Iran

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I know I share this with 99 colleagues; that there is grief yet again hanging over the U.S. Senate and hanging over America because soldiers who have sworn an oath to our Constitution--who have sworn to serve and defend this Nation--have fallen.

Several weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone who had been my colleague who is now the Secretary of State. I asked about this war, and Secretary Rubio looked me in the eyes, under oath, and told me that the war was over. Several weeks before that, the President and his administration stood before the American people and told them we had won the war.

I want to tell you right now that the soldiers who died this past week died in the war, and we are mourning the loss.

This is not a left or a right thing. This is a time when we come together beyond anything partisan and understand that soldiers have fallen--three soldiers and possibly a fourth. They were killed in action in a war that we have been told is over and a war that I believe firmly should end. Their names deserve to be spoken on this floor and in the Congress of the United States. I want to speak their names: 1LT Tyler James Feehan of Hawaii; he was 25 years old. Private Isabella Gonzales of Texas; she was 19 years old. SGT Michael Emmanuel Swinton of North Carolina, killed at Erbil Airbase in northern Iraq--30 years old--19, 25, and 30. My prayers are with their families. I can't even begin to imagine the grief.

As it stands today, 17 American servicemembers have paid the ultimate price for this war. There are 17 Americans and 17 families who won't sit for a meal with their loved ones--17 lives that a nation cannot get back. No matter how many times we say it, the pain still lasts. These are 17 reasons I believe the American people and the men and women who wear this country's uniform are owed more from us.

We know, in this body, that every single day we are privy to information; that every single day we go into classified settings and hear about the fact that every single day there are Americans standing up for our country in dangerous places who are doing dangerous things. It is one of the more sobering parts of this job to know that I bear a responsibility, along with my 99 colleagues, for those men and women who step forward, swear their oath, put on their uniforms, and go all over the globe for us under the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States.

Now, the idea behind our democracy is that they don't go at the orders of their commanders, but they go to represent a country that has a form of government, a Republic, that is a nation of laws. They swear an oath to the Constitution, and we, too, swear that same oath. We stand right there in the well of the Senate. We raise our hands, and we swear an oath. There is no measure of courage to do this job. Rarely, have I seen Senators face real imminent danger. The truth of the matter is that the courage evidenced by men and women in uniform should serve as an inspiration to us in that maybe we are not putting ourselves to the physical tests that they are but that we, too, have to make a decision to honor their courage with our moral courage.

This week, we learned--to my surprise and, frankly, inciting my anger--that the Pentagon severely undercounted the number of servicemembers who have been injured. We were told that over 400 servicemembers have been injured since February 28. Now we are learning that, in the last 2 weeks alone, more than 100 more American servicemembers have been injured in spiraling strikes between the United States and Iran. Some have been seriously injured, and some have already been back at work--many of them back in harm's way.

I fear that we are seeing a pattern. The administration has not told Congress or the American people the truth about the cost of this war, nor the cost to our men and women who put on the uniform; not the cost to the military families who have family members in harm's way, nor the 17 families who will not have family members coming home. Now we are listening to the Congress of the United States in both Chambers. We have seen votes in majorities in both Chambers to end this war, but instead of listening to that will, instead of listening to the American people as to a war that is immensely unpopular, we seem to be repeating over and over again what I believe is an unjust continuation of a war that is not upheld or supported by the law of our land or by the Constitution we swore an oath to.

This brings to me the urgency of this moment, and the death of more American soldiers highlights what we are doing here. History is looking at us in this moment. Right now, as we speak, there are people in harm's way. History is looking at us in this moment. How will our moral courage stand alongside those courageous people who are representing our country?

My heart is heavy; my spirit grieves. And I know I am not alone. When deaths like this happen, we shouldn't just go on like this is normal. When people die in service of our country, in combat, we shouldn't treat it like another day here in America. It is not.

So how do we express our commitment to country? How can it lie in congruency with theirs? How can we honor them in this body beyond condolences, thoughts, and prayers?

