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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Robin Kelly IL

CHICAGO – U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) released the following statement after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. military strike against Iran:

“Overnight, President Trump launched a massive attack against Iran, urged a regime change, and destabilized the entire Middle East region. Already, Iran has retaliated against U.S. military facilities across the region, but President Trump has made it clear that he’s willing to lose U.S. military lives as something that ‘often happens in war.’ Since bombing Iran last June, President Trump has not made clear any imminent threat that Iran poses to the United States. 

“This self-proclaimed ‘Peace President’ makes our country more vulnerable. He must answer to the American people and justify why he endangered the lives of our military troops and potentially entered us into another costly, prolonged war in the Middle East. Congress must pass the War Powers Resolution Act, since this President cannot initiate military action without Congressional approval.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman French Hill (AR-02)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) released the following statement regarding the launch of Operation Epic Fury:

“For five decades, the Iranian regime has terrorized its own people, threatened regional stability, and pursued weapons of mass destruction in defiance of the international community.

“Decades of sanctions imposed bilaterally and by the United Nations have failed to stop Iran’s destructive ambitions. Years of intensive but ultimately futile negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program accomplished nothing and were rightly rejected by bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate at the end of the Obama Administration.

“Each year that I have served in the House, I have spoken directly to the Iranian people, most recently at the Organization of Iranian American Communities event on Capitol Hill in December, where I again condemned the brutality of the Iranian regime and stood with all Iranians fighting for a democratic, secular, non-nuclear republic.

“I have long been a steadfast advocate for the people of Iran. In the last Congress, my bill—the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act—was signed into law to expose the regime’s financial corruption, and this year I cosponsored a bipartisan resolution condemning the regime’s terrorism and supporting the Iranian people’s call for democratic change.

“Throughout my time in Congress, I have consistently consulted with regional leaders in the Gulf and in our ally Israel about the Iranian threat and the importance of standing together against terror, aggression, and a nuclear-armed Iran.

“I pray for our servicemembers as they carry out these operations, for our allies in the region, and for the Iranian people. May this be the dawn of a new day for the Iranian people and a step toward lasting peace in the Middle East.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Judy Chu (CA2-27)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, after the United States launched what President Trump called a “major military operation” in Iran, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) released the following statement:

“President Trump has launched an unlawful war with Iran despite no imminent threat to the United States, no long-term strategy, no support from the American public, and no authorization from Congress. The House of Representatives must immediately take a vote on H.Con.Res. 38, a War Powers Resolution that I cosponsor to halt all military operations in Iran without Congressional authorization,” said Rep. Chu

“The Iranian regime is brutal, repressive, and has denied Iranians freedom and dignity for generations. These facts alone do not give President Trump the authority to unilaterally launch a major, pre-emptive military operation which puts so many lives at risk. Americans have already seen this playbook fail in Iraq and Afghanistan, at enormous cost.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL)

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL – Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-founder and co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, released the following statement on Iran:

“This morning, American service members are in harm’s way — including the enlisted sailors who earned their place in uniform at Naval Station Great Lakes in my district, and reserve soldiers from the 337th MI Battalion whom I helped send off earlier this month as they deployed to the region. As they execute their mission, we are all praying for their success and safe return to their families.

“Our Constitution explicitly gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. The President of the United States is not allowed to take our nation to war without authorization from Congress. Speaker Johnson should immediately call the House back into session. The Administration must provide Congress with comprehensive classified briefings to understand the threat that justified today’s actions, the goals of the operation, and the strategy for achieving these goals. We need public hearings in House committees. We need formal public debate in the House and the Senate. 

“Since its founding in 1979, Iran has threatened its neighbors and chanted ‘Death to Israel, Death to America.’ The Iranian regime today is an existential threat to our allies in the Gulf and Israel, as well as a serious threat to U.S. interests in the region and around the world, and national security here at home. Heaven forbid Iran were to ever obtain a nuclear weapon. 

“The world must work together to block and then permanently close any pathway for Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. We must address Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and its support for terrorist proxies around the world. The people of Iran are not our enemy, and we should help them free themselves from the oppression of this terrorist regime. The massacre of tens of thousands of Iranian citizens last month fully exposed the evil of the regime: the world will be a better place when it is gone.

“Given this Administration’s failure to engage Congress in classified briefings, public hearings, and formal debate, I will vote to support the War Powers Resolution coming to the floor of the House next week.

