WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counter Terrorism, released the following statement after a bipartisan majority of senators voted in favor of an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent the President from going to war with Iran without Congressional authorization. Despite receiving a majority vote of 50-40, the amendment did not pass due to Republicans forcing a 60-vote supermajority threshold on the measure.

“The Trump administration’s strategy with Iran has been a total disaster and it’s up to Congress to stop this train wreck before it gets worse. President Trump says he does not want to go to war with Iran, but his maximum pressure campaign has pushed Iran further away from the negotiating table and is marching us closer to war. That should concern everybody,” said Murphy. “The American people do not want to be bogged down in another costly war with no end in sight. Today a majority of the Senate, on a bipartisan basis, stood up to send a message to the hawks in this administration that they cannot declare war without a vote in Congress. I’ll keep fighting like hell to make sure of it.”

Murphy has consistently argued that Congress needs to reclaim its war-making authority and debate a new Authorizations for Use of Military Force. Last month, Murphy published a joint USA Today op-ed with U.S. Representative Jim Himes (CT-4) raising concerns about the President’s march to war with Iran. Murphy also blasted the administration following Iran’s recent moves to restart their nuclear program, and criticized the administration for its general Iran policy that continues to goad Tehran into restarting their nuclear program and undo years of diplomatic work.  

 

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