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Once war begins and American soldiers are under fire, a rational discussion of the pros and cons of war becomes nearly impossible. That is exactly why our Founders wrote a Constitution that demands a debate before the initiation of war.
But there was no debate in Congress, let alone a vote. On Feb. 28, Americans awoke to discover that their country was once again embroiled in a war in the Middle East.
Americans were not asked if they would bear the burdens of war. Instead, the American people were told, through a presidential eight-minute video posted around 2:30 in the morning, that the country was, once again, at war.
And because there was no national discussion about going to war, we do not know whether ground troops will be used. 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 are supposed to tolerate. We cannot know the answer to these questions because no one bothered to make the case that war with Iran was worth the sacrifice.
The Senate is only now debating whether hostilities should end after they’ve already begun. Before I discuss the merits of this war, I want to say that my prayers, and those of my family, are with the troops in the region, those in combat, and anyone who may be called to serve.
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I do not take lightly that combat has begun, that many have been severely injured, and that lives have been lost.
A debate and a vote in Congress provide the nation with the only opportunity to discuss whether the country understands and accepts the inevitable sacrifices of war, especially the loss of life.
It is because of those realities of war that the Constitution grants the power to declare war to the United States Congress — not one individual sitting in the Oval Office. Giving Congress the power to declare war was meant to prevent one person from committing the nation to war. When the nation goes to war, it should be a collective decision, with a clear rationale for war articulated. More importantly, a debate and a vote in Congress provide the nation with the 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 robbed of a public debate. Let me inform the public that this evasion is intentional.
The congressional leadership — resigned to their own irrelevance — will gladly hand the president the power to initiate war in exchange for plausible deniability. Congressional leaders want to make the case to voters that they are not to be held accountable at the ballot box because they played no role in the decision to go to war. That is not statesmanship. That is shameful.
This country is now at war, which has already cost the lives of six American service members, and many more are severely wounded. Those soldiers and their families deserved a public debate and a vote in Congress before the initiation of hostilities.
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But had Congress debated war with Iran, we would have been wise to recall the words of John Quincy Adams, who, as secretary of state, advocated a foreign policy of restraint: “Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled,” Adams argued, “there will America’s heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.”
There is wisdom in Adams’ words, but his was not an original argument. It was George Washington himself who warned in his Farewell Address that America should 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 in which America perpetually searches for the next monster to destroy. From Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya to Syria to Venezuela, advocates for war tell us a country is a threat and that toppling a foreign government is a noble quest to protect security at home while spreading freedom globally.
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While they have recycled their arguments — when they bother to make them — the results are always instability, chaos, suffering and resentment.
The Iraq War was launched under similar false pretenses, and the consequences of that fateful decision still reverberate throughout the Middle East to this day. The overthrow of Iraq’s secular government and the collapse of its civil society spurred some of the worst sectarian violence in modern history and directly led to the rise of ISIS.
More than a decade since the U.S. military intervention that toppled Muammar Qadhafi, and a year after the fall of Assad, these divided, unstable countries struggle to escape the cycle of violence and chaos.
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And although Nicolas Maduro may have been removed from power by American military forces, the socialist and oppressive Chavista regime has not been removed from the Venezuelan government.
Most tragically, after two decades of war, the Taliban flag flies 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 that quickly escalate beyond their initiators’ intent. While some may think we maintain escalation dominance, the spiral of violence can rapidly get 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 just the opposite.
Beyond the documents and words of our Founders, that is why their intention to grant the power only 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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Debate provides information and answers we do not now have.
The constitutional separation of war powers is not just some notion that belongs in our history books. It’s a vital part of a democratic republic. This Congress should be ashamed of how it has allowed this unilateral march to war.
No others in our history have been this cavalier with our military men and women and tax dollars as they 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 commands.
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