- 6/18/2025
In Senate floor remarks, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) warned of impending war with Iran, and demanded Congressional approval should the U.S. strike.
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00:00Mr. President, I arrived at a late hour with a few folks on the floor to talk about the most serious issue we could ever talk about on the floor of the United States Senate, the prospect that America may soon be in a war.
00:14There's no part of the Constitution that's more important than the Article 1 provisions making plain that the United States should not be at war without a vote of Congress.
00:24And yet the news of the day suggests that we are potentially on the verge of a war with Iran.
00:32When I was elected to the Senate in 2012, having served as a governor from 2006 to 2010 during a tremendous upsurge in the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
00:46I visited our troops multiple times in the green zone in Baghdad and in Afghanistan.
00:55I went to the deployments and the homecomings.
00:58I went to the wakes and the funerals.
01:00And I told myself when I came to the Senate that if I ever had the chance to stop this nation from getting into an unnecessary war,
01:11I would do everything I could to stop us from getting into an unnecessary war.
01:17I happen to believe that the United States engaging in a war against Iran, a third war in the Middle East since 2001,
01:26would be a catastrophic blunder for this country.
01:31I think there are some in this body who have a different point of view than me on that point.
01:37But I think we should all be able to agree that the fundamental constitutional principle that says we shouldn't be in a war
01:45if Congress doesn't have the guts to debate it and vote on it.
01:51We should all, having taken an oath to the Constitution,
01:57at least support the principle that war is something that should be for Congress to declare.
02:04Mr. President, just recently, right before I walked to the floor of the New York Times, published this article.
02:11And I'm just going to read this to demonstrate the imminence of the threat that this country faces.
02:17The article in the New York Times dated today,
02:19Iran is preparing missiles for possible retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases, officials say.
02:27And I'll just read the first few paragraphs.
02:28Iran has prepared missiles and other military equipment for strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East
02:35should the United States join Israel's war against the country,
02:39according to American officials who have reviewed intelligence reports.
02:44Fears of a wider war are growing among American officials as Israel presses the White House
02:50to intervene in its conflict with Iran.
02:53If the United States joins the Israeli campaign and strikes Fordow, a key Iranian nuclear facility,
03:01the Iranian-backed Houthi militia will almost certainly resume striking ships in the Red Sea.
03:07The officials said they added that pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria
03:12would probably try to attack U.S. bases there.
03:15Other officials said in the event of an attack,
03:17Iran would begin to mine the Straits of Hormuz, attacking meant to pin American warships in the Persian Gulf.
03:25Commanders put American troops on high alert at military bases throughout the region,
03:30including in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
03:34The United States has more than 40,000 troops deployed in the Middle East.
03:40I met the father of an Apache helicopter pilot currently deployed in Syria yesterday.
03:45Finally, from the article, two Iranian officials have acknowledged
03:49that the country would attack U.S. bases in the Middle East,
03:54starting with those in Iraq, if the United States joins Israel's war.
04:00We stand tonight as close to the potential initiation of a third war in the Middle East,
04:10the United States against Iran, as we have been during my time in the Senate.
04:16And so yesterday morning, when the Senate came into session,
04:19I announced and then I followed up with a filing of a war powers resolution in this body,
04:25a privileged resolution that by my clock will mature and be subject to a vote on this floor
04:31because of its privileged status on a week from Thursday.
04:36Ten days from the filing of such a motion, even by a single senator,
04:41the Senate is required to take this matter up for an up-or-down floor vote
04:46about whether or not war should happen without a vote of Congress.
04:54A little bit about the Constitution.
04:56Many in here have heard me speak about this over the years,
05:01but about the Constitution.
05:03The framers of the Constitution grappled with the question of how war should begin,
05:08and they grappled with the question in a most unusual way.
05:11In the Constitution of 1787, the Article I power is the congressional,
05:18the legislative power, and the Article II power is the executive power.
05:22And the framers of the Constitution split war powers into a legislative responsibility
05:30and an executive responsibility.
05:33The legislative responsibility is clear.
05:35Congress declares war.
05:37It's in Article I.
05:38The executive responsibility is to be the commander-in-chief.
05:43Once Congress, 535 people have declared war,
05:46you don't need 535 commanders-in-chief.
05:49That would lead to chaos.
