Chairman Aguilar: The American people don't want this war.

Chairman Aguilar: The American people don't want this war.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Vice Chair Ted Lieu, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Representatives Gil Cisneros, Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chrissy Houlahan and Pat Ryan held a press conference to condemn the Trump Administration's military strikes in Iran and call for passage of House Democrats' War Powers Resolution. You can watch the full press conference here and read the transcript below.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Vice Chair Lieu and I are honored to be joined by Leader Jeffries and our veteran members, Representatives Crow, Houlahan, Ryan, Cisneros and Goodlander. You'll hear from them shortly.

We're here today because Donald Trump broke yet another promise to the American people. For more than a decade, this president has been railing against forever wars in the Middle East. Throughout his 2024 campaign, he insisted that he would be the pro-peace president. On election night, he even declared, 'I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars.' Now in 2026, we've seen Trump go back on his word. Americans who voted for his America First agenda believed that he would lower costs on day one, because he told them that, and he's done exactly the opposite. Instead of lowering costs here at home, we're spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a new war and putting resources into the United States to brutalize U.S. citizens. Instead of making America healthy again, he's ripping away health care that families need most. Instead of improving the lives of hardworking Americans, he's giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations who don't need them.

Unfortunately, this latest broken promise is a reckless war with Iran, which has already claimed the lives of six brave American service members. In Trump's 2 a.m. Truth Social post, he said there will likely be more American lives lost in this operation, yet he still won't explain to the American people why he started this war. That's why it's critical that we pass a War Powers Resolution to limit more military action in the Middle East that puts our heroes in harm's way. This isn't just coming from Democrats. The American people don't want this war. Nearly 60 percent of Americans disapprove of action in Iran and don't think Trump has a clear handling of the situation. It's time Trump listens to the American people and keeps his promise. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.

VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Honored to be here with Leader Jeffries and members of Congress who are also veterans. Right now, brave American service members are executing dangerous missions against Iran, and my prayers go out to the six service members who died and to their families, as well as those who are seriously wounded. I also want to note that Iran is a murderous theocratic regime. They want to get a nuclear weapon. They fund terrorist networks, and their stated aim is to destroy the United States and Israel. At the same time, under our Constitution, only one entity can declare war, and that is Congress. And this is a war. How do we know that? Because President Trump says it's a war, the Secretary of Defense has said it is a war and our Constitution is very clear. I served in active duty United States Air Force for four years, and an additional 21 years in the Reserves. I also taught the Law of Armed Conflict. Only Congress can declare war, and this war right now is illegal because Congress never approved it.

But it's not just a constitutional requirement. You might ask, 'Well, why did the Framers put it in there?' Because it helps protect America and save American lives if the president has to make the case for war before doing so. Because had he done that, we might just have asked, 'Hey, how do you protect all those Americans stranded in the Middle East?' 'How are you going to evacuate them?' 'What's your plan for protecting soft targets like the multiple embassy compounds that have been hit by Iran?' 'How are you going to protect our bases?' 11 U.S. bases have now been hit by Iran. 'How are you going to make sure we have enough munitions to finish this war?' Instead of calling in defense contractors at the last minute, pleading with them to magically come up with more munitions. Had the president made the case before Congress, we could have asked those questions. But he disrespected the American people and disrespected Congress by not even trying to make the case for the war with Iran. And that is why I'm going to be voting yes on this War Powers Resolution to terminate the war with Iran. And then what needs to happen is the administration has to make the case for war, bring back an authorization for the use of military force and have Congress vote on it. It's now my great honor to introduce the phenomenal Leader of the Democratic Caucus and the man who will be Speaker of the House next year, Hakeem Jeffries.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Let me thank Chairman Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu for their incredible leadership of the House Democratic Caucus, the districts that they represent and, of course, the nation and for convening us here today. I'm particularly thankful to be joined, of course, by those who have served our country in uniform, as Ted has done, of course, Jason and Chrissy and Gil and Pat and Maggie who were patriots serving this country in different ways in the military, in the national security space and are now patriotically standing up for the American people, for our men and women in uniform and for the Constitution-that's our commitment as House Democrats.

