[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4200-S4201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAN

  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I know I share this with 99 colleagues; 
that there is grief yet again hanging over the U.S. Senate and hanging 
over America because soldiers who have sworn an oath to our 
Constitution--who have sworn to serve and defend this Nation--have 
fallen.
  Several weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone who had been my 
colleague who is now the Secretary of State. I asked about this war, 
and Secretary Rubio looked me in the eyes, under oath, and told me that 
the war was over. Several weeks before that, the President and his 
administration stood before the American people and told them we had 
won the war.
  I want to tell you right now that the soldiers who died this past 
week died in the war, and we are mourning the loss.
  This is not a left or a right thing. This is a time when we come 
together beyond anything partisan and understand that soldiers have 
fallen--three soldiers and possibly a fourth. They were killed in 
action in a war that we have been told is over and a war that I believe 
firmly should end. Their names deserve to be spoken on this floor and 
in the Congress of the United States. I want to speak their names: 1LT 
Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii; he was 25 years old. Private Isabella 
Gonzales of Texas; she was 19 years old. SGT Michael Emmanuel Swinton 
of North Carolina, killed at Erbil Airbase in northern Iraq--30 years 
old--19, 25, and 30. My prayers are with their families. I can't even 
begin to imagine the grief.
  As it stands today, 17 American servicemembers have paid the ultimate 
price for this war. There are 17 Americans and 17 families who won't 
sit for a meal with their loved ones--17 lives that a nation cannot get 
back. No matter how many times we say it, the pain still lasts. These 
are 17 reasons I believe the American people and the men and women who 
wear this country's uniform are owed more from us.
  We know, in this body, that every single day we are privy to 
information; that every single day we go into classified settings and 
hear about the fact that every single day there are Americans standing 
up for our country in dangerous places who are doing dangerous things. 
It is one of the more sobering parts of this job to know that I bear a 
responsibility, along with my 99 colleagues, for those men and women 
who step forward, swear their oath, put on their uniforms, and go all 
over the globe for us under the Commander in Chief, the President of 
the United States.
  Now, the idea behind our democracy is that they don't go at the 
orders of their commanders, but they go to represent a country that has 
a form of government, a Republic, that is a nation of laws. They swear 
an oath to the Constitution, and we, too, swear that same oath. We 
stand right there in the well of the Senate. We raise our hands, and we 
swear an oath. There is no measure of courage to do this job. Rarely, 
have I seen Senators face real imminent danger. The truth of the matter 
is that the courage evidenced by men and women in uniform should serve 
as an inspiration to us in that maybe we are not putting ourselves to 
the physical tests that they are but that we, too, have to make a 
decision to honor their courage with our moral courage.
  This week, we learned--to my surprise and, frankly, inciting my 
anger--that the Pentagon severely undercounted the number of 
servicemembers who have been injured. We were told that over 400 
servicemembers have been injured since February 28. Now we are learning 
that, in the last 2 weeks alone, more than 100 more American 
servicemembers have been injured in spiraling strikes between the 
United States and Iran. Some have been seriously injured, and some have 
already been back at work--many of them back in harm's way.
  I fear that we are seeing a pattern. The administration has not told 
Congress or the American people the truth about the cost of this war, 
nor the cost to our men and women who put on the

[[Page S4201]]

