Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Today, Chicago Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement on Trump’s illegal decision to start a war with Iran:
“The American people do not want another war in the Middle East. We are not even five years removed from the last one—which dragged on for 20 years. There are no experts in the intelligence community who believe the ousting of the Iranian regime will be an easy or quick action. Iran has already retaliated against Israel and other U.S. allies in the region, and the risk of the spread of violence is very real.
“Donald Trump has no plan for conducting this war, no clear demands for the regime, no goals, and no strategy for what comes next. He is not even pretending that this will be a narrow set of strikes. Instead, he has openly called this a war. Trump even bluntly stated that the deaths of American service members are the price of doing business.
“Let me be clear, Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States. Just six months ago, this administration insisted that Iran’s nuclear program had been ‘completely and totally obliterated.’ We should have continued our diplomatic negotiations rather than sending US military members into a prolonged conflict without a clear strategy.
“The Iranian regime is, unequivocally, violent, cruel, and repressive. Just recently, they brutally murdered thousands of their own people for daring to express opposition to the regime. The Iranian people have the right to determine their own future and to do so without the threat of death. This is not how we help Iranians achieve freedom.
“Speaker Mike Johnson must immediately call Congress back to DC to vote on a war powers resolution. The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. Donald Trump cannot continue his crusade without the express approval of Congress, which I have no intention of providing.”