Scott Statement on President Trump’s Unilateral Strike Against Iran

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on President Trump’s unilateral military action against Iran:

“The President has attacked another nation without congressional authorization. There was no apparent imminent Iranian threat against the United States. Furthermore, the President’s own Director of National Intelligence testified before Congress earlier this year that the U.S. intelligence community assessed Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.

“Our nation cannot again go to war with faulty intelligence. We saw what happened in Iraq in 2003, which dragged the United States into a protracted war in the Middle East for eight years. That is why it is imperative that we pass the War Powers Resolution, authored by Senator Tim Kaine in the Senate and Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna in the House, to terminate any ongoing military action by the United States against Iran unless authorized by Congress.

“I remain hopeful for a diplomatic solution. Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. However, we had reached a diplomatic solution to guard against Iran developing a nuclear weapon when President Obama successfully negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 between Iran, the United States and the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. This agreement was broadly supported by the international community and Iran was complying until President Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA in 2018. We would not be in this mess now if the President had not withdrawn from that agreement.” 

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