Veterans groups are hailing a move by the House of Representatives that would require President Donald Trump to get Congress' permission before attacking Iran.
In a 251-170 vote, the House passed an amendment to the Fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that would stop Trump from using federal funding for military operations against Iran without a declaration from war or a new authorization for military force from Congress.
"After almost two decades of fighting with no end in sight, Americans are tired of never-ending wars," Nate Anderson, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America, said in a statement. "This amendment begins to reassert Congress's constitutional role in matters of war and peace."
A small group of lawmakers is arguing that President Donald Trump does not have the power to launch a new war against Iran without first getting permission from Congress.
Chief among them is Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who was one of six lawmakers who voiced their support on Wednesday for a proposed amendment to the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that would prevent any federal money from funding a war with Iran unless Congress declared war or Trump secured a new authorization for the use of military force.
Only after Congress has had a "thorough debate of the facts, the findings, and the intelligence presented to us" should lawmakers decide whether the United States should go to war with Iran, said Moulton, a Marine veteran who deployed to Iraq four times.
On Tuesday, two political veterans groups, one on the left, the other on the right, announced a new lobbying campaign aimed at ending America's 'forever wars.'
In a video tied to the announcement, Dan Caldwell, the senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative veterans' group, and Jon Soltz, the chairman of VoteVets, a liberal vets group which aims to get former service members into office, laid out their plan for a lobbying campaign aimed at changing policy on how the United States wages war.
