollars and cents, but in the sacrifices and blood that they are asking our troops and military families to make.
“Donald Trump owes it to the American people he promised he would always put first to immediately come before Congress and attempt to justify how his illegal war will actually serve their interests. In the meantime, the Senate owes it to our troops to immediately vote on Senator Kaine’s War Powers Resolution to block this illegal military campaign.
“If there was ever a time for Republicans to find their spines, it’s now, when the Commander in Chief readily admits that he is choosing to put our troops’ lives at risk without a legitimate imminent threat to our homeland or our citizens.”
Duckworth, who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, is a member of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee.
-30-
Previous Article