Donald Trump has continued to break his word to the American people. Candidate Trump promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. President Trump enacted tariffs that have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. Candidate Trump promised that immigration enforcement would be focused on violent criminals who are here illegally. President Trump has unleashed untrained and masked ICE agents to brutalize and kill American citizens and to violently target law-abiding immigrant families. Candidate Trump said that it was foolish to get the country involved in endless foreign forever wars. President Trump, without authorization and inconsistent with the Constitution, has now plunged America into what he characterized yesterday could be an endless war that has already tragically cost the lives of six patriotic service members. And we mourn for them and we're praying for their families as well as all of those service members who are still struggling to deal with serious injuries as a result of what has taken place in the Middle East.

The president has a responsibility to make the case to the American people as to the justification for this war, but has provided no evidence that there was an imminent threat to the American people here or abroad. It's the president who said just several months ago, in June of last year, that Iran's nuclear program had been completely and totally obliterated, that's the president's words. Did he lie to us then or is he lying now that he's claiming that Iran was acquiring the possibility of being able to threaten us with nuclear weapons? A nuclear program he had claimed was completely and totally obliterated. The president has indicated that he's interested in regime change, but we know that regime change wars have never worked out for the American people and have cost thousands of lives of our patriotic heroes in uniform. That was the case in Vietnam, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. So I'm thankful for the leadership of the Chair, the Vice Chair and these distinguished Members of Congress-patriots-who are standing up for the American people, standing up for our brave servicemen and women in uniform and standing up for the Constitution.

It's now my honor to yield to one of those patriots who has served the country admirably, heroically and bravely in multiple theaters of war, and is now doing so serving this country as a distinguished member of Congress representing the great State of Colorado, the Honorable Jason Crow.

REP. JASON CROW: Thank you, Leader Jeffries, Chairman Aguilar, Vice Chairman Lieu and my fellow veterans. After trillions of dollars, thousands of American lives, decades of endless conflict, my entire adult life, a quarter of a century of American war-here we go again. Donald Trump campaigned on ending the wars because he knew at the time that that's what Americans wanted, and still want, and yet here we go again. I learned when I was fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, that when elites in Washington bang the war drums, pound their chest, talk about the costs of war and act tough-they're not talking about them doing it. They're not talking about their kids or their billionaire donors picking up rifles, jumping into planes, jumping into helicopters-they're talking about working-class kids like us. They're talking about those in small towns and farms and ranches across the country that have to actually do the work, that have to fight and die, and the American people that have to pay for all of it. Americans have had enough. Now, don't get us wrong, we believe in American strength, we believe in American engagement, we believe that America has a role to play in the world and we will not hesitate to use our military and our strength to protect Americans and to protect our vital interests when it's necessary. But it's very clear in this instance that there was no imminent threat. And this is a war of choice by Donald Trump.

There's a lot of talk and discussion in D.C., sometimes about notification requirements and process and procedure and what the Constitution requires. I understand that a lot of Americans who are just trying to raise families, build businesses, don't immerse themselves in these debates. But I'll tell you why that is important, why what we're talking about, resuming our control, is important: because it's about accountability. It's not simply just about our interest in being involved and notifying it's about accountability, because nobody is going to sit here and tell me that after 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, failed military endeavors, that if this Congress hadn't been forced to debate and vote and finance year after year, and to take the accountability for this And to put the American people back in the driver's seat for these conflicts, that they wouldn't have ended sooner or differently. That's what this is about. Putting the American people back in the driver's seat to decide when they want to finance these wars. When they are willing to send their sons and daughters to fight and die for our interests. We will be relentless in pursuing that accountability and that transparency and putting the American people back in the driver's seat for the most important decision that their government can make. With that, I'm honored to introduce a dear friend of mine, a fellow veteran from the great state of Pennsylvania, Chris Houlahan.

REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN: Thank you, Jason. I think what you'll hear from all of us is, I'd rather not be standing up here. We'd rather not be standing up here seeing history repeat itself and certainly rhyme again. Because before any president sends Americans into war, as Mr. Crow was indicating, the American people deserve some answers. They deserve the privilege of asking questions. They deserve to know why we are engaging in this way. They deserve to know why now are we engaging in this way. They also deserve to know what the objective is. What are we aiming at? What does success look like? What is our endgame? Because it is, as Mr. Crow said, not the president, not us standing here on this podium, who will pay the price. It is, in fact, our troops who are right now in peril, who are right now in harm's way, and some of whom have already lost their lives. It's also our military families who are sitting at home right now, wondering if their loved one is safe or in harm's way. It is the taxpayers as well, and it's communities like mine and like yours who deserve to know the answers to these questions, not after they happen, but before things happen.

That is why, even though it seems really wonky and procedural, that it matters, that Congress matters at times like this. Because this is not an abstract process. This is because we are literally elected by the people, for the people, for the American people, to be the American people's direct voice in decisions like this. The American people of my community should demand that I am on the record on this. They should demand that I have an opinion and a voice on this issue. If you call my office right now, a real person will answer the phone, and every single day we talk to parents, and every single day we talk to veterans, and every single day we talk to people who might be asked to fight and die, or whose family members might be asked to fight and die. They deserve to know for what. I don't certainly, and many of my colleagues have made it clear, mourn those leaders who have supported terrorism for decades. I am clear-eyed about the threat that Iran is, but eliminating bad actors is not the same thing as having a strategy. And as importantly, abandoning our own values and our own rules of engagement is also not the same thing as having a strategy. Doing so destroys this American covenant that we have entered into together, while inviting targets of our actions to return the favor in the future. War is not a reality show. There are no retakes. There are no stunt doubles. In this case, there are only consequences, and those consequences are measured in American blood and treasure. Our service members deserve a mission that is worthy of their courage, and the American people deserve a say, and the president owes us all a clear plan. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with these amazing colleagues of mine. It's my privilege to yield to another amazing colleague of ours, Representative Pat Ryan from New York.

REP. PAT RYAN: Thank you, Chrissy. Thank you to my colleagues and our leaders. I think for all of us, this is certainly personal, but I want to be clear, it's not about us individually. It's us as representatives of a generation of patriotic Americans who love this country so much that they were willing to sign up to put their lives at risk, to trust that the government would only send them into harm's way if they absolutely needed to, if there was no other resort, if there was an imminent threat, and if there was a real plan to accomplish a mission to keep them safe, to responsibly end that conflict. That trust has been shattered over and over this year, starting a few days into this year in Venezuela and now adding insult to injury, starting what is clearly a war despite all the lies and mistruths from the administration. I understand and I acknowledge that a lot of the American people and the coverage has been about process, and as my colleagues were saying earlier, theoretical intellectual war powers and so on. But we need to be very clear, this is not about process. It's foundational and fundamental. It's about people. The American people, whose voices have been fully absent and fully disregarded and disrespected.

In my district, which is one of the most purple in this country, when I talk to folks, especially this weekend, but for the last several years, there's two things that almost every American agrees on: we need our government to lower our costs, and we need our government to stop getting us into open-ended regime change wars, especially in the Middle East. Both of those, obviously, promises that the president explicitly ran on have been broken and is a straight-up betrayal of the people with no accountability so far. On the cost front, not only are we not investing in lowering costs for people on health care, lowering costs for people on housing and food and groceries and utilities, we're also raising the cost. I mean, the price of gas is already skyrocketing. We know the Iranian regime is deliberately focused on driving that up to hurt all of us, and especially the American people. And I'm sure many have already seen there's already a tracker running. If you haven't, I would point you to it, tallying minute by minute, the multi-billion dollar costs already to this illegal war and operation. So rather than lowering costs, costs are up, and they're going to only go up, and again, rather than ending wars, the president has started two this year. And just very briefly, we're not even talking about Venezuela anymore because I know we've been overcome by all the chaos-an abject failure. I mean, they replaced one dictator with another, and now Trump's talking about potentially doing the same, to the degree as any coherent plan in Iran. So we, as Democrats, as patriots, are focused on lowering costs and stopping wars. That's what this vote is about tomorrow, and that should not be a partisan issue.

