Murphy On Republicans' Continued Support for the Disastrous Iran War: Do the Right Thing and Stand Up to Trump

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday took to the floor of the U.S. Senate, alongside several of his Democratic colleagues, to speak in support of a War Powers Resolution to end Trump's disastrous war of choice with Iran. As the war enters its sixth week, with gas and commodity prices spiking and global stability in free fall, Murphy laid out why Senate Democrats are united in opposition to a war that is increasingly spiraling out of control, and called on his Republican colleagues to put American families and U.S. national security over their loyalty to Trump.

"We should not fail to note how extraordinary it is that our Senate Republican leadership has declined to do any oversight of a war that is costing billions of dollars every week, that has already led to the loss of over a dozen American lives, that has erupted a regional war throughout the Middle East, and is literally melting down economies all over the world, especially in the developing world - not a single hearing in the United States Senate," Murphy said.

He highlighted how Trump's war of choice has set off a new wave of inflation and made basic goods more unaffordable for American families: "The impact on the US economy is getting more acute. There are more and more Americans who are unable to make their lives work because we have seen a 30% increase in gas prices since this war began. Farmers have seen a 35% increase in fertilizer, a 50% increase in diesel costs. That increase in agricultural costs is going to almost immediately spill over into big increases at the grocery store. And so amidst high inflation, you are now going to see costs just become prohibitive for a lot of American families. 30% higher gasoline costs simply because of this war of choice."

Murphy explained how the ripple effects of Trump's war are wrecking the lives of billions of innocent people: "There is a rolling disaster happening throughout the world because of these energy price increases that have been designed, manufactured by Donald Trump. So it's not just that the Middle East is exploding. It's not just that we aren't meeting any of our objectives in Iran. It's not just that American consumers are being harmed. There are billions of poor people all around the world whose lives are more miserable, whose lives are slipping into greater chaos because of this war."

He continued: "A new war is erupting in the Middle East. Hezbollah was empowered by the attacks, and there is a prospect of a massive new ground invasion of Lebanon from Israel. Already, hundreds have died in that conflict… Even more cataclysmic in its scope is what's happening to developing nations. Developing nations' economies are literally melting down right now... These governments are now closing their public operations. Universities in some developing nations are permanently closed because they can't afford to keep the lights on. There is a rolling disaster happening throughout the world because of these energy price increases that have been designed, manufactured by Donald Trump."

Murphy concluded by pleading with his Republican colleagues to break with President Trump and join with Democrats to end this war before it's too late: "It is okay for you to support President Trump, generally and politically, and admit that this war was a massive mistake. We did that when there were Democratic presidents in office… I hope at some point our Republican colleagues decide that they can choose to just say what is clear and obvious: this war was a mistake. It should end as quickly as possible. You can, as a United States senator, occasionally stand up to the leader of your party if it's a matter of right and wrong."

Video of Murphy's floor speech is available here. A full transcript is available below.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, I am here on the floor to add my support to the resolution being brought before us by Senator Duckworth. This is the third week in a row that we are having an opportunity on the Senate floor to have a short debate and a vote on the most significant military engagement in the Middle East in many of our Senate careers. We are now a month and a half into this bungled, mismanaged war, and we have yet to have a single hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or the Senate Armed Services Committee on this war, on this military operation.

In the absence of these privileged motions that we are bringing, and I'm thankful to Senator Duckworth for bringing one this week, we would have no debate, no vote on the floor on the authorization of war, maybe the most sacred charge we are given as United States senators. We should not normalize that. We should not fail to note how extraordinary it is that our Senate Republican leadership has declined to do any oversight of a war that is costing billions of dollars every week, that has already led to the loss of over a dozen American lives, that has erupted a regional war throughout the Middle East, and is literally melting down economies all over the world, especially in the developing world, not a single hearing in the United States Senate. Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, have not come to the Senate to explain what their plan is, what their strategy is, what their end game is, and I think we know the answer. They simply can't explain what is happening. They can't articulate a strategy. They are not ready to answer questions from Democrats or from Republicans, who, I think increasingly, are starting to scratch their heads about how on earth this is in the US national security interests.

Very quickly, because I know we have a number of other colleagues who want to speak. Let me just talk about what has happened since we last had an opportunity to vote. First, the impact on the US economy is getting more acute. There are more and more Americans who are unable to make their lives work because we have seen a 30% increase in gas prices since this war began. Farmers have seen a 35% increase in fertilizer, a 50% increase in diesel costs. That increase in agricultural costs is going to almost immediately spill over into big increases at the grocery store. And so amidst high inflation, you are now going to see costs just become prohibitive for a lot of American families. 30% higher gasoline costs simply because of this war of choice. An agricultural economy which was already in crisis, 60% of farmers had already said that they were in a worse financial shape this year prior to the war than when President Trump came into office. Now that gets even worse.

