Video: Kaine Speaks on Senate Floor to Urge Colleagues to Pass His Bipartisan War Powers Resolution to Stop Unauthorized War in Iran

FULL VIDEO OF THE SPEECH IS AVAILABLE HERE.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, spoke on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to pass his bipartisan War Powers Resolution to stop President Donald Trump's illegal, unnecessary war with Iran and ensure any U.S. participation in hostilities against Iran is explicitly authorized by Congress. It would not prevent the U.S. from defending itself or Israel from an Iranian attack. The bipartisan resolution is expected to be voted on in coming days.

During Kaine's speech, he discussed the effects of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and reflected on the lessons that the U.S. should learn from these wars.

"We should not be going into a war in the Middle East or anywhere without good, solid reason that has had its tires kicked and that has demonstrated that is of a magnitude sufficient to warrant losses that could reach this scale," said Kaine. "This President has asserted no real reason that is clear to the American public, and that's why the American public so far is so against this."

"The other thing is you shouldn't go in… with no reason - and even if you have a reason, you should go in with a plan," Kaine continued. "So what's the plan? The President has said it would be two or three days. The President has said it would be five or six weeks. The President has said, 'I'm not going to rule out boots on the ground.' The President has said, 'We will bomb until we're done, and then Iranians, take over your government' … That's not a plan."

"There's no rationale, and there's no plan. And without a rationale and a plan, why would we ignore the lessons of the last 25 years?" Kaine said. "I pray - just like we all do - that the consequences of Iran will not be those that I read to you earlier - the consequences of Iraq and the consequences of Afghanistan."

"We would be foolish to stand here and say 'we know they will not be.' We have to have the humility to acknowledge the fact that U.S. servicemembers have already lost their lives and been injured, that we could face serious consequences in the loss and death of our troops, serious consequences in instability in the region, serious consequences in rising energy prices for Americans," Kaine continued.

"We will have this war powers vote within the next 48 hours or so, and every member of this body will do the most solemn thing any of us ever do - vote on whether the United States should be at war … Vote on whether we want to send our own kids - our own sons and daughters, the most precious resource we have in this country - into a war that could end up like the wars we have just recently exited in the same region," said Kaine.

"I pray so hard for my colleagues to exercise the judgement that this is not the right time for more war," Kaine concluded. "I pray that my colleagues will support the War Powers Resolution."

Yesterday, Kaine published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about why the U.S. Senate should pass his bipartisan War Powers Resolution. Kaine also gave a floor speech last week.

Kaine has been a leading voice against unauthorized wars during his time in the Senate. Last June, the Senate voted on a similar War Powers Resolution introduced by Kaine to prevent the use of military force against Iran unless explicitly authorized by Congress. The June resolution gained bipartisan support but did not receive enough votes to advance. In January, Kaine forced a vote on his bipartisan War Powers Resolution on Venezuela, which gained enough Republican support to advance but was then sidestepped by Republican leadership to avoid losing further votes.

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