Two nights ago, President Trump unilaterally launched an attack putting us at the doorstep of another war in the Middle East.

Without the consent of the American people.

That's not how decisions about war and peace are made in this country. And that's exactly why I was one of just 44 Democrats to vote against the president's massive defense budget last month — as I've done the past several years.

Because it did nothing to limit such reckless use of executive power. Because it continued to wholly undercut Congress's responsibility to authorize the use of military force.

This country has been at war for half my life. Nearly twenty years.

The generation behind me? They've never known a nation not putting American boots on the ground — and lives on the line — overseas.

Our never-ending mission in Afghanistan. Our devastating miscalculation in Iraq. Our creeping engagement in Yemen and Syria. War has become our status quo, rather than a gruesome measure of last resort.

No more. It's time for Congress to say: no more. If the president wants to put more American lives on the line, he must get authorization from the elected representatives of the American people. He must come to us and make his case. His allies in Congress must publicly defend his mission, strategy and end game.

And those of us determined to spare future generations the brutal cost of endless war must do everything in our power to say — no more.

Contribute