uniform; not the cost to the military families who have family members 
in harm's way, nor the 17 families who will not have family members 
coming home. Now we are listening to the Congress of the United States 
in both Chambers. We have seen votes in majorities in both Chambers to 
end this war, but instead of listening to that will, instead of 
listening to the American people as to a war that is immensely 
unpopular, we seem to be repeating over and over again what I believe 
is an unjust continuation of a war that is not upheld or supported by 
the law of our land or by the Constitution we swore an oath to.
  This brings to me the urgency of this moment, and the death of more 
American soldiers highlights what we are doing here. History is looking 
at us in this moment. Right now, as we speak, there are people in 
harm's way. History is looking at us in this moment. How will our moral 
courage stand alongside those courageous people who are representing 
our country?
  My heart is heavy; my spirit grieves. And I know I am not alone. When 
deaths like this happen, we shouldn't just go on like this is normal. 
When people die in service of our country, in combat, we shouldn't 
treat it like another day here in America. It is not.
  So how do we express our commitment to country? How can it lie in 
congruency with theirs? How can we honor them in this body beyond 
condolences, thoughts, and prayers?
  I believe what the call of this body is in this moment, in the shadow 
of their immense brilliance, that we have an obligation to honor them, 
not with words, but in how we give the best measure of our devotion to 
the laws of our land.
  I find it unconscionable that the stakes are so high in this country 
where we are spending tens of billions of dollars--that factually could 
be going to our schools, tens of billions of dollars could be going to 
our healthcare, tens of billions of dollars that could be paying down 
our national debt, tens of billions of dollars that don't just come out 
of nowhere, but they come from hard-working taxpayers who pay their 
taxes into a system that they put faith and trust in. And what is 
happening with this money that we are expending for bombs and missiles 
and planes and personnel?
  What is happening is we expend this money. Well, what is apparent to 
me is what is not happening. You see, our Founders understood the 
nature of war, and they understood--in light of Kings and Queens and 
Monarchs who so easily pushed their country into war with no 
consequence, how easily they put lives on the line, sent men and women 
into battles--it was such a significant understanding that they had 
that they said: No individual should be able to unilaterally send our 
men and women, our children, into war; that we should put appropriate 
checks and balances on those decisions. Our Founders knew the 
consequence of war, the burden of war. They knew the hell of war, the 
tragic consequence to families, the pain and agony of death, and they 
knew that those decisions should not be made by an individual who might 
be overcome with some kind of ill-conceived notions and draw our 
country into war where we give the best of who we are.
  The best of America is not our wealth; it is the young men and women 
who hold the hope of America.
  And so the Constitution is clear: Do not let one person drag our 
Nation into war. They took that power and placed it not with an 
Executive. They placed that power with this body, with Congress so that 
there would be debate and discussion; so that there would be arguments 
into the night; and so that people would understand with the gravity of 
such a commitment that we would make sure that the will of the people 
would be the first decisionmakers for a war.
  And that any President that was conducting the war would not conduct 
it above accountability but would have checks and balance. That is the 
Constitution of the United States. Those imperfect geniuses understood 
that in moments like this when our Nation is at war, where men and 
women are coming home not alive but in body bags, that we should honor 
them by making sure that the will of our Nation was behind that war.
  And here we are, since the end of February, month after month. 
Soldiers injured by the hundreds. Lives lost. And the question is: What 
are we doing in this body?
  Have we granted the authority to the Executive to go to war? No, we 
haven't.
  Have we exercised our constitutional authority? No, we haven't.
  Have we debated this war and had to make a decision by voting yes or 
no to allow the President to conduct this war? We have not.
  We have men and women who are fighting to defend our Nation's laws 
and Constitution, and here we are not living up to it. To me, that is a 
living shame, that men and women are risking their lives for the 
Constitution we serve, and we can't even live up to the roles that we 
are to play within that constitutional Republic.
  What does it say that men and women are dying for this country and we 
are not even living up to its laws? That men and women are paying the 
ultimate sacrifice for our Nation and we can't even stand up and do the 
specific duty spelled out by our country?
  All hundred of us grieve these losses. No one should say any 
different. I know my colleagues. There is not a person here that 
doesn't anguish over the loss, but that is not enough in this moment. 
That is inadequate when it comes to honoring these men and women.
  What this moment calls for is more than thoughts and prayers, more 
than the hurt and the grief. It calls for us to do our job. We owe it 
to them. We owe them truth. We owe them accountability. We owe them 
checks and balances. We owe them transparency. We owe them a government 
that lives up to its obligations.
  They gave the best measure of their devotion to the Nation they 
loved, and their love was not mere words or symbols or salutes. Their 
words alone did not show their sacrifice. They understood to love your 
Nation is to stand up and work for her, sacrifice for her, risk for 
her.
  It is time for this body, the U.S. Senate, to honor those men and 
women by giving our best measure of devotion to our Constitution. This 
body must end this unconstitutional and unjust war. And if they are 
unwilling to do so, they should hold the vote whether we authorize this 
war. It has not been done yet.
  How many more men and women will die before we do our job, rein in 
this Executive, hold him accountable, and bring an end to a war that 
our Nation does not want to be in?
  Today, my thoughts and prayers are with their families. But I stand 
here as 1 out of 100 Senators offering more than thoughts and prayers. 
I yet again demand this body to fulfill its constitutional obligations 
and do its job.

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