“This is a moment of peril and opportunity. Congress must step up to meet the moment, fulfill its constitutional duties, and ensure American action—with our allies in the region and around the world—leads to a more stable and peaceful Middle East, not another generational entanglement ending in failure.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

LOS ANGELES, CA — Today, Rep. Jimmy Gomez released the following statement:

“The president’s own statement acknowledges this is war, yet he never came to Congress to ask for authorization to start it. The Constitution is clear that the decision to take this country to war does not belong to one person. That safeguard exists to protect the American people from exactly this kind of situation.

“By launching this operation on his own, the president has put Congress and the country in the worst possible position. He started a war first, and now Congress is being asked to deal with the consequences instead of deciding whether the war should begin at all. Once troops are in harm’s way, the pressure to escalate grows. That is how conflicts expand, costs rise, and American lives are put at risk without a clear plan to end them.

“Iran’s regime is dangerous, it attacks its neighbors, represses and kills its own people, sponsors terrorist proxies, and has threatened the United States for decades. That is not in question. The question is why this president launched a major military operation without showing Congress evidence of an imminent threat just months after claiming the U.S. ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program, and without explaining what comes next. We have seen this playbook before, and it led to wars that lasted years, cost trillions, and took the lives of thousands of Americans in uniform. 

“President Trump promised to end foreign wars and put America First. Instead, he has escalated another conflict in the Middle East, putting American service members in danger because of a decision made without authorization or accountability. Too often, working families are the ones who send their sons and daughters into harm’s way, risking death or serious injury, while decisions about war are made without a clear plan and without the consent of the American people.

“That is why the War Powers Resolution introduced by Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie must be brought to the House floor as soon as we return. Congress must assert its constitutional authority and make clear that no president can start a war on his own and push this country into another open-ended conflict without authorization, transparency, or a clear end in sight. We can support democracy and stand with the Iranian people without sending more American sons and daughters into another endless war.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN)

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) issued the following statement on Trump’s illegal war on Iran. 

“President Trump is unilaterally dragging this nation into an illegal and unjustified war with Iran without congressional authorization, without a clear objective, and without any imminent threat to the United States. This is a reckless abuse of power that puts both innocent civilians and American lives on the line for a conflict the American people do not want. 

“As someone who has survived the horrors of war, I know that bombs do not build peace or create stability. Military strikes will not make us safer; they will inflame tensions and push the region further into chaos. When we abandon diplomacy, we choose destruction.

“We know who will bear the cost of this decision: innocent civilians caught in the crossfire and our young service members sent into harm’s way. This is the devastating human toll of another regime-change war. Already, children and families are paying with their lives. There is no moral or strategic justification for this bloodshed.

“The American people are exhausted by endless wars built on false promises and paid for with American and foreign lives. Congress must reassert its constitutional authority. We must vote immediately on the War Powers resolution authored by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie. This unlawful operation must end immediately.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement in response to President Trump’s unlawful military strikes on Iran:

“Today, President Trump ordered unlawful U.S. military strikes on Iran.  Make no mistake, President Trump has unilaterally taken our nation to war. This military action was launched without Congressional approval and with no imminent threat posed by Iran to the United States.

“Just days ago, President Trump stood before the American people and delivered his State of the Union Address.  If he believed there was a clear and present danger to the United States, as president, he had the duty to our nation to lay out his rationale about why military action was necessary and to ask Congress to pass an Authorization for Use of Military Force– just as President Bush did before the Iraq War.  President Trump utterly failed to do so, which is nothing less than an affront to our Constitution and the American people.

“Let us pray for the U.S. service members who have been given orders to fight this war, for their families, as well as all families in the region who now find themselves in grave danger as a result Trump’s reckless, illegal, and unnecessary decision to go to war.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Earl L Buddy Carter (GA-01)

Headline: Carter statement on military combat operations in Iran

Carter statement on military combat operations in Iran

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Paul Tonko (Capital Region New York)

Tonko Statement on Trump Strikes on Iran

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (25th District of FLORIDA)

MIAMI, FL – House Appropriations Committee Vice Chair and Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Department of State, and Related Programs (NSRP), Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26), issued the following statement commending President Trump’s decisive leadership in launching major combat operations against the Iranian regime, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

“For nearly five decades, Iranians have endured repression, violence, and torture at the hands of the evil Iranian regime–a regime that exports terrorism, brutally suppresses dissent at home, and openly threatens the United States and our allies.

I commend President Donald Trump for standing in solidarity with the brave Iranian people, who continue to demand freedom, dignity, and basic human rights despite ruthless crackdowns. Hundreds of protesters have been killed simply for exercising those rights.

Americans and the world are safer because of President Trump’s leadership and maximum pressure strategy, including the removal of terrorist Qasem Soleimani and last year’s decisive action to obliterate Iran’s nuclear sites–demonstrating that deterrence and strength, not appeasement, will lead to a safer and more secure future for all.”

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