[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 111 (Friday, June 27, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3595-S3596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              S.J. RES. 59

  Mr. OSSOFF. Mr. President, on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at President 
Trump's direction, U.S. forces struck certain nuclear facilities in 
Iran. As I stated this week in the Intelligence Committee: Those 
strikes having been taken, I certainly hope they were effective. Most 
of the Congress is united in our conviction that Iran must not build or 
acquire a nuclear weapon. An urgent unanswered question is whether the 
administration's use of force meaningfully advanced that longstanding 
foreign policy objective. Members of Congress are seeking further 
information from the administration in order to determine whether these 
strikes were effective.
  Tonight, I voted to discharge S.J. Res. 59 from the Foreign Relations 
Committee. Such discharge would require the Senate to debate whether 
congressional authorization should be required for any further 
offensive military action against Iran. Given the stakes for U.S. 
national security, the safety of military servicemembers we represent, 
and the security of our allies, Senators owe the American people that 
debate, consistent with our constitutional role in the formation of 
U.S. foreign policy.
  The administration has argued that last Saturday's strikes were 
within the President's inherent article II authorities as Commander in 
Chief. That debate is not relevant to Senator Kaine's S.J. Res. 59, 
which would pertain to future military action.
  Indeed, the question for the Senate tonight was not whether the 
President's use of force to date has been legal and constitutional or 
whether the strikes themselves were necessary and effective. The 
question was: Should the Senate robustly debate whether any future 
offensive military action should require congressional approval? Given 
the stakes for our national security

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and our constituents who serve in the Armed Forces, I regret that 
Senators refused to bring this measure to the floor for debate.

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