Central New York Rep. John Mannion (D-Geddes) said that judging by calls to his office, “people are adamantly opposed” to waging war on Iran.
The first-term Democrat said Friday he voted in favor of a War Powers Resolution that would have required the Republican-controlled Congress to vote to authorize the war, but the resolution failed.
“Only Congress can declare war,” he said, echoing the United States Constitution’s Article I.
Mannion said the Trump administration needs to testify in hearings to make its case for war. “It doesn’t seem like there’s a clear rationale,” he said. “And that rationale has changed.” He added that the administration’s objective for the war also seems to have changed.
“War is serious business,” he said, noting that American lives have already been lost in the conflict and gas prices have soared because Iran is threatening oil tankers that pass near its shores through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
“There’s a reason we should be deliberative” about going into a war, Mannion said. “There is a real impact on costs for the American people, on trade, and for our national security, and our oil reserves as well. It's easy to start a war, it's hard to end one.”
He is calling on Republicans who control the House of Representatives and Senate to call hearings at which top administration officials can be questioned under oath about their plans for the war and for ending it.
