Hudson, N.H. – Today, following President Trump’s military operation in Iran, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, a former intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve and member of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to President Donald Trump asserting congressional authority over war powers and declaring support for a War Powers Resolution.
“We all swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Article 1 Section 8 explicitly requires a vote by Congress to declare war,” wrote Congresswoman Goodlander. “In recognition of that clear and sacred Constitutional duty, we will all be supporting a War Powers Resolution. As our Founders intended, this will ensure we have a full and honest conversation with the American people about what American military action against Iran would mean. While destroying nuclear sites may achieve initial tactical success, it far from guarantees longterm strategic victory. Before any further escalation, we must be willing to grapple with, and ultimately answer, the hard questions. We stand ready and willing to execute our Constitutional responsibility, to protect our troops, and to keep the American people safe.”
Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander has dedicated her life to serving our country. She began her career working as a foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain in the United States Senate and went on to serve as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve for more than a decade. Amid recent threats to veterans’ benefits, national security concerns, and rising threats worldwide, Congresswoman Goodlander helped launch the first-ever Democratic Veterans Caucus. In the House of Representatives, she serves as a member of the Armed Services Committee and a co-chair of the Service Women and Women Veterans Caucus.
Additional signers of the letter to Trump include:
- Rep. Pat Ryan (NY) – Army
- Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA) – Marine Corps Reserve
- Rep. Gil Cisneros (CA) – Navy
- Rep. Herb Conaway (NJ) – Air Force
- Rep. Chris Deluzio (PA) – Navy
- Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA) – Air Force
- Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) – Air Force
- Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA) – Navy Reserve
- Rep. Pat Ryan (NY) – Army
- Rep. Bobby Scott (VA) – Army
- Rep. Derek Tran (CA) – Army
- Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA) – Army
A copy of the letter to President Trump is available here and included in full below:
Dear President Trump,
We write firstmost as Patriots who love our country. Each and every one of us wore the uniform with pride. Each and every one of us was ready and willing to lay down our lives to protect our fellow Americans, and to support and defend our Constitution. With that in mind, we want to thank our troops for their bravery, from the B-2 pilots to those stationed across the USCENTCOM Area of Responsibility.
We also write as Veterans. As soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines, many of us served in America’s longest wars. We saw the best of humanity in our fellow veterans’ heroism and selfless service; we also saw the worst of humanity and horrors of war up close and personal.
Twenty years ago, in their rush to appear strong and tough, politicians – from both parties – failed to ask the hard questions before starting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They failed us, our fellow veterans, and the American people. Now, trillions of dollars and countless deaths later, we still haven’t gotten accountability.
We refuse to make those same mistakes.
We are under no illusions about the nature of the Iranian regime and its proxies – they are evil. Iran is intent not only on the destruction of Israel, but also the United States. Many of us lost friends to Iranian-backed terror. We must continue to stand strongly with our Israeli allies – including active and robust support for the defense of the state of Israel and its people, as we have for decades.
But we must be very clear: American-led, offensive military operations against Iran – including Saturday night’s preventive air strikes – are different.
We all swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Article 1 Section 8 explicitly requires a vote by Congress to declare war. In recognition of that clear and sacred Constitutional duty, we will all be supporting a War Powers Resolution.
As our Founders intended, this will ensure we have a full and honest conversation with the American people about what American military action against Iran would mean. While destroying nuclear sites may achieve initial tactical success, it far from guarantees longterm strategic victory.
Before any further escalation, we must be willing to grapple with, and ultimately answer, the hard questions.
What are our specific and clear national aims? What means will be required to achieve those aims? What are the estimated financial costs? How many young American men and women could die? Are the American people truly ready to incur these costs?
And we cannot repeat our approach from 2001 and 2002. The answer cannot be “we’ll figure it out as we go.”
We can all agree that more debate was needed before Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to take the time to learn from our mistakes. We need to take the time to involve both the American people and Congress – this is what our Founders intended, and that is what the Constitution requires.
That is what our young Patriots in uniform deserve. That is what the 40,000 US troops stationed in the Middle East deserve. That is what the 7,000+ of our fellow soldiers who died in the Global War on Terror deserved.
We stand ready and willing to execute our Constitutional responsibility, to protect our troops, and to keep the American people safe.
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