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Last Updated on March 24, 2020.

WASHINGTON — Win Without War released the following regarding the House’s passage of S.J.Res.68, Senator Tim Kaine’s Iran war powers resolution to blocking war with Iran. It happened just minutes after an attack on U.S. forces in Iraq was reported, with possible casualties:

Advocacy Director Erica Fein said: “Today’s vote comes at an important moment — right at the time when deescalation is needed. With House-passage, Congress has sent a resounding message to Trump: the people do not want war with Iran. As a co-equal branch of government with the sole constitutional authority to declare war, this bipartisan resolution should be enough. Trump is not authorized to start a war. The question is: will he listen?

“Time and again, Congress has voted to rein in Trump’s reckless foreign policy and reassert Congress’s constitutionally-vested powers of war. The House has now spoken unequivocally through two Iran War Powers votes, as well as bills to block funding for an unauthorized war with Iran and to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorization for use of military force — which the Trump administration erroneously claims provides authority for war with Iran. Similar legislation to end U.S. involvement in the catastrophic war in Yemen has repeatedly passed both chambers. But time and again, Trump has refused to listen to the public’s demands. In the six times that Trump has used his veto during his presidency, all six were to override Congress’s attempts to rein in his reckless misuse of national security powers. We expect that after passage of this bill, he’ll once again override the will of the majority in Congress, and, ultimately, the U.S. public.

“Congress holds the sole power to determine whether or not our country goes to war. Successive administrations — both Democratic and Republican — have usurped that authority for themselves. Trump must not once again trample the repeatedly stated will of the people.”

Sara Haghdoosti, Deputy Director of Win Without War and member of the Iranian diaspora, said: “At the same time as Congress attempts to prevent an all-out war with Iran, another type of war is already taking place. Blanket economic sanctions, already inhumane, and magnifying the impact of a cruel government, are now known to have undermined Iran’s response to the novel coronavirus, putting the entire world at greater risk.

“Trump has taken to Twitter to threaten war crimes against Iran, banned people based on their beliefs, and continues to push us toward a catastrophic conflict. We need to act now to de-escalate tensions and contain the reckless impulses of a president that has shown repeatedly that he has no care for the rule of law, or even common decency.” 
 

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.

March 11, 2020