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Floor Speech

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Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, bombing another country is an act of war; and last week, Donald Trump launched an attack that could spin the United States into another endless war in the Middle East. What followed from that decision can only be described as pure madness.

Trump declared total victory. Iran threatened retaliation. Americans in the region were forced to shelter in place.

Trump's own team then admitted no one knows where the nuclear materials are and what nuclear capacity Iran might still have. Trump called for regime change, and then last night, just for a moment, we hoped and believed there was a cease-fire, only for us to wake up to frantic posts on social media by the President begging both sides to stop shooting missiles and rockets at each other.

Today, the Deputy Commander of Central Command could not describe what kind of contingency plans the Defense Department was making or even whether they did or didn't have plans for the United States to put boots on the ground in this Middle East conflict.

And a classified briefing scheduled for right now that we should be having so that all the Senators can ask questions about what has happened and what is currently happening in Iran has just been scrapped by the Republicans for another 48 hours.

There is no grand plan. There is no careful effort to develop a responsible U.S. foreign policy designed to keep us all safe. Once again, Donald Trump serves up chaos--dangerous chaos--that threatens the long-term security of the American people.

New reporting by CNN and the New York Times suggest Donald Trump's bombing of Iran failed to destroy its nuclear program.

The media reports highlight that the strikes only set back Iran's nuclear program by a few months--a few months, while risking another war in the Middle East.

Now, we all agree that Iran should not and cannot have a nuclear weapon. We are committed to that. But the only successful strategy for preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is diplomacy, something that Donald Trump has been pursuing right up until Prime Minister Netanyahu began bombing Iran. That is what we need right now, for all sides to come to the table to build an agreement that is sturdy and that cements lasting peace in place.

But Trump's reckless action, backed by many Republicans in Congress, makes it more likely that this crisis escalates into a deadly cycle of violence. Trump's reckless action puts American lives at risk. Trump's reckless action risks initiating another endless war that could last months, or even decades, as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We have the power to put a stop to this madness right now. Senator Kaine has introduced a war powers resolution to stop Donald Trump from turning these Iran bombings into another endless war in the Middle East.

Americans don't need another war. Americans don't want another war. They need and want good jobs and lower prices, and that is exactly what we should be focused on.

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