Resolution, to Remove United States Armed Forces From Hostilities with Iran

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the distinguished gentleman from the great State of New York (Mr. Meeks), the once and future chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, for yielding and for his leadership, for his courage, his character, his conviction, and his patriotism. How dare anyone on this floor question the patriotism of Greg Meeks or any Member on our side of the aisle.

What often happens with my Republican colleagues is they can't defend the merits of a particular situation. They can't defend the fact that Donald Trump, as candidate, promised not to start any wars, but to stop them--his words, not ours. You can't defend the fact that billions of dollars are being spent every day to drop bombs in the Middle East, but Republicans are unwilling to spend a dime to make life more affordable for the American people. You can't defend the things that have taken place under this administration, the fact that the American people know life hasn't gotten better for them, life has gotten worse. Life has gotten more expensive, less affordable. When you can't defend your policies, you question the patriotism of Democratic Members of Congress.

There are patriots on both side of this conflict and this issue. As a matter of fact, we know there are combat veterans on the Republican side and combat veterans on the Democratic side who may share different views about the nature of this conflict. Jason Crow is a combat veteran. He opposes this reckless war of choice. Are you going to question his patriotism? Pat Ryan is a combat veteran who opposes this reckless war of choice. Do you question his patriotism? Mike Thompson, who served in Vietnam, a combat veteran, opposes this reckless war of choice. Do you question his patriotism, as well?

Why don't you just argue the merits of your position as opposed to attacking the patriotism of people on the Democratic side of the aisle, when as far as I am concerned, the most patriotic thing we can do is stand up to ensure that our men and women in uniform aren't being recklessly sent into a costly war of choice, more than 12 of whom have already lost their lives and hundreds of whom have been seriously injured.

Let's just argue the merits of Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice and stop the ad hominem attacks, which aren't a sign of strength. It is just a sign of Republican weakness in terms of your ability to persuade the American people as to why Republicans are on the right side of this unpopular war.

Now, this war of choice, this reckless and costly war, was entered into without any plan, any objective, any exit strategy, any public support, and any approval of the United States Congress. Those are five different objective reasons to have a problem about what is going on in the Middle East right now. In fact, we are just trying to help Donald Trump bring to life his own words that, as President, he wasn't going to start wars in the Middle East. He was going to stop them--Donald Trump's own words. Do you question his patriotism?

The reality is this war is costing the American people, taxpayers billions of dollars a day at the same time when Republicans are ripping healthcare away from the American people. This reckless war of choice is costing the American people billions of dollars a day at the same time when costs are going up because of the Trump tariffs, thousands of dollars a year in additional expense that everyday Americans are paying. This reckless war of choice is costing the American people billions of dollars a day when at the same time Republicans aren't willing to spend a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. This reckless war of choice is costing the American taxpayer billions of dollars a day at the same period of time when grocery bills in this country are out of control. Far too many people are working hard. They are playing by the rules, but they are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, can't thrive, and can barely survive.

We are standing up for the American taxpayer in expressing support for this War Powers Resolution so we can put an end to this costly and reckless war of choice.

These are just some of the reasons why we oppose what is taking place right now. In fact, there are many who are now arguing in the public domain that as a result of what Donald Trump and Republicans have done over in the Middle East, Iran, in some instances, is stronger now than they were before. They have effective control of the Strait of Hormuz. They didn't have that before, but now they do.

As a result, Americans are paying increased gas prices that are soaring to more than $4 a gallon, the largest, in fact, monthly increase in gas prices from March to April that the country has seen in more than six decades. That is just another reason to have a problem with Donald Trump's reckless war of choice.

I ask my Republican colleagues to debate us on the merits. Enough with the ad hominem attacks. It is a sign of weakness, not strength. Take your position. We take our position.

We feel very comfortable that we are standing on the side of the American people, standing on the side of the Constitution, and standing on the side of the principle that if we are going to spend billions and billions of taxpayer dollars, it should actually be spent to make life more affordable for the American people, not plunge us into a reckless and costly war of choice that is actually making life more expensive for the American people in provable and tangible ways.

Vote ``yes'' on the Meeks resolution so we can stop this reckless and costly war of choice and actually get back to doing the business of the American people, making their lives better, not worse.

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