Leader Schumer, Ranking Members Reed, Shaheen, Coons, And Schatz Condemn President Trump’s Threat Against Iranian Civilization

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense; and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations issued the following joint statement in response to President Trump's threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight" in Iran:

"We speak today with one voice and one purpose: to condemn President Trump's threat to extinguish an entire civilization.

"This is not strength. Intentionally destroying the power, water, or basic infrastructure upon which tens of millions of civilians depend to punish the very civilians who suffer at the hands of the Iranian regime would constitute a war crime, a betrayal of the values this nation was founded on, and a moral failure. It's unconscionable to threaten the lives of so many people - grandparents, children, families - simply because they were born in Iran. President Trump's reckless threat makes Americans less safe, further destabilizes our nation and economy, and puts at greater risk U.S. service members. It only serves to push us further away from the only viable solution to this war: a diplomatic one. The president must not follow through on this threat."

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