Rep. Bera in Substack: Why I Voted for the Iran War Powers Resolution

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), a senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released a video statementon "Ami's Substack"explaining why he voted in favor of the Khanna-Massie War Powers Resolution to block President Trump's ability to continue his war with Iran without authorization from Congress.

You can watch the full video hereand read his statement below:

Last week, President Trump took us to war with Iran-and I use the president's term; he called it a war. I would say this is an unconstitutional action, and I would even go so far as to say this is an illegal use of his authorities.

Now I'm going to take a little bit of time to talk about what war powers are-what authorities a President of the United States has, but also what the Constitution clearly lays out as Article One authorities-that only Congress has the ability to declare war on another country.

We have given the President of the United States some authorities if there's an imminent threat to the American homeland, if there's an imminent threat to American assets abroad; the president can take unilateral actions, but within 48 hours, he has to come to Congress and explain why he took those actions.

One, the president has failed to do that. While Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth, when we were briefed this week, have said there were imminent actions that were going to take place and we had to do this, they've never explained what those actions were; they've just used the term "imminent." That is unacceptable. Thus, the President of the United States did not have the authority to take us to war with Iran.

Now, they're going to try to say a bunch of different things. They're going to point out that Iran has been an extremely bad actor-they're the leading sponsor of terrorism around the world. That is a true statement, but they've been the leading sponsor of terrorism around the world for decades.

They have taken covert actions in the United States, they have tried to perpetrate assassination attempts in the United States, they have attacked and killed multiple hundreds of U.S. servicemen and women over the decades, and they've attacked U.S. assets-but that's been going on over decades.

They are a bad country. They hate the United States. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a horrible individual. I don't shed any tears for his death, but I also understand this was an action that the president took unilaterally. Congress did not authorize this.

This is an action that could go very poorly, and in fact, we've already seen six brave service members killed in action, including one in my home county of Sacramento. Our hearts go out to those families.

They deserve to understand what the goal of these actions are. They deserve to understand what the president hopes to accomplish. They deserve to understand what the endpoint is. Thus far, the President of the United States has failed to do that.

He's going to come to the United States Congress and ask Congress to give him $50 billion. I'm all in favor of supporting our troops, our men and women, but I have a hard time voting for that at a time when he has cut billions of dollars out of food programs, school nutrition programs, the ability for kids to go to college, and the ability for Americans to afford their health care.

We're seeing gas prices go up. Mr. President, if you want us to authorize the supplemental funding, you need to come to Congress. Tell us why you took these actions. Tell us what the game plan is here. How long are you going to stay engaged? What is the endpoint?

I don't think the American people want to be engaged in another forever war in the Middle East, and that's what this is starting to look like. You didn't build a coalition, you didn't come to Congress, and you didn't explain yourself as to why, at this moment in time, these actions were absolutely necessary.

Mr. President, when this War Powers Resolution comes up today, I will vote to block your ability to continue this war until you come to Congress and get that authorization.

Also, when that $50 billion supplemental comes up, I will praise the American troops-our service members that are in harm's way, that you've sent to war-but I will also ask you: if we're going to authorize these funds, what is the game plan, what is the end goal, and why is it that at a time when so many American families are struggling to pay the rent, to put food on their table, to pay for their health insurance just to get by every day, you can't fund any of those programs and provide them relief?

That is an urgency to all these American families, these Sacramento County families. Yet you can just sit here and wave your fingers and say, "give me $50 billion." That's not what the American people elected you to do.

That is not what I'm supporting at this moment in time unless I'm given justification. I don't work for the President of the United States-I work for the people of the United States.

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