WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) released the following statement on the Senate’s failure to advance Senator Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) War Powers Resolution to ensure any U.S. participation in hostilities against Iran is explicitly authorized by Congress:
“President Trump illegally dragged the United States into a conflict with Iran without congressional authorization and without explaining the rationale, the strategy, or end goal. Now, six Americans are dead, and Trump said we should expect even more. This is not in our country’s best interest.
“The American public has been very clear that we don’t want another forever war. This vote should have made it clear we’re on their side.
“I fought in Iraq. I lost friends there and live with PTSD every day. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past by sending another generation of young working-class Americans to die in a war that hasn’t been explained to the American people. We can stand with the Iranian people and condemn the regime’s repression without sending American troops into another open-ended war.
“If we are sending our sons and daughters into harm’s way, the American people deserve answers. What are we doing? Why are we doing it? What is the end goal? How do we get out? Those basic questions still have not been answered by this administration.
“The American people are struggling with high prices at the grocery store, they can’t afford to buy a house, and because of Republicans’ budget cuts, millions of people have been kicked off their health insurance. And instead of addressing these issues, Trump started a foreign war that is not in our best interest.”