Senator Duckworth, Veteran: "I'm here to call bullshit on the President of the United States" in Historic Speech
Sen. Tammy Duckworth on the floor today in a historic veteran's speech:
"I'm here to call bullshit on the President of the United States." More excerpts:
The problem here is that the person who's supposed to be leading them spends more time talking about his Maria Antoinette ballroom than he does sitting in the situation room trying to get us out of this war.
The problem is that even in the last two weeks, the man who is in charge of our nation's nuclear codes has himself gone increasingly nuclear. He's not believing literal war with Iran is enough. He's now gone on to proverbial war with the Vatican, choosing to pick fights with the Pope of our people, the Pope. Rather than try to engage in any semblance of real diplomacy to end the conflict in the Middle East, he's threatened to annihilate an entire civilization,terrifying people overseas and here at home who are understandably worried about retaliatory strikes.
And now after one half ass day of so-called negotiations with Iran, he's whipssawed to the next risky frontier in the region. A dangerous complex partial military blockade of the Straight of Hormuz, launching it at our nation's expense with no justification, no explanation or any real plan of what comes next. His only plan seems to rely on the valor, the willingness to sacrifice, the professionalism of our military men and women. But let me tell you that is not enough. They need a true commander.
But Trump is Trump and he is actively unabashedly telling us how to ignore what we are all seeing with our own eyes. He's trying to declare mission accomplished despite his obvious failures at every single turn. He's declaring, and I quote, "We did it."
We're winning after all signs point to the opposite. We're still at war. Americans are still at risk. Civilians across the region are still dying for no reason that anyone can truly articulate. In reality, the only thing that Donald Trump has accomplished over the last six weeks is more chaos. Because of his choices, a new younger Ayatollah is in charge who seems even more radical than his father was. 13 American heroes have been killed with hundreds more wounded. More parents are grieving their children. And more American families are struggling to afford the spiking gas prices. They're unsure if they can pay even more every time they go to the gas station. But they have to because they need to get to work. They've got to take their kids to school. They got to take their aging parents to the doctor. The farmers of Illinois, the farmers of this great nation have seen at the time that we should be planting their inputs costs skyrocket because of Donald Trump's war of choice. Look, war is always tragic, but when it's preventable, when it's unjustified, it's not just tragic, it's a travesty.
Trump wouldn't let himself be dragged in by the bone spurs to serve in Vietnam. So, how dare he how dare he drag our nation into a war of his choice today. But this draft dodger, this five time draft dodger is too infatuated with maximum pressure to make a serious effort at even minimum diplomacy. Once again, the Trump foreign policy doctrine has proven reckless, senseless, and dangerous. A doctrine in which fact and fiction are one and the same. One in which our commander-in-chief seems to come to military decisions by virtue of tempered tantrums and announces them via tweet in the middle of the night. And one in which avarice outweighs advice every single time.
Look, unlike Trump, I actually know what it's like to leave your blood soaking into the desert sand a half a world away. So, I know what it's like. I know what it's like and what is at stake for the troops this administration is sending into harm's way. We must safeguard their valor and their professionalism by doing our jobs. I can tell you this. It's a whole lot easier to cover your eyes and order other Americans to sacrifice their children and sacrifice themselves if you don't have to do any of the sacrificing yourself. It's easier to send other people's children to fight in a war if you know your own children are cozy in a penthouse suite somewhere.
I ran for Congress to honor the men and women who carried me out of that bloody war zone. I made a promise that when the drums of war started beating again, I would be in a position to make sure that our elected officials fully consider the true cause of war. Not just in terms of money, but in human lives and in the sacrifices of the men and women who wear the colors of this great nation. That was the vow I made to the troops I deployed with and to all of those who've served since I've hung up my uniform.
