[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 19, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2354-S2355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WAR POWERS RESOLUTION

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to President 
Trump's war of choice in Iran that has cost taxpayers billions and 
taken the lives of 13 American servicemembers.
  Since this war began over 11 weeks ago, it has been abundantly clear 
that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth don't know what they are doing. They 
have offered shifting rationales for why we are at war, moving the 
goalposts by the hour. There seems to be no plan or timeline for when 
this war will end. This administration has also been caught flat-footed 
at every turn, including not anticipating that the Strait of Hormuz 
would be closed and the skyrocketing gas prices that followed.
  It is not just Americans at home who are paying the price for this 
conflict. American servicemembers are sounding the alarm, too, that the 
Trump administration wasn't prepared to keep them safe. First, we 
learned that servicemembers who were injured in Kuwait in a March 1 
drone strike had to wait nearly a month to get care for their traumatic 
brain injuries. Now we are learning that troops in the same unit had 
their calls for support from the Army ignored. Soldiers stationed in 
Kuwait asked for additional medical personnel and medical supplies 
before the war began, but that request was denied. These same soldiers 
also recount that they did not get the proper training for responding 
to an attack.
  They were told: Don't worry about protection.
  MAJ Stephen Ramsbottom told CBS News that he believed MSG Nicole 
Amor, an Army reservist who was killed in the attack, could have 
survived her wounds had the military been properly prepared for 
retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases.
  All of this points to a larger problem and a larger pattern of Donald 
Trump and Pete Hegseth being totally reckless, starting a war without 
the careful planning necessary to protect Americans. And while two in 
three Americans say this war was the wrong decision, President Trump 
keeps threatening to ramp up this conflict, putting our troops further 
into harm's way. He has even hinted that he is interested in starting 
another war in Cuba.
  Americans didn't ask for this war of choice. Their elected 
representatives in Washington didn't even vote on it. And yet it is 
Americans who are paying the price every single day.
  I am glad to see more of my Republican colleagues are listening to 
their constituents, and I was pleased to see another vote to stop this 
reckless and illegal war.
  But it is not enough. It is time for Congress to finally be a check 
on this President.

[[Page S2355]]

  Stand up for your constituents and our servicemembers, and join us in 
voting to stop this war.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader.

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