Washington, D.C. — Today, the Senate will vote on a measure that would require congressional approval for military action against Iran. In response, Kelly Magsamen, vice president of National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Last week’s brush with war shows that Congress needs to take its foreign policy oversight responsibilities seriously. Congress should pass the Kaine-Udall amendment preventing the use of funds for an unauthorized war with Iran. But this amendment should be just the first step in a concerted congressional effort to check the Trump administration’s reckless policies toward Iran. President Donald Trump painted himself and the United States into this corner by pulling out of the nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor and instituting a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran without having a clear sense of what his administration hoped to achieve. Congress should hold hearings in relevant committees and take other actions to help pull the United States back from the brink of an unnecessary and disastrous war with Iran.
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