Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation welcomes the clear message sent by the House of Representatives last evening that war with Iran has not been authorized and attacks must cease. In a bipartisan vote of 224-194, the House invoked the War Powers Act, directing the president to terminate the use of the military to engage in hostilities in or against Iran. The Senate is expected to take up similar legislation as soon as next week.
Contact:
Tim McHugh,
media@fcnl.org;
202-903-2515
“War is not the answer to our disputes with Iran. Only diplomacy can address the concerns of both sides without risking countless lives and causing untold human suffering,” said Diana Ohlbaum, FCNL’s senior strategist and legislative director for foreign policy. “It’s time for Congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to make the decisions over whether and when our country goes to war, and to ensure that the will of the American people – who do not want another disastrous war in the Middle East – is respected.”
Last summer, the House passed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have prohibited the use of funds for an attack against Iran without prior approval of Congress, and would have repealed the 2002 Iraq war authorization, which the administration has cited as one of the legal bases for its assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. However, both of those amendments were dropped in a House-Senate conference, following heavy lobbying by the Pentagon.
“No administration or president has the constitutional authority to attack whoever and wherever they please without Congressional authority. Only the Congress can declare war,” said Hassan El-Tayyab, FCNL’s Middle East policy legislative manager. “The American people do not believe the airstrikes made us any safer, and they want Congressional action on war authorizations. We are hopeful and cautiously optimistic that the Senate will do the right thing for diplomacy and peace by supporting the House bill.”
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