And just the last thing on a personal note. If I hear one more chicken hawk who's never served a single day in uniform sitting in a gold-plated office in D.C. or in Mar-a-Lago or anywhere else, try to talk tough, having never seen what war is about, I'm gonna lose my mind. And we're going to hold them accountable. We're gonna call out their B.S. every single time, and when we do that, the American people will certainly be with us because that's where they wisely remain. And again, thank you for the opportunity, and thank you to my colleagues. It's now my honor to present my Navy brother from California, Gil Cisneros.

REP. GIL CISNEROS: Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody. I'm Congressman Gil Cisneros, representing California's 31st District, and I'm glad to be here with my colleagues. I'm a Navy veteran, member of the House Armed Services Committee, former Under Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon and I stand here today to condemn the Trump Administration's reckless and unconstitutional military action in Iran. Saturday, our country woke up to the news that we are at war with Iran. The news came from the same president, who campaigned on no more wars and the same one who bombed Venezuela just two months ago and just yesterday authorized action in Ecuador. Now, who knows what other country will be next?

But despite what you may think, Donald Trump does not have the ability to declare war. Our military is not Trump's private army. Our national security and the safety of our service members overseas are not the president's to play with when he's in the mood for a conflict. These are real lives on the line. We have already lost six courageous service members in this unauthorized war-six families whose lives will be changed forever. My thoughts go out to those families and loved ones and the service members that we have lost. But I've heard nothing from this administration that justifies engaging in conflict in the Middle East.

Donald Trump doesn't care. He spoke for five minutes at a White House ceremony about the war before he started talking about the drapes he picked out. He continues to prove time and time again that he doesn't care about the safety of our families, of our citizens, our troops abroad, or anybody. America cannot afford another aimless and endless war because of the ego of one man. We must pass the bipartisan War Powers Resolution now to rein in Trump's deadly overreach for the safety and security of every American. Thank you. I now recognize my fellow Navy veteran, Maggie Goodlander from New Hampshire.

REP. MAGGIE GOODLANDER: I want to thank our Caucus leadership and my colleagues for being here today. We're here because President Trump launched a war of choice-a war for which he has no clear reasons. It's a shifting set of rationales that are dizzying and insulting to every freedom-loving American. He did so with no clear plan or path to victory. He did so with no endgame. He cannot, has not, I hope he will, but he simply has not answered the most fundamental question: How does this end?

We're here today because we understand that war is hell, and we understand, as one of my heroes, John McCain, used to say, that 'only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize the cruel realities of war.' Well, only a fool or a fraud could forget who pays the price, who bears the costs of war. It is our men and women in uniform who have been sent into harm's way, and we pray for their safety, we pray for their success and we mourn the loss of the lives of six American patriots who gave their last full measure of devotion in this war. We pray for them and for their families.

We do not forget that it is every American taxpayer who will be footing the bill. It's not billionaires like President Trump. Taxpayers who have already footed the bill for a multi-trillion-dollar experiment in forever wars, which we've lived through over the last 25 years. Every American who is right now stranded in the Middle East because there was no evacuation plan for this war before it was launched. Hardworking Americans across our country, in my home state of New Hampshire, who are already feeling the pain of high costs at the gas pump and in their utility bills, and we're going to see prices spike once again today. We've seen a spike we've not seen in decades in the last 24 hours.

We're here today because we understand that the president has defied common sense in our Constitution, but he doesn't have a blank check to wage war. We will do our job to ensure duty under the Constitution by voting in favor of this bipartisan War Powers Resolution, which will do a simple and critical thing-it will force the president to do his job, to come to the Congress if he's got a plan. We all understand that the Iranian regime is a brutal and determined enemy of the United States-a regime that has blood of our fellow Americans on its hands.

But if the president wants to take the country to war, he's going to have to come to the Congress and make his case. There are no blank checks. Anyone who served in uniform knows that you don't write a blank check to this president or any president. So we will do our duties, and I'm honored to be doing so alongside these patriots. With that, I'll turn it back to the Chairman.

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