I'm here today under this great Capitol dome to keep that most sacred oath because right now thousands of our troops are ready to do their jobs even if it means laying down their lives. And it's tragic. It's disgusting to me that even as they prepare to do their jobs, our president and some members of this chamber seem so eager to neglect their own. So, as those drums of war echo louder than they have ever in years, I am here to remind Donald Trump that he does not have the authority to unilaterally force us into war. He may never have read the Constitution, but I have. So let me direct his attention to article one which makes clear that only Congress only Congress has the power to declare war. We are the ones tasked with deciding when and how Americans are sent into combat. We are the ones charged with that most solemn duty. Yet Trump is acting as if Article One simply doesn't exist. As if obeying the Constitution is an is optional. as if our founding document is just a yellowing crumbling piece of paper that he can crumble up and toss into the garbage can at will.
This should not must not be a partisan issue. No matter if you're starting struggling to pay rent or if your name is plastered in fake gold on a building on Fifth Avenue, no one can is ignore the Constitution, especially if you've sworn an oath to defend it. No matter if you're a Mara Lago worker pulling down double shifts or the president of the United States, no one is above the law. Look, I believe fully that there are certain solemn, urgent times when our military must be called upon to defend us. There are certain moments when the threat in question is significant and imminent, instances when military force is the most effective tool at hand and that using it is necessary to protect America and her interests. The thing is from little in what little information the Trump administration has shared publicly that he hasn't immediately contradicted in sometimes the same sentence. This was not one of those times. But if the administration thinks that I'm wrong and there was imminent, reasonable, actual threat to America, then guess what? The floor is theirs.
Come to the Senate. We're just 20 minutes from the White House. It's not hard to find. It's even faster in your motorcade, Mr. President. It's not hard to find us. We're the building with a big dome on top. We're only a 20-minute walk. Trump knows where the capital building is. It's a spot he told the insurrectionist to march towards on January 6th.
So if his team actually believes that war is unjustified, then they need to come to Congress and do their jobs, explain their case, giving the American people a say through their elected representatives, the members who sit at every one of this these desks in this chamber. They need to respect the American people enough to finally tell them why they're being forced to bear the cost of this conflict both in dollars and cents and dollar and daughters and sons. They need to respect our service members enough to prove why war in with Iran is worth more children growing up without their mom or dad. They need to make it clear that they've thought this through and well enough that they can actually articulate what an end state with this war of choice in Iran would even look like. Then when their case has been made, when the debate here in Congress is completed, then the members of this chamber must vote. It's our duty.
Yes, it is our burden. It's the least we can do for those who are willing to sacrifice everything to safeguard this democracy. But if the Trump administration refuses to do that, if they refuse to adhere to the Constitution, well then it begs the question, what are you hiding? What are you hiding, Mr. President? We already know you're incompetent. What else are you hiding?
Look, we've now been at this war of choice of Trump's choice for more a month and a half. Thousands are dead, grieving, wounded, suffering. Only someone as inept and unfit, someone as callous and cruel as Trump would see this as winning. Only a draft dodging coward would think that this is the right way to engage in a war. Only a man so unqualified to be commander-in-chief would be proud to keep on risking our heroes lives without even a concept of a plan for how to get them back home without risking more graves at Arlington.
We can't let this chaos continue unchecked. As our troops continue to sacrifice whatever is asked of them, we senators need to do the absolute minimum required of us. That's why this week I'm calling up my war powers resolution demanding that the Trump administration finally end this illegal war and to call for some actual public oversight and accountability on behalf of the American people It'll come to the floor for a vote shortly.
So to my Republican colleagues, you have a choice, a simple one really. You can vote with me to end this conflict and show that you actually care about putting America first like you claim. Or you can vote to put Trump's ego first, proving that when push comes to shove, you care more about protecting Trump's thin skin than the Constitution that you swore to defend. At this point, it's pretty clear Donald J. Trump will always be more interested in looking out for his own self-interest rather than truly serving American interests.
So my question is if any of my Republican colleagues are actually brave enough to stand up and tell Donald J. Trump, the five time draft dodging coward, enough.
By
Mainecat ·
