[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 39 (Monday, March 2, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S738-S739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WAR POWERS RESOLUTION

  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I come here today to support Senator 
Kaine's War Powers Resolution.
  You know, I am proud of every mission that I completed in Iraq, but I 
would never wish another needless, endless, unjustified war like the 
one that I served in on anyone else. I wouldn't wish it on the heroes 
whose blood would be soaked into that desert sand. I would not wish it 
on their families, who would spend their days anxiously awaiting for 
news from half a world away. I wouldn't wish it on the American people, 
who are desperate for their President to focus on bringing their costs 
down here at home, not on starting new, expensive, forever wars 
continents away.
  So I am here today to keep a promise I first made two decades ago. I 
ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating once 
again, I would be in a position to make sure that our elected officials 
fully considered the true cost of the war not just in dollars and cents 
but in human lives as well. That was the vow I made to the troops I 
deployed with and to all those who have served since I hung up my 
uniform.
  Today, I am speaking here under this great Capitol dome to keep that 
most sacred promise because, sadly, right now, American servicemembers 
are already in harm's way 6,000 miles east in what could be yet another 
preventable war. These troops are ready to do their jobs no matter 
what, just as they have done time after time, tour after tour. So, to 
me, it is tragic that even as they prepare to do their jobs, our 
President and certain Members of this Chamber seem so ready to neglect 
their own.
  As we all know, on Saturday morning, without any known imminent 
threat to America or American interests, Donald Trump launched an 
illegal military campaign against Iran.
  Look, I want a democratic Iran, and I want to see the Iranian people 
free from the iron grip of its brutal, authoritarian regime, and I am 
not about to shed a tear for the Ayatollah's death. He was no friend of 
the United States' nor to his own people. He was responsible for the 
brutal murders of thousands of his own citizens in just the past few 
months alone. However, my first concern is always going to be the 
national security of the United States, and I am troubled because of 
the consequences that are sure to come because of Trump's actions.
  Our troops and Americans all around the world are at greater risk 
because Trump wanted to thump his chest and look like a tough guy on 
TV. For no real reason he can explain, Trump is marching us closer and 
closer to another costly, bloody, protracted conflict--a war without 
any defined end state and even without a concept of a plan for how to 
prevent the chaos and instability that will come next.
  Far from making America greater or better or stronger or whatever new 
adjective he is using this week, Trump's actions have made our Nation 
and our allies less safe. He has made them less secure.
  By continuing to strain our military with wars of choice, Trump is 
handing a gift to bad actors like Russia and the PRC, as his never-
ending chaos makes it harder for our Armed Forces to focus on defending 
our critical interests in places like the Indo-Pacific.
  So, no, Trump's actions over the past 72 hours--or ever--haven't put 
America first; they have made the situation for America worse.
  The sad fact of the matter is that what we are facing today is in 
large part a manufactured crisis. Iran is no ally of ours. We have been 
adversaries since long before Trump took office. I have always 
condemned their proxy activity and ballistic missile program, and I 
certainly agree that they cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. 
But we can't forget that Donald Trump is the one who pulled the United 
States out of the very deal that was limiting their weapons development 
program. Trump is the one who made sure Iran no longer had to play by 
the rules and curb their nuclear production. Trump and his inability to 
conduct foreign policy are what made today's nightmare a reality.
  His historical incompetence is what gave them the matchbox and the 
motivation to start a fire, and now he is angry that it is starting to 
catch. He is mad because they are doing the very things his actions 
encouraged them to do. It is circular logic which has already had fatal 
consequences--fatal for the six American heroes who have already lost 
their lives in this conflict and fatal for the hundreds of civilians 
who have already become the most horrible kind of collateral--moms and 
dads who this evening should be able to sit down and eat dinner with 
their little girl, who should be able to kiss their little boy 
goodnight, who should be able to go bed dreaming of a tomorrow that 
doesn't include missiles or misery.
  Now he has created a power vacuum in Iran, resulting in an unstable 
regime that is willing to do anything to hold on to power. Now he has 
created an open invitation for well-funded, organized terrorist groups 
to swoop in and snatch away any chance the Iranian people have for 
freedom and self-governance.
  War is always tragic, but when it is preventable, it is not just 
tragic but a travesty too. Trump wouldn't let himself be dragged by the 
bone spurs to serve in uniform when his country needed him, so how dare 
he try to drag us into yet another war of his choice today. But this 
draft dodger is too infatuated with maximum pressure to consider even 
minimum diplomacy. Once again, the Trump foreign policy doctrine has 
proven reckless, senseless, and dangerous--a doctrine in which fact and 
fiction are one and the same and one in which avarice outweighs advice 
every damn time.
  It is shameful--terrifying--that we have a Commander in Chief who 
seems to come to military decisions by virtue of temper tantrums and 
announces them via tweet, a President who doesn't seem to care if he 
keeps to the path of fire and fury that he has been treading; our own 
homeland will be in greater danger, more wounded warriors will be sent 
to Walter Reed, and more fallen heroes will be laid to rest in 
Arlington; a President who is so obsessed with being the tough guy, 
that he doesn't seem to give--well, doesn't seem to care; a President 
who is happy to squander the lives of our heroes for his own personal 
gain.
  Now, after this weekend, he has officially traded deterrence for 
instability and chaos and made us all less safe in the process--
Americans, certainly, but also our partners in the region and the 
Iranian people themselves, who did not ask for any of this; Iranian 
families who suffered decades under the Ayatollah's tyrannical iron 
grip and who, at long last, want to feel safe and secure.
  Look, Trump may have run to his podiatrist instead of running toward 
danger in Vietnam, but I actually know what it is like to leave your 
blood, your sweat--your limbs--in a war zone half a world away. So I 
know what is at stake for the thousands of troops this administration 
is getting ready to send into harm's way, and I can tell you this: It 
is a whole lot easier to cover your eyes and order other Americans to 
sacrifice if you don't have to sacrifice anything yourself. It is much 
easier to ignore the everyday realties of war from inside the hallowed 
halls of the White House, but it is nearly impossible if you have been 
outside the wire yourself.
  So as those drums of war echo louder than they have in years, I am 
here today because, despite what he thinks, Donald Trump does not have 
the authority to unilaterally force us into war.
  He may have never read the Constitution, but I have. So let me direct 
his attention to article I, which makes it clear that the President 
does not have the power to declare war; only Congress does. We are the 
ones tasked with deciding when and how Americans are sent into combat. 
We are the ones charged with that most solemn duty, yet Trump is acting 
also if article I simply doesn't exist, as if obeying the Constitution 
is optional, as if our founding document is a yellowing, crumbling 
piece of paper he can crumble up at will.
  Refusing to allow him to get away with this should not--must not--be 
a partisan issue. No matter if you are struggling to pay rent or your 
name is plastered in fake gold on a building on

