HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Sen. Tim Kaine is laying out the case for his war powers resolution bill, which would require a vote by Congress before the military could become involved in Iran.
Much of the world — from Tehran to Tel Aviv to Hampton Roads — has been waiting anxiously this week to see whether President Trump will order U.S. bombers to conduct strikes deep inside the Islamic republic.
“Nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. The day before, he posted on social media that “we” have total control of the skies over Tehran, prompting confusion over U.S. involvement.
Kaine said the decision isn’t his to make. His bill references Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which delegates the power to declare war exclusively to Congress.
In a call with reporters, Wednesday, Kaine clarified that the president maintains the ability to use force to defend the country and its troops abroad.
“But, the news is filled with stories about Israel trying to encourage the United States to participate in a bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities,” he said. “And that is the kind of offensive action that, from the beginning of the nation, has required congressional authorization.”
The senator explained he’s motivated by the pain and hardship he saw servicemembers experience during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We have about 40,000 troops in the region and Iran has made plain: ‘if the U.S. joins Israel’s war against us,’ then U.S. troops will be a target,” he said during the call.
Kaine has long been an advocate for protecting Congress’ ability to declare war. He said he has introduced probably a dozen or more such bills since his election to the position in 2012.
He also said it’s been a hard fight to get other members of Congress to take the issue seriously. Many are happy to leave the responsibility — and especially any political fallout — to the president.
“[M]embers of Congress, frankly, don’t have the guts to go on the board and vote yes or no on a matter of war,” he said. “And we should never, ever send our troops into harm’s way if members of Congress don’t have the guts to have a debate, cast a vote, and say that this mission — dangerous though it may be — it’s in the national interest and it’s something that the military needs to respond to.”
Kaine said he’s hopeful the bill will find bipartisan support.
In the House, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ro Khanna of California, introduced a similar bill Wednesday, requiring the president to “remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“I’m the father of a Marine reservist — I care very, very deeply about our military families, and I don’t want to use our military in unproductive and unnecessary wars,” Kaine said during the call. “And I can tell you from everything I have seen as a member of the Armed Services Committee for 12 years and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. war with Iran right now would be completely unnecessary and, likely over time, really deepen catastrophic consequences that we should try to avoid.”
