Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Votes: No War With Iran

Statement

Today, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) voted to pass S.J.Res.68, a war powers resolution that demands the end of military action against Iran without Congressional authorization and reasserts the Constitutional authority of Congress to declare war.

"Our nation's founders endowed Congress with the grave responsibility of deciding whether or not to declare war. They recognized how dangerous it would be for one individual to be endowed with the unilateral power to start a war," said Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. "When President Trump committed an illegal and unconstitutional act of war against Iran, he undermined both our national security and our Constitution. This vote today is on behalf of the American people and the Constitution of the United States."

Background: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been a Congressional leader in opposing unauthorized Presidential wars. She introduced and voted to pass H.Con.Res.83, and spoke on the House floor in favor of the House war powers resolution and against war with Iran.

During the House consideration of the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act, she introduced an amendment to strike a provision within the bill that provided a blank check to the Administration to go to war with Iran without any authorization or declaration of war from Congress. Only 60 members of Congress voted to support her amendment that retained Congressional war authorities.

Through her work on the House Armed Services Committee, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard successfully included a provision in the FY20 NDAA to prevent the President from going to war with Iran without Congressional authorization. This was included in the House-version of the NDAA but was stripped from the final version of the bill, which was one of the many reasons why she voted against final passage of the bill.

Last summer, she introduced H.Res.411, the "No More Presidential Wars" resolution which would make it an impeachable offense for a President to engage in war without Congressional authorization or continue a war that has not been authorized by Congress. She worked closely with the late former Rep. Walter Jones on this measure in the 115th Congress.

In November 2019, she led the charge in the House of Representatives to draw attention to and introduced war powers resolutions to halt President Trump's use of U.S. armed forces to secure and defend Syrian oil fields.

She has called on the Administration to end its armed support of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen's Civil War, highlighted the catastrophic impact it has had on Yemen's civilian population, and led bipartisan efforts to oppose U.S. involvement in the conflict.

About Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is serving her fourth term in the United States House representing Hawai"i's Second District, and serves on the House Armed Services and Financial Services Committees. She previously served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Homeland Security Committee. She was elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010, and prior to that at age 21, was elected to the Hawaiʻi State Legislature in 2002, becoming the youngest person ever elected in the state. Tulsi Gabbard has served in the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard for 16 years, is a veteran of two Middle East deployments, and continues to serve as a Major. Learn more about Rep. Tulsi Gabbard...

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