05:50So a war once declared by a debate and vote by the people's elected body
05:55then gets handed to a president who, as commander-in-chief,
05:59is responsible for executing on that declaration.
06:03Now, the framers of the Constitution did understand one thing
06:06about the president's power, which is the president as commander-in-chief should defend the nation.
06:12The president always has the ability to defend the United States
06:16without asking Congress's permission.
06:19Back in 1787, Congress might adjourn and ride horseback back to Vermont.
06:24What if the United States was attacked?
06:25You couldn't wait for all of Congress to come back
06:28to enable the United States to defend itself.
06:31And so a president has the inherent power under Article II
06:34to defend the United States without asking for permission.
06:39But it's been the understanding since the very beginning of this republic
06:43that if it's more than defending the United States,
06:46if it's going on offense in any way,
06:49congressional authorization is needed.
06:53It's so rare.
06:57In other countries and at other times, war has been for the executive.
07:00It's been for the king.
07:02It's been for the emperor.
07:03It's been for the monarch.
07:05It's been for the czar.
07:06It's been for the sultan.
07:09But in the United States, we made a very careful choice to do it differently.
07:13And that choice was described most eloquently in a letter
07:18from the main drafter of the Constitution, James Madison,
07:22to President Thomas Jefferson.
07:24Actually, he was not yet president.
07:26This letter was dated April 2, 1798.
07:29And James Madison described what were they getting at
07:32when they vested the power to declare war with Congress.
07:39And here is what James Madison wrote.
07:41Our Constitution supposes what the history of all governments demonstrates,
07:48that the executive is the branch of power most interested in war
07:53and most prone to it.
07:56Our Constitution has accordingly, with studied care,
08:02vested the question of war with the legislature.
08:07Other countries don't do this.
08:09But the framers of our Constitution in 1787 decided we're going to be different.
08:17Before we send troops into harm's way, where they could be killed,
08:20where they could be injured, where they could see people that they love,
08:23their colleagues killed and injured,
08:24before we're going to send troops in harm's way in war,
08:28we want to see the people's elected bodies.
08:30Both houses have a debate about what the stakes are
08:34and whether we should force our troops into harm's way
08:37and potentially lose their lives.
08:39And that debate will be in full view of the American public
08:42so the American public can understand what's at stake.
08:45And then they can call their representatives or write them a letter
08:48and tell them what they think about whether war is necessary
08:53and whether the sacrifice we ask of our troops
08:56should be the ultimate sacrifice that we are often asking of them in war.
09:01And that's been the Constitution since 1787.
09:06The Constitution's been amended probably in the 25 or 26 amendments now.
09:10That has never been amended.
09:12That has never been amended.
09:14In 1974, Congress grappled with a challenging problem
09:20and passed the War Powers Resolution of 1974.
09:23What was the problem?
09:25The problem in 1974 was this.
09:29A president began war without telling Congress.
09:34In 1974, we were in the midst of the Vietnam War
09:36and Congress did know that
09:38and Congress had passed some legislation
09:41at least appropriating funds for it
09:43and somewhat authorizing it during the Johnson administration.
09:48But President Nixon,
09:50Congress knew about the war in Vietnam.
09:52Obviously, there was a draft.
09:5356,000 Americans were killed in that war.
09:57But President Nixon, without informing Congress,
10:00extended the war and started bombing Cambodia.
10:02It was called the Secret Bombing of Cambodia,
10:05a new country that had not been covered by war authorizations.
10:09And so Congress stepped up and acted
10:11and passed the War Powers Resolution of 1974.
10:15And that resolution, Mr. President, did a number of things.
10:18It established some protocols for when the president initiates military action
10:23providing notice to Congress
10:25so that there can't be a secret war,
10:27giving Congress some ability, once notice is provided,
10:30to try to withdraw notice if it thinks that the war is ill-advised.
10:35But the War Powers Resolution also did something else.
10:39It gave the power to even one member of Congress,
10:45one senator or one House member,
10:47if a president initiates war
10:50or is on the verge of initiating war.
10:54The War Powers Resolution gave to one senator or one congressman
10:58the ability to file a resolution
11:00to stop a war before it starts
11:03or to stop a war once started.
11:06And the War Powers Resolution over time
11:10has made that a privilege motion,
11:13meaning it can bypass committee
11:15and be brought up on the floor of the Senate
11:18for a vote within an expeditious period of time.