[[Page S739]]

Fifth Avenue, no one can ignore the Constitution. No matter if you are 
a Mar-a-Lago worker pulling double shifts or the President of the 
United States, no one is above the law.
  Look, I believe there are certain solemn, urgent times when our 
military must be called upon to defend us. There are certain moments 
when the threat in question is significant and imminent, instances when 
military force is the most effective tool at hand and that using it is 
necessary to protect America and her interests. The thing is, from what 
little information Trump has shared publicly so far, this is not one of 
those times.
  But if the administration thinks I am wrong, then the floor is 
theirs. We are only a 20-minute walk from the White House. It is not 
that hard to find us here. We are the building with the big dome on 
top. If they actually believe that this war is justified, then they 
need to come to Congress and do their jobs, explaining their case and 
giving the American people a say through their elected representatives.
  They need to respect the American people enough to actually tell them 
why they are being forced to bear the costs of this conflict, both in 
dollars and cents and daughter and sons.
  The White House needs to respect our servicemembers enough to prove 
why war with Iran is worth turning more moms and dads into Gold Star 
parents. They need to prove that they have thought this through enough, 
then they can tell us what an end state in Iran would look like.
  Then, when their case has been made, when Congress' debate is done, 
we, in this Chamber, must vote. It is our duty; it is our burden; it is 
the least we can do for those willing to sacrifice everything to 
safeguard our democracy.
  But if the Trump administration refuses to do that, if they refuse to 
adhere to the first article of our Constitution, well then it begs the 
question: What are they hiding?
  This week, we will vote on Senator Kaine's War Powers Resolution, and 
I am well aware that many of my colleagues are claiming to have a 
difficult time deciding how to vote. To them, let me say this: We ask a 
lot of tough things of our troops and military families. Serving in a 
combat zone is hard. Hugging your husband or your wife, your father or 
your daughter, for the last time before they deploy, not knowing if you 
will ever see them again, that is hard. The least we can do here in 
return is ensure that we Senators take our duties as seriously as our 
military men and women do theirs.
  So to my Republican colleagues: Please, think about the fact that 
Trump cared so little about your beliefs on this matter that he 
willfully, illegally circumvented our Chamber entirely, preferring to 
sow chaos and fear, leaving Americans in a lurch and their elected 
representatives in the dark, choosing to start an unlawful war rather 
than simply ask for your expertise for your constitutionally mandated 
vote.
  And think about that Trump still has not been able to tell us of an 
imminent threat to American interests that would have actually required 
military action anywhere near this scale. And then after reflecting on 
all of that, all I am asking is that you vote for what you know is 
right.
  Moving forward, I will come back to the Chamber every afternoon, if 
necessary, to remind the Nation of the hard lessons learned the last 
time a President rashly sent our sons and daughters into another 
unjustified war in the Middle East, trying to ensure that this time we 
do right by our troops, trying to ensure that this time we actually 
fully, soberly consider the consequences of Washington's decisions on 
those who serve and their families.

  God bless each and every one of our troops in harm's way right now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). The Senator from Vermont.

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