SCHNEIDER STATEMENT ON IRAN
LINCOLNSHIRE, IL – Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-founder and co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, released the following statement on Iran:
“This morning, American service members are in harm’s way — including the enlisted sailors who earned their place in uniform at Naval Station Great Lakes in my district, and reserve soldiers from the 337th MI Battalion whom I helped send off earlier this month as they deployed to the region. As they execute their mission, we are all praying for their success and safe return to their families.
“Our Constitution explicitly gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. The President of the United States is not allowed to take our nation to war without authorization from Congress. Speaker Johnson should immediately call the House back into session. The Administration must provide Congress with comprehensive classified briefings to understand the threat that justified today’s actions, the goals of the operation, and the strategy for achieving these goals. We need public hearings in House committees. We need formal public debate in the House and the Senate.
“Since its founding in 1979, Iran has threatened its neighbors and chanted ‘Death to Israel, Death to America.’ The Iranian regime today is an existential threat to our allies in the Gulf and Israel, as well as a serious threat to U.S. interests in the region and around the world, and national security here at home. Heaven forbid Iran were to ever obtain a nuclear weapon.
“The world must work together to block and then permanently close any pathway for Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. We must address Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and its support for terrorist proxies around the world. The people of Iran are not our enemy, and we should help them free themselves from the oppression of this terrorist regime. The massacre of tens of thousands of Iranian citizens last month fully exposed the evil of the regime: the world will be a better place when it is gone.
“Given this Administration’s failure to engage Congress in classified briefings, public hearings, and formal debate, I will vote to support the War Powers Resolution coming to the floor of the House next week.
“This is a moment of peril and opportunity. Congress must step up to meet the moment, fulfill its constitutional duties, and ensure American action—with our allies in the region and around the world—leads to a more stable and peaceful Middle East, not another generational entanglement ending in failure.”
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