VIDEO: Warnock Votes to Force an End to Iran War

Senate Republicans blocked the vote, continuing to give the President unchecked powers to wage war in Iran

WATCH: Senator Warnock Speaks on Illegal Iran War

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) voted to block President Trump's use of U.S. forces in Iran. Minutes before, the Senator spoke on the Senate floor, criticizing the Trump Administration for entangling Americans in another endless war without any clear exit strategy.

"I have listened very carefully to the President of the United States, to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of Defense, as he likes to call it…and what is clear to me is that they don't seem to know why they've dragged the United States into war. Furthermore, they have no plan on how to get out, no clear rationale, no clear objectives, no plan for the day after decapitating the brutal leadership of an awful regime."

"We must stop this madness because the American people have made it clear that they want us focused on their health care, their everyday costs, their children, and their families. Are they concerned about their safety? Yes, but while Khamenei was clearly a brutal dictator, and there are many of them around the world, whether we are actually safer today than we were last week, given the increased instability that we are witnessing in the region in real time, is an open question. And still getting this body to have a real debate on something so grave, so deeply consequential, is almost impossible, but we must demand that it happen."

Find a full transcript of the speech HERE and below.

"Mr. President, I have listened very carefully to the President of the United States, to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of Defense -of War, as he likes to call it. I've listened to other members of the administration over the last several days, both in their public statements and in our private briefing, and what is clear to me is that they don't seem to know why they've dragged the United States into war.

"Furthermore, they have no plan on how to get out, no clear rationale, no clear objectives, no plan for the day after decapitating the brutal leadership of an awful regime. Make no mistake, we have the most powerful military force on the planet and in human history. There's no question that we could go all around the globe and take out leaders we don't like. The day after, that's the hard part. That's what we're facing right now. We have no idea who will step into this power vacuum created over the last few days. No plan for getting Americans who are in the region to safety right now. They're being told in so many ways, you're on your own. No clear vision of what victory actually looks like, no exit plan.

"We pray for the families of the six brave Americans who have already paid the ultimate sacrifice, our service members, who are indeed the best among us, who go no matter who the president is. They follow orders, they are the embodiment of courage and patriotism, and that's why they deserve better than this, and so do the American people. After nearly 25 years of misadventures, Americans have grown weary of endless wars in the Middle East, and we know from recent history, not ancient history, that it's easy to get in, not so easy to get out.

Mission accomplished. Remember that?

"And yet, years after that declaration, American soldiers were sent on deployment, after deployment, after deployment, carrying in their bodies the visible and invisible wounds of war. Moreover, the body bags kept coming home.

"I promised the people of Georgia that I would walk with them, even as I worked for them. I have stood at Dover Air Force Base to receive the bodies of Georgia service members, I've looked into the grief- stricken eyes of their family members as they gazed at a flag-draped coffin, dealing with unbearable grief. There's no worse pain, and there's no more solemn duty for a commander-in-chief than to send our service members into battle. Yet I sat, and I watched, and I listened to the president the other day, and I was struck by the cavalier way in which he said, "People die. That happens in war." No sense that he feels deep in his soul the awesome responsibility that he carries. He's entered into this adventure without much thought about the human cost or the security of the United States or the stability of the region.

"The declaration of war is not a power that the President of the United States has. The Constitution makes it clear that the declaration of war is the authority and the responsibility of Congress. Presidents of both parties, yes, they have engaged in military operations, but the declaration of war belongs to this body. Well, to me, this looks like a war. It feels like a war. Those six families are dealing with the consequences of war, and Donald Trump has said there will be more. Moreover, Donald Trump has said, this is war. Well, I take him at his word. He's called it a war, and yet he refuses to come before Congress, as the Constitution demands, and make his case for war.

"After yesterday's briefing, I think I know why. Aside from his own ego and hubris, his authoritarian tendencies, Donald Trump has refused to come before the Congress and make his case, because he has none. It is exceedingly difficult to explain your rationale when it is not clear in your own head, when it changes every day. Is it a regime change? Well, they have no idea who will follow, and as my colleague from Connecticut laid out, history suggests that we may well end up with somebody worse. We've seen the perils of regime change, and then we heard another explanation. Is it to disarm Iran of its nuclear capabilities? I thought the President said he had obliterated that a few months ago. Now he says the regime was an imminent nuclear threat. Which is it? The American people deserve to know, and the families of those six service members who have already died deserve to know. Is it to destroy their ballistic missile capability? Well, what changed in their capabilities that demanded this action right now, as we are four days into this conflict and already this war is spreading, the American people deserve better than this. No rationale, no explanation, no strategy, no exit plan.

"We must stop this madness because the American people have made it clear that they want us focused on their health care, their everyday costs, their children, and their families. Are they concerned about their safety? Yes, but while Khamenei was clearly a brutal dictator, and there are many of them around the world, whether we are actually safer today than we were last week, given the increased instability that we are witnessing in the region in real time, is an open question. And still getting this body to have a real debate on something so grave, so deeply consequential, is almost impossible, but we must demand that it happen.

"Donald Trump has attacked seven countries in the first year of his presidency, more than any president in the modern era. He is out of control. We must put guard rails on this president; otherwise, who can and who will? My colleagues, our service members, are living up to their oath. Let's live up to ours. Let's put guardrails on this president. Stop this madness and get focused on the American people. Mr. President, I yield the floor."

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