[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 103 (Thursday, June 18, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E586-E587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH IRAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 18, 2026

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, President Trump's reckless decision to 
take the United States to war with Iran without Congressional 
authorization has been a disastrous failure. Not only has the 
president's war of choice utterly failed to deliver on his own shifting 
military goals, it has cost the American people directly: increasing 
costs for many necessities like groceries, housing, health care, 
utilities, gasoline, and more. The war has also left the U.S. and the 
world in a more precarious geopolitical position.
  In the first hours of the war, President Trump spoke of eliminating 
the Iranian regime through U.S. military strikes and a popular uprising 
of the Iranian people. Not only did no popular uprising against the 
regime materialize, but President Trump's war has had the opposite 
effect on Iran. The Iranian regime is emboldened, and it is more 
tightly controlled by hardliners and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard 
Corps than it was prior to the war. This will make the prospects for 
long-term peace with Iran more difficult.
  The war has failed to achieve other key military goals that the 
President laid out. First and foremost is the failure to eliminate or 
secure the Iranian nuclear program's strategic materials. Iran's 
nuclear program has not been destroyed, and the United States and our 
allies now have far less visibility into the program than we did while 
President Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran was in 
effect. The war has also depleted U.S. stocks of critical munitions, 
creating a vulnerability for the U.S. military in other theaters.
  The war has also resulted in considerable economic disruptions in the 
United States and around the world. On average, gas prices have risen 
by over $1 per gallon since the

[[Page E587]]

start of the war. When gas goes up, so does the price of everything 
else. We saw that reflected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 
report on inflation which showed prices increasing at the fastest rate 
in three years. The American people are paying every single day for a 
war that no one voted for and Congress has not authorized.
  Now, President Trump is attempting to negotiate with Iran to reopen 
the Strait of Hormuz, which was not closed prior to the start of the 
war. I welcome the international community's support for securing and 
maintaining the security of the Strait. I also support the ongoing 
ceasefire with Iran. But this ceasefire extension must lead to a 
tangible resolution to the war that provides for peace and long-term 
stability in the Middle East. That includes insisting that Israel honor 
its ceasefire with Lebanon and cease and desist its use of U.S. 
munitions in that conflict. This is not what President Trump announced 
on June 14th. The President's new agreement with Iran is just a tenuous 
sixty-day extension of the existing ceasefire. It may result in an end 
to the U.S. naval blockade of Iran and a reopening of the Strait of 
Hormuz, but that remains to be seen.
  Furthermore, the ceasefire extension announced by President Trump 
does nothing to resolve the most critical issues in this conflict, such 
as the status of the Iranian nuclear program, ballistic missile 
programs, frozen Iranian financial assets, or imposed U.S. sanctions. 
Without a resolution to these issues, long-term peace and stability in 
the region will remain out of reach.
  Prior to the President's war of choice, Iran was an international 
pariah state. The Iranian regime was guilty of heinous crimes and human 
rights atrocities against its own people. But President Trump's war has 
allowed Iran to recast itself as a victim in the eyes of many around 
the world. Their regime is more hardline, emboldened to continue to 
disrupt security in the Middle East, and now have serious economic 
leverage over the United States and the world. The fault for this lies 
squarely with President Trump.

                          ____________________