Once the war starts and American soldiers are under fire, a rational discussion about the pros and cons of war becomes virtually impossible. That is precisely why our Founders wrote a Constitution that requires a debate before the start of the war.
But there was no debate in Congress, let alone a vote. On February 28, Americans woke up to find their country once again embroiled in a war in the Middle East.
The Americans were not asked whether they would bear the burden of the war. Instead, the American people were told through an eight-minute presidential video posted around 2:30 a.m. that the country was once again at war.
And because there has been no national discussion about going to war, we don’t know whether ground troops will be deployed. We have no idea how long the war will last. We have no idea who will lead Iran after the death of the supreme leader. And we have no idea how many casualties the American people would have to tolerate. We cannot know the answers to these questions because no one bothered to argue that the war with Iran was worth the sacrifice.
The Senate is only now debating whether hostilities should end after they have already begun. Before I discuss the merits of this war, let me say that my prayers, and those of my family, go out to the troops in the region, to those in combat, and to anyone who may be called to serve.
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I do not take lightly that the battle has begun, that many have been seriously injured and that lives have been lost.
A debate and vote in Congress provides the country’s only opportunity to discuss whether the country understands and accepts the inevitable sacrifices of war, especially the loss of life.
It is because of this reality of war that the Constitution grants the power to declare war to the United States Congress – and not to one person sitting in the Oval Office. Giving Congress the power to declare war was intended to prevent one person from leading the nation into war. When the nation goes to war, it must be a collective decision, with a clear reason for war. More importantly, a debate and vote in Congress provides the nation’s only opportunity to discuss whether the country understands and accepts the inevitable sacrifices of war, especially the loss of life.
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The people have been deprived of a public debate. Let me inform the public that this evasion is intentional.
The leadership of Congress – resigned to their own irrelevance – will happily hand the president the power to start a war in exchange for plausible deniability. Congressional leaders want to make it clear to voters that they will not be held accountable at the ballot box because they played no role in the decision to go to war. That is not statesmanship. That’s a shame.
This country is now at war, which has already cost the lives of six American service members and seriously injured many more. These soldiers and their families deserved a public debate and a vote in Congress before hostilities began.
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But if Congress had debated the war with Iran, we would have been wise to recall the words of John Quincy Adams, who as secretary of state advocated a cautious foreign policy: “Wherever the standard of liberty and independence has been or will be unfolded,” Adams argued, “will be America’s heart, her blessings, and her prayers.” But she doesn’t go abroad looking for monsters to destroy.”
There is wisdom in Adams’ words, but his argument was not original. It was George Washington himself who warned in his farewell address that America must stay out of the world’s endless conflicts.
Congress has tragically forgotten this advice. The history of the 21st century has been one of endless wars as America continually searches for the next monster to destroy. From Afghanistan to Iraq, Libya, Syria and Venezuela, proponents of war tell us that a country is a threat and that overthrowing a foreign government is a noble quest to protect security at home while spreading freedom worldwide.
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Although they have recycled their arguments – if they bother to make them – the results are always instability, chaos, suffering and resentment.
The Iraq War began under similar false pretenses, and the consequences of that fateful decision continue to reverberate throughout the Middle East to this day. The overthrow of Iraq’s secular government and the collapse of civil society led to the worst sectarian violence in modern history and led directly to the rise of ISIS.
More than a decade since the US military intervention that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, and a year after the fall of Assad, these divided, unstable countries are struggling to escape the cycle of violence and chaos.
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And although Nicolás Maduro has been removed from power by the US military, the socialist and oppressive Chavista regime has not been removed from the Venezuelan government.
Most tragically, after twenty years of war, the Taliban flag is flying over Kabul.
America’s adventures have not produced the promised utopias—or even Jeffersonian democracies.
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History is replete with examples of wars escalating quickly beyond the intention of the initiators. While some may think we are maintaining escalation dominance, the spiral of violence can quickly spiral out of control.
America is at war. But Americans don’t want this war. They didn’t vote for it. In fact, they voted for the exact opposite.
In addition to the documents and words of our founders, their commitment to grant power solely to Congress is so important today.
If the president came to Congress to ask for authorization for war, the people’s representatives could do what they were elected to do: represent them.
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The debate provides information and answers that we do not have now.
The constitutional separation of war powers is not just a notion that belongs in our history books. It is an essential part of a democratic republic. This Congress should be ashamed of the way it has allowed this unilateral march toward war.
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No other country in our history has been as arrogant toward our military men and women and taxpayer dollars as we are at this moment.
I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing both this war and the unilateral actions taken without congressional authorization as the Constitution requires.
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