Washington, D.C. – Amid President Trump’s threats against Iran, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—issued the following statement warning against unilateral military action without consultation and authorization from Congress:
“Despite Trump claiming to be a president who would choose peace, we are once again watching a Republican president drag us into another war in the Middle East. Any decision to launch military action without congressional authorization would violate the Constitution, undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts, and risk putting American troops and innocent civilians in the crossfire.
“I strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s repression at home and abroad—which includes human rights abuses against the Iranian people and its support for violent proxies in the region—but these realities do not justify unilateral U.S. military action or regime change, nor do they override the Constitution. They certainly do not give the President the authority to move this country toward another war on his own, which doesn’t make Americans safer or put ‘America First.’
“Only Congress has the constitutional authority to declare war. That power does not belong to any one president. The American people, including our men and women in uniform, deserve a full debate about the objectives, the risks, and the consequences of any potential war with Iran.
“The American people are tired of endless wars. We cannot allow this nation to be pulled into another one without debate, authorization, and accountability—no war with Iran.”
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