Directing the Removal of United States Armed Forces From Hostilities Against the Islamic Republic of Iran That Have Not Been Authorized By Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I just have to say, here we go again. This is the third time in 2 months that the Democrat leadership has put this divisive and irresponsible debate on the House floor.

I have to ask, Madam Speaker, what are we doing here today on this War Powers Resolution again?

Our constituents are concerned about the impact of coronavirus on American lives and the United States economy, not partisan posturing. In fact, the WHO just declared that the coronavirus is now a pandemic.

Madam Speaker, that is what we should be focused on here today.

This political War Powers Resolution is based on a false premise. It orders the President to terminate hostilities against Iran. The problem is, for the other side, we are not engaged in hostilities in Iran.

I asked Secretary Pompeo that very question on February 28, 8 weeks after the Soleimani strike, before our Committee on Foreign Affairs: Are we engaged in hostilities against Iran? His response was: ``We are not.''

Our military commander in the Middle East agrees. General McKenzie was asked yesterday at the Armed Services Committee if we are engaged in hostilities against Iran or Iranian forces. He said, as Secretary Pompeo said: ``No, we are not.''

I am a strong supporter of our Article I powers, as I know the chairman is as well. If we were to launch strikes in Iran, I believe that the President would need to come before this body to ask for a new authorization.

But that, Madam Speaker, is not what we are facing. This text completely ignores the remarkable restraint that the President has shown over the past few months. He has used force only when necessary to protect American lives.

I was with the President at the White House when he was deciding how to respond to Iran's shooting down of our drone. He would have been justified, I believe, in taking out launch sites, but he decided to deescalate instead. He was very clear, saying: ``I do not want to go to war with Iran.''

The January 2 strike on Qasem Soleimani inside Iraq, not Iran, was not an escalation by the United States. It was an appropriate response to his deadly targeting of Americans and diplomats in Iraq.

Soleimani has the blood of hundreds of Americans on his hands. Most recently, he organized an escalating series of attacks in Iraq, an escalating series of these attacks which killed an American, wounded multiple U.S. servicemen, and involved the siege of our Embassy, an attack on our Embassy in Baghdad.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, said the administration would have been ``culpably negligent'' had they not acted to take him out.

The strike on Soleimani in Iraq was totally justified as self-defense under the President's Article II constitutional powers.

Jeh Johnson, President Obama's general counsel at the Department of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security, a person I have great, tremendous respect for and who I worked very closely with when I was chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, in his words, he stated that Soleimani ``was a lawful military objective, and the President, under his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, had ample domestic legal authority to take him out without an additional congressional authorization.''

This is the man in the Obama administration who approved the airstrikes against the terrorists.

More importantly, the Soleimani strike was a success. Let me quote from a recent Washington Post article, where they said: The Revolutionary Guard ``now finds itself on the back foot, a notable change after successfully projecting its power in the Middle East over recent years.''

The Quds Force--Quds, meaning Jerusalem--that is their ultimate objective, to annihilate the State of Israel. ``The Quds Force has been significantly deterred from retaliating further against the United States.''

But the Democrats cannot admit anything good can come from this President, and that has consequences. In my judgment, we are wasting precious legislative days and setting a terrible precedent of abusing War Powers procedures.

This will be the fifth time that this Congress, and in this Congress, that we are considering a War Powers Resolution directing the President to withdraw U.S. forces from wars we are not actually fighting--three on Iran and two on Yemen.

Iran and its proxies are watching right now, as we spin our wheels. What they see, Madam Speaker, unfortunately, is not a united America, but a divided America that does not fully support the ability of our Commander in Chief to adequately respond to threats against Americans.

Now is not the time to tie our Commander in Chief's hands. Now is the time to support our troops and to support our diplomats.

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who served in the United States Army and fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Waltz), a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and the first Green Beret elected to Congress.

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Riggleman), who served in the United States Air Force for over a decade and is a veteran of Operation Allied Force and Enduring Freedom.

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Madam Speaker, there was reference that the taking out of Soleimani was an assassination. I just want to remind this body of Jeh Johnson's words, President Obama's general counsel at the Department of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, who I have tremendous respect for. He signed off on airstrikes under the Obama administration, stating that Soleimani was a lawful military objective, and the President, under his Constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, had ample domestic legal authority to take him out without additional congressional authorization. I think that really puts this matter to rest.