I believe what the call of this body is in this moment, in the shadow of their immense brilliance, that we have an obligation to honor them, not with words, but in how we give the best measure of our devotion to the laws of our land.

I find it unconscionable that the stakes are so high in this country where we are spending tens of billions of dollars--that factually could be going to our schools, tens of billions of dollars could be going to our healthcare, tens of billions of dollars that could be paying down our national debt, tens of billions of dollars that don't just come out of nowhere, but they come from hard-working taxpayers who pay their taxes into a system that they put faith and trust in. And what is happening with this money that we are expending for bombs and missiles and planes and personnel?

What is happening is we expend this money. Well, what is apparent to me is what is not happening. You see, our Founders understood the nature of war, and they understood--in light of Kings and Queens and Monarchs who so easily pushed their country into war with no consequence, how easily they put lives on the line, sent men and women into battles--it was such a significant understanding that they had that they said: No individual should be able to unilaterally send our men and women, our children, into war; that we should put appropriate checks and balances on those decisions. Our Founders knew the consequence of war, the burden of war. They knew the hell of war, the tragic consequence to families, the pain and agony of death, and they knew that those decisions should not be made by an individual who might be overcome with some kind of ill-conceived notions and draw our country into war where we give the best of who we are.

The best of America is not our wealth; it is the young men and women who hold the hope of America.

And so the Constitution is clear: Do not let one person drag our Nation into war. They took that power and placed it not with an Executive. They placed that power with this body, with Congress so that there would be debate and discussion; so that there would be arguments into the night; and so that people would understand with the gravity of such a commitment that we would make sure that the will of the people would be the first decisionmakers for a war.

And that any President that was conducting the war would not conduct it above accountability but would have checks and balance. That is the Constitution of the United States. Those imperfect geniuses understood that in moments like this when our Nation is at war, where men and women are coming home not alive but in body bags, that we should honor them by making sure that the will of our Nation was behind that war.

And here we are, since the end of February, month after month. Soldiers injured by the hundreds. Lives lost. And the question is: What are we doing in this body?

Have we granted the authority to the Executive to go to war? No, we haven't.

Have we exercised our constitutional authority? No, we haven't.

Have we debated this war and had to make a decision by voting yes or no to allow the President to conduct this war? We have not.

We have men and women who are fighting to defend our Nation's laws and Constitution, and here we are not living up to it. To me, that is a living shame, that men and women are risking their lives for the Constitution we serve, and we can't even live up to the roles that we are to play within that constitutional Republic.

What does it say that men and women are dying for this country and we are not even living up to its laws? That men and women are paying the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation and we can't even stand up and do the specific duty spelled out by our country?

All hundred of us grieve these losses. No one should say any different. I know my colleagues. There is not a person here that doesn't anguish over the loss, but that is not enough in this moment. That is inadequate when it comes to honoring these men and women.

What this moment calls for is more than thoughts and prayers, more than the hurt and the grief. It calls for us to do our job. We owe it to them. We owe them truth. We owe them accountability. We owe them checks and balances. We owe them transparency. We owe them a government that lives up to its obligations.

They gave the best measure of their devotion to the Nation they loved, and their love was not mere words or symbols or salutes. Their words alone did not show their sacrifice. They understood to love your Nation is to stand up and work for her, sacrifice for her, risk for her.

It is time for this body, the U.S. Senate, to honor those men and women by giving our best measure of devotion to our Constitution. This body must end this unconstitutional and unjust war. And if they are unwilling to do so, they should hold the vote whether we authorize this war. It has not been done yet.

How many more men and women will die before we do our job, rein in this Executive, hold him accountable, and bring an end to a war that our Nation does not want to be in?

Today, my thoughts and prayers are with their families. But I stand here as 1 out of 100 Senators offering more than thoughts and prayers. I yet again demand this body to fulfill its constitutional obligations and do its job.

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