What's the impact on our national security? Well, the President has said that there are a bunch of different meandering explanations and objectives for this war. He said that we want to destroy their missile program. Well, what have we found out in the last two weeks? We found out that we have come nowhere close to destroying their missile program. In fact, they still likely have the majority of their missiles, and during the ceasefire, Iran has used that time to rehabilitate and rescue many of the missiles and the launchers that were buried in rubble. China stands ready as soon as the bombing fully ceases to help them immediately rebuild their missile program. There is no way this campaign is going to eliminate their missile program. Just the same, we were told that part of the objective of this war was to eliminate their nuclear program, and yet, a month and a half later, they still have all of their enriched uranium. We have not destroyed Iran's knowledge of how to produce a nuclear weapon out of existence, because neither are possible through a bombing campaign alone.

Sometimes regime change is an objective. Sometimes it isn't. The President said, while we were gone last week, that in fact, we've already achieved regime change. Well, technically, there is a new Ayatollah, but there is absolutely no evidence that this new Ayatollah, that this new crowd of elite leadership, mainly coming out of the hard line IRGC, is any less provocative, any less dangerous, any less adversarial to US interests. In fact, the opposite is probably true. A doddering 90-year-old Ayatollah was replaced by a group of leaders that are likely much more fanatical and probably much more effective in their aims to try to attack US interests there and around the world. Of course, one of our objectives is a new objective: the objective to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait was open before this war began. It is now closed. It is unclear whether President Trump knew that they would close the Strait and just threw up his hands, didn't care about the impact on the US economy, or whether he didn't know, which would be egregious in and of itself, and was shocked to find out that Iran would close the strait. We are now a month and a half into this war.. The Strait is still closed. The President is trying to reopen the strait by blockading it, which is a very strange strategy, one that in day two of this new plan does not seem to be succeeding.

Finally, what's the impact on the world? I just want to touch on this very shortly. A new war is erupting in the Middle East. Hezbollah was empowered by the attacks, and there is a prospect of a massive new ground invasion of Lebanon from Israel. Already, hundreds have died in that conflict. Last weekend, you likely saw images of just vicious bombings, of what looked to be civilian infrastructure happening inside Lebanon. But a new war in the Middle East between Israel and Lebanon, in which thousands will likely die, in which millions will be displaced, that's horrible for U.S. Interests, for our allies' interests. The region is exploding in violence. But even more cataclysmic in its scope is what's happening to developing nations. Developing nations' economies are literally melting down right now. Because a 30% increase in fuel costs for a short period of time is something that wouldn't tank the entirety of the American economy, even though it does great damage to individual families, but in nations where a short term fuel shortage or a 30% immediate spike is something that a government or a very poor population cannot manage, has caused a lot of these countries' economies to simply melt down. These governments are now closing their public operations. Universities in some developing nations are permanently closed because they can't afford to keep the lights on.

There is a rolling disaster happening throughout the world because of these energy price increases that have been designed, manufactured by Donald Trump. So it's not just that the Middle East is exploding. It's not just that we aren't meeting any of our objectives in Iran. It's not just that American consumers are being harmed. There are billions of poor people all around the world whose lives are more miserable, whose lives are slipping into greater chaos because of this war.

So we will be down on this floor week after week, every single week, to force at least a short debate, to force a vote. And my hope is that at some point our Republican colleagues, besides one, choose to join us. It is okay for you to support President Trump, generally and politically, and admit that this war was a massive mistake. We did that when there were Democratic presidents in office. President Obama helped participate in a war in the Middle East, helping the Saudis be involved in a conflict in Yemen. Many of us thought that was a mistake. We came to the floor and opposed President Obama. We actually filed resolutions making it harder for President Obama to fuel that war. And so I hope at some point our Republican colleagues decide that they can choose to just say what is clear and obvious. This war was a mistake. It should end as quickly as possible, and not believe that that is somehow incommensurate with their broader political support for the President. You can, as a United States Senator, occasionally stand up to the leader of your party if it's a matter of right and wrong, I believe this is a matter of right and wrong. Maybe it won't be in today's vote, but hopefully in one of the votes we will continue to have, we can have some bipartisan agreement that this war needs to end. I yield the floor.