But let me also say that the chairman and I are very bipartisan. We respect this committee. We respect the integrity of this committee. We both see the world very much in the same way. I know the chairman is not a supporter of Soleimani. I believe the chairman believes, as I do, that the world is safer without Mr. Soleimani in it.

The chairman and I are very staunchly pro-Israel, and are for Israel, and very much against the actions of the Ayatollah in Iran. So I don't question the chairman whatsoever.

In fact, I take great pride in the fact that the chairman and I work very well together. When we disagree--and sometimes we do--we agree to disagree, and we do so with civility, which I think has been lost at times in this body, in this town. And so I want to start with that.

I will say that all the hearings I have had, and briefings prove that Soleimani was a terrorist who actively engaged in a campaign of violence against Americans and our interests. And after not one, two, but three times debating this issue on the floor, I think we about said all we can say.

I think we can all agree he was a brutal terrorist and that the world is better off without him.

But I have to question, why now are we debating this? Our country is facing a public health emergency.

Madam Speaker, as I stated, the World Health Organization just announced in the time of this debate that the coronavirus is now a pandemic.

As of today, there are more than 121,000 reported cases of coronavirus worldwide, including over 1,000 right here in the United States. And while the CDC maintains the likelihood of a person catching the disease is low, the fallout from the fear caused by COVID-19 is real and is causing real damage.

Just 2 days ago, people were watching as their 401(k)s and retirement funds were disappearing and Wall Street saw the biggest drop in more than a decade. I know in my district, the city of Austin suffered a significant economic blow with the cancellation of South by Southwest, an event the chairman and I were actually scheduled to speak at regarding how we were the committee that works together and doesn't give in to toxic partisan politics.

Last year, this conference in my hometown brought more than $350 million to Austin, making it the most profitable event for the city's hospitality industry. More communities are facing economic fallout, as well. And the fear is only rising as we continue to see more stories.

Several Members of Congress themselves, our colleagues, are currently self-quarantining after potentially being exposed to the virus, yet we are talking about this resolution today.

I would just close by saying, I was back in my district over the weekend talking to my constituents. They were really not concerned about the War Powers Resolution. Their number one concern right now is: My God, is my child going to get coronavirus? Am I going to get coronavirus? When is it going to impact my backyard, my neighbors? They want to be safe, and they want Congress to do something.

I am hopeful, Madam Speaker--I know they are in negotiations right now between the leadership of our two parties that we can come together, just as we did last week, in passing a $7.8 billion supplemental to address this crisis--that we can come together as Republicans and Democrats to do good things for the American people and to protect the American people and to make them safe.

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers), a member of the Armed Services Committee and the lead Republican of the Homeland Security Committee.

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I believe I have said about everything I can say on this issue, so I won't take up more time of Congress, other than to say we are not at war with Iran. If we were, I would be the first one to say Congress has a responsibility to act. If Soleimani was taken out in Iran, I would be the first to say we need an Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Congress does have the power to declare war under the Constitution, and many colleagues on my side of the aisle agree with that concept, but it is just not factually what is happening on the ground today in Iran. If that day happens, we are fully prepared to have this discussion. This is what I would call a premature argument to make.

And I would say, with respect to updating the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs, I have had several meetings with Members on both sides of the aisle, many of whom were not here when those were passed by Congress in 2001 and 2002, who also agree that we should be working to modernize these Authorizations for Use of Military Force.

I think there is that consensus, Madam Speaker, here today. I would encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--and I know Chairman Engel is also supportive of working together--to try to modernize these Authorizations for Use of Military Force.

But that is not the situation on the ground today, and I cannot support this resolution simply for the fact it is based on a false premise. It will tie the hands of our Commander in Chief to respond in self-defense to Americans, our diplomats serving over there very bravely, and our American soldiers who are over there very bravely--it ties his hands to defend from an attack launched by Iran.

And lastly, I say, Mr. Soleimani was not a good man. He was an evil mastermind of terror. For two decades he killed Americans. He brought the Russians into Syria. They slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent people in Syria. He is responsible for so much blood on his hands.

I would close by saying--and I do think there is consensus on this issue, as well--that the world is indeed a better place without this mastermind of terror, the greatest mastermind since bin Laden was removed from the face of this Earth.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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