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Friend,
Last night, President Trump ordered U.S. forces to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran. In this moment of tremendous consequence, I wanted to share my perspective.
The Constitution is crystal clear: Congress, not the President, has the power to declare war. The President attacked Iran without seeking Congressional approval. In doing so, he clearly violated the Constitution, overstepped his authority, and denied the American people an opportunity to weigh in on this critical matter. With 40,000 troops in harms way, the representatives of those troops and their families should have a say, as our Founders intended.
The fact that some people support the attacks, or that they may be successful does not lessen the importance of abiding by the Constitution. The fact that other presidents have similarly overstepped doesn’t either. As I say all the time, “whataboutism” is the last hope of the losing argument.
In addition to overstepping his authority to launch these strikes, President Trump did not inform the bipartisan Gang of Eight (of which I am a member) and apparently advised only select leaders and his Republican allies in Congress prior to the strike. That level of partisanship in military affairs should seriously concern every American.
As to the merits of the strike, at this time we have no intelligence to determine whether this strike will meaningfully set back Iran’s nuclear program. We don’t know if enriched uranium was actually located at the sites, and there is no evidence that Iran's regime planned to imminently construct a nuclear weapon.
Finally, we don’t know if this strike will discourage or encourage nuclear development in Iran. Iran may attack our forces in the Middle East. Or they may go quiet and fully embrace the lesson of Libya, Ukraine and North Korea, that giving up nukes is a bad idea.
In sum, the President has made an enormous gamble. And that’s concerning, because history has shown us that gambles in the Middle East very rarely end well.
As the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, I’m deeply concerned about further escalation in the Middle East and possible retaliation from Iran. We will continue watching closely over the safety of the 40,000 American troops stationed in the region as well as those here at home. And, of course, I will continue fighting to uphold our Constitution and ensure that Congress, the voice of the people, has a say in matters of such tremendous importance.
— Jim
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