11:22A privilege motion is one that sort of elbows everything else out of the way
11:26because Congress has judged that the matter is so important
11:29that it should take precedence
11:31over normal committee proceeding
11:33and it should be considered in a prompt fashion.
11:35It's a simple majority vote,
11:38not subject to filibuster and closure.
11:42It can't be buried in a committee.
11:44It has to be debated on the floor.
11:46It's amendable.
11:46It can be amended.
11:48But as long as you meet the criteria,
11:51the privileged criteria in the War Powers Resolution of 1974,
11:55you are entitled to try to stop a war before it starts.
11:59The criteria that you have to meet, Mr. President,
12:03to have the privilege are two.
12:05One, hostilities between the United States
12:09and another actor, nation, Iran in this case,
12:12have to either be underway or they have to be imminent.
12:15That has to be the case.
12:17You can't just say,
12:18hey, I want to stop a war that no one has contemplated
12:20and nothing is happening.
12:22So you have to demonstrate imminence
12:24and you also have to show
12:27that there is no existing congressional authorization
12:31authorizing the United States to be at war,
12:33in this case with Iran.
12:35That second criteria has been met.
12:38We had a similar resolution on the floor a few years ago
12:42following the U.S. strike
12:44that killed the Iranian military leader Soleimani
12:48and the ruling of the parliamentarian
12:51and really the acknowledgement of the body
12:53was that there is no current congressional authorization
12:56authorizing war against Iran.
12:59So the question is,
13:01is the imminence standard met?
13:04And I would argue that it clearly is.
13:06The U.S. is already using U.S. weaponry
13:10to knock down Iranian missiles.
13:13That's more than imminence.
13:15That's actual kinetic hostility.
13:19The United States is being urged to enter the war.
13:22The United States is moving military assets
13:24into the region
13:26and withdrawing diplomats from the region.
13:30The Iranians are acknowledging
13:32that if the U.S. enters the war,
13:34we have plans to go after U.S. troops,
13:37the 40,000 U.S. troops in the area.
13:40And so since Congress clearly wanted
13:42a member to be able to file such a motion
13:46and be heard before a war begins,
13:48I believe the imminence standard
13:50is clearly met in this case
13:52with actual kinetic activity
13:53between U.S. weaponry and Iranians.
13:57And so over the course of the next few days,
14:02you'll likely hear me talk more than once
14:04about the need for Congress to stand up
14:07and say there shall not be a war against Iran
14:10without a congressional vote.
14:13Pretty simple proposition.
14:15No U.S. war against Iran
14:17without a congressional vote.
14:21Now, Mr. President,
14:22let me answer a couple of questions
14:24that colleagues of mine have asked
14:26about the resolution that I filed yesterday.
14:29First, what about self-defense?
14:31What about if Iran does take action
14:32against the United States,
14:34the homeland or a U.S. base in the Middle East
14:37or a U.S. consulate in Erbil
14:39in the Kurdish area of Iraq?
14:41What if Iran takes action against the U.S.?
14:45The answer is pretty straightforward.
14:47Under the Constitution,
14:48the president can defend the United States.
14:50And the president doesn't need Congress to do that.
14:53So if there is Iranian attack on the United States,
14:57the president can and has said he will,
15:00and I would strongly support him,
15:02as I know everyone in this body would,
15:05to defend U.S. interest against Iranian attack.
15:09So the self-defense question
15:11is mentioned in the resolution.
15:13The resolution says nothing in this resolution
15:15will block the ability of the U.S.
15:17to take legal action to defend itself,
15:19and that is clearly contemplated by Article II.
15:22The second question that some are asking me
15:24is what about the U.S. helping Israel defend itself?
15:28Mr. President, I've been here since January of 2013.
15:31I have voted for every Israel defense package
15:35that's ever been before this body,
15:36and there have been many.
15:38Israel receives more defense aid
15:40from the United States than any other nation
15:42year after year after year with my support.
15:44And I've done more than vote for Israel defense aid.
15:47On a couple of instances,
15:49I've whipped votes to make sure
15:51that we found enough aid for Israel.
15:56In April of last year,
15:59we passed a supplemental bill in this body
16:01that had billions of dollars of aid for Israel
16:04in the aftermath of the horrific attacks on Israel
16:07by Hamas in October 7.
