WASHINGTON – Following a report by the New York Times stating that the White House was briefed on a military plan that envisioned sending as many as 120,000 U.S. troops to the Middle East to counter Iran, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Trump Administration to avoid another reckless war in the Middle East and to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin also stated that the U.S. Constitution is clear in that Congress has the ultimate say in matters of war.
“Let me be clear on something I’ve said regardless of who is in the White House, a Republican or Democratic president: Article 1 Section 8 of our Constitution is clear, that Congress has the authority – the only authority – to declare war. This President, any president, must first have the approval of the people’s representatives in Congress before asking our sons and daughters to enter into battle,” Durbin said. “It’s not too late for an off-ramp. This Administration should return to the only reasonable, smart, and effective option on the table for countering Iran – rejoin the nuclear agreement immediately; repair our strained relationship with our own allies; and use that unity to push back on Iran’s destabilizing actions across the region, which exists outside the nuclear realm. Anything else is reckless.”
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In 2015, Durbin led the effort in the Senate that ultimately allowed the Iran Nuclear Agreement to proceed, securing enough votes to block an effort to derail it.
