Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Urging Senate Republicans To Join Senate Democrats In Voting For A War Powers Resolution To Stop Trump’s Illegal War In Iran

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor slamming Donald Trump and Senate Republicans for their unpopular, illegal war that continues to make the lives of American families more expensive by the day. Senate Democrats will push Senate Republicans to support a War Powers Resolution every week until this conflict ends or Congress finally puts a check on Trump's chaotic military actions in the Middle East. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Every day this disastrous war continues, Donald Trump digs himself deeper and deeper into a hole. The longer Trump waits to extricate himself from Iran, the deeper the hole gets and the harder it will be for him to get out.

The Iranian regime that the US is trying to negotiate with is even more hardline than when Trump began the war.

Iran's hold over Hormuz has gotten even stronger. Iran maintains its economic stranglehold on the world, firing on more merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier today. So it's amazing. Before the war, the regime in Iran, bad as it was, was not as dug in as this one is, making it even harder to negotiate. Before the war, oil was flowing freely out of the Strait of Hormuz. Now it is all clogged up. Everything Trump did with this war has made things worse, and he keeps digging himself into this hole, deeper and deeper.

The American people are fed up, seeing this war as a reckless, as harmful, and as costly misadventure as there has ever been.

Trump's continued enthusiasm for this war makes me wonder: has he somehow mixed up the graphs showing his crumbling approval rating with those showing the soaring price of oil and gas? Let's sort it out for him.

Trump's approval rating is at an all time low: only 33% approve of him in the most recent polls. Trump's approval on the economy is even lower, at 30%, in part because the price of oil and gas has gone up, and up, and up. Trump's standing in the eyes of the American people craters every day this war continues.

Meanwhile, gas has been over $4 a gallon for weeks - the highest it's been in years. Americans are going to pay $740 more this year to fill up their tanks because of Trump's war. That's money that could've gone to other things, more groceries, furniture, who knows. It's now going to the hands of the oil merchants.

Every day, we hear new promises from the Trump administration that victory has been achieved, "victory is just around the corner" he keeps saying. But, we look around the corner and that hasn't happened. Trump says peace is at hand, costs are starting to come down. Both lies. And every day, we see the opposite. Trump can talk all he wants, but nothing, nothing, will change until he realizes this war has to end. While I'm relieved the ceasefire deadline has been extended, Congress needs to seize this opportunity to stop this blunder before the fighting resumes.

I urge Senate Republicans to vote for our War Powers Resolution later today - that's their fifth opportunity to do so.

Republicans, if Trump won't dig himself out of the hole he's dug, you Republicans should pull him out by voting for our War Powers Resolution today. If not, you Republicans in the Senate are going to fall into the same hole you're already falling into. But if you don't dig him out, you're going to fall into this hole deeper and deeper alongside him.

I thank Senator Baldwin for her work on this resolution. Democrats will continue to force votes on our resolution every week until Republicans see reason and help us end this war. They would be doing Donald Trump a favor, Republican Senators would be doing Donald Trump a favor by supporting this resolution.

Every week Republicans wait to do so will cost their party politically and the American people financially.

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