16:09And it was shortly after that vote
16:10that Iran launched a set of attacks against Israel.
16:15And the defense aid that the U.S. provided
16:17enabled us to knock down
16:19and assist Israel in knocking down
16:21Iranian drones and missiles.
16:23That was a good thing.
16:24Had those drones and missiles landed in Israel,
16:26they would have not only killed
16:28and wounded tons of civilians,
16:30but they would have led to escalation in the region
16:32that would have been unhelpful
16:33for all countries in the region.
16:37So I stand strong for Israel's right to defend itself.
16:40And I stand strong for the United States
16:42in providing Israel support
16:45so that they can defend itself.
16:47But that's a different question.
16:49That's a different question
16:51than whether the U.S. should go to war with Iran.
16:55In my view, there is no compelling security reason
16:58for the U.S. to go to war with Iran.
17:01And the last question that I want to ask
17:04and sort of reflect upon, Mr. President,
17:06before concluding, is this.
17:08What about diplomacy?
17:10What about diplomacy?
17:13The pages are here,
17:15and you have a lot of time on the floor.
17:16Sometimes there are speeches,
17:17and sometimes there aren't.
17:18I imagine you've looked a lot at this room
17:21and what's in the room.
17:22And one of the things that you notice is
17:24in the panels, all around the room,
17:27the blue panels at the top of the panel
17:29is the seal of the United States.
17:31That seal of the United States
17:33was designed and embraced
17:34by the United States in 1782.
17:37The seal of the United States
17:38is also in the skylight
17:39in the ceiling of the Senate chamber.
17:43And that seal has essentially been
17:45constant since 1782.
17:47There's a seal of the President
17:48of the United States
17:49that's changed a little bit.
17:51But the seal of the United States
17:53that Congress has used
17:54has been constant since 1782.
17:56And one thing that is very notable
17:59about the seal
17:59is the eagle in two claws
18:02is holding the arrows of war
18:04and the olive branches of peace.
18:07But since the very beginning
18:08of this republic,
18:09the eagle's face has been turned
18:11to the olive branches of peace.
18:13And it was designed that way
18:15to send the symbol
18:16that the United States
18:17always prefers peace,
18:19always prefers diplomacy,
18:20and only uses war
18:22as a last resort
18:24when diplomacy fails.
18:29We had a diplomatic deal
18:31with Iran
18:32that was entered into
18:35in 2015
18:36that was limiting
18:39their nuclear program
18:41peacefully
18:44without having to bomb them,
18:48without having to kill civilians,
18:51without having to assassinate scientists.
18:54The United States,
18:56together with other nations,
18:58used the power
19:00of congressional sanctions,
19:01Congress did this well,
19:03to leverage an agreement
19:05whereby Iran agreed,
19:07and in the first sentence
19:08of the first paragraph
19:09of the first page
19:11of the agreement,
19:14Iran reaffirmed
19:15that it would, quote,
19:16never seek to purchase,
19:17acquire, or develop
19:18nuclear weapons.
19:20And in the body
19:21of that agreement,
19:22Iran agreed to
19:23a whole series
19:24of limitations
19:26upon nuclear research,
19:27nuclear activity,
19:29centrifuge construction,
19:30the percentage
19:31of enriched uranium
19:32it was allowed to have,
19:34and also Iran agreed
19:35to the most comprehensive
19:38inspection regime
19:40of any nation
19:41on the planet
19:41overseen
19:42by the International
19:43Atomic Energy Agency
19:45to ensure
19:46that they were meeting
19:47their requirements,
19:49that they would never
19:49seek to purchase,
19:50acquire, or develop
19:51nuclear weapons,
19:52and that they would abide
19:53by the limits
19:54on centrifuges
19:55and the limits
19:56on enriched uranium
19:57and other activities.
19:59The agreement
20:00was working.
20:02Don't take it
20:02from Senator Kaine.
20:04The International
20:06Atomic Energy Association
20:07said the agreement
20:08was working.
20:09The allies
20:10and adversaries,
20:12Russia and China,
20:13were part of this deal,
20:15as were the UK
20:16and France
20:17and Germany.
20:18Those who worked
20:18on the deal
20:19said the agreement
20:20was working.
20:22It wasn't turning Iran
20:23from a bad actor
20:24to a good actor.
20:25It wasn't stopping
20:26all of Iran's
20:27bellicose behavior,
20:28but it was limiting
20:30the very nuclear program
20:32that is now trying
20:34to be bombed out
20:35of existence.
20:37We had an agreement
20:38that was working.
20:40President Trump
20:40became president
20:41in January of 2017,
20:43and he said,
20:44I don't like the agreement
20:45that President Obama did.
20:46I want to get out of it.
20:48President Trump's
20:50own cabinet,
20:50his Secretary of Defense
20:52Jim Mattis said,
20:53don't get out
20:54of this agreement.
20:55It's working.
20:57His Secretary of State
20:58Rex Tillerson,
20:59don't get out
20:59of this agreement.
21:00It's working.
21:01His National Security Advisor
21:03H.R. McMaster,
21:04a former general,
21:05don't get out
21:06of this agreement.
21:07It's working.
21:08For God's sake,
21:09we have used diplomacy
21:10just as we are supposed to
21:12by preferring peace
21:13and diplomacy first
21:14to deprive Iran
21:16of a path
21:17to a nuclear weapon
21:18shouldn't we prefer diplomacy
21:22rather than putting
21:23at risk the life
21:24of American troops,
21:25the 40,000 troops
21:26who are in the Middle East.
21:28So what happened
21:29to the diplomatic agreement?
21:32President Trump
21:33started to talk
21:34about abandoning it.
21:36I wrote a piece
21:37in Time Magazine
21:38in 2017,
21:38and I said,
21:39if you abandon
21:40this agreement
21:41when it's working,
21:43what will Iran do?
21:45They'll go back
21:46to developing
21:47nuclear weapons.
21:49Because if the U.S.
21:50backs out of it,
21:51they will as well.
21:53If you abandon
21:54this agreement,
21:55North Korea
21:56will never do
21:56a nuclear deal
21:57with the United States
21:58because why do a deal
21:59with the United States
22:01if the United States
22:02is going to abandon
22:03the deal
22:04even when it's working?
22:06President Trump
22:07didn't listen to me.
22:08He didn't listen
22:08to his Secretary of State.
22:10He didn't listen
22:10to his Secretary of Defense.
22:12He didn't listen
22:12to a lot of people
22:13in his administration.
22:14He tore the deal up.
22:15And, Mr. President,
22:18what a tragedy.
22:21You have Israeli civilians
22:24who have been killed
22:25in the Iranian missile attacks
22:27who have nothing to do
22:30with the military
22:30and Iranian civilians
22:33who have been killed
22:34in missile attacks
22:35who have nothing to do
22:36with the military.
22:36they would be alive today.
22:41And 40,000 U.S. troops
22:43in the region
22:44would be safe today
22:45if we had decided
22:48to act in accord
22:50with our values
22:50and put diplomacy first
22:52and prefer peace over war.
22:54That's water under the bridge.
22:58But the question
22:59for this body
23:00that we will grapple with
23:01over the course
23:02of the next couple of weeks
23:03is whether the United States
23:07should be in another war
23:10in the Middle East.
23:11In particular,
23:13whether we should allow
23:14a war to start without us,
23:16whether we should hide
23:17in the tall grass
23:18rather than exercise
23:19our constitutional responsibility
23:21under Article I.
23:23This is fundamentally
23:24a debate about Congress
23:26being true
23:27to its oath of office.
23:29and actually also being
23:33true to the obligations
23:35we have to our public.
23:37The framers
23:38put this in the Constitution
23:40so that we wouldn't be at war
23:42without a debate
23:43in front of the public.
23:44They had a view
23:46about the morality of war
23:47and I think their view
23:48was basically this.
23:50There would be nothing
23:51more publicly immoral
23:53in the public space
23:54than to send troops
23:57into harm's way
23:59risking death
24:01if Congress
24:01was too chicken
24:03to have a debate
24:03and vote about
24:04whether the war
24:04was in the national interest.
24:06If we have that debate
24:07and we decide
24:09that war is in the national interest,
24:11then the troops
24:12go into war
24:13knowing that the civilian
24:15leadership of this country
24:17have had the hard debate
24:18in view of the American public
24:19and have decided
24:20that the stakes
24:21are sufficient
24:21to ask people
24:23to make the ultimate sacrifice.
24:25But how dare we?
24:26How dare we?
24:30And I say this
24:31as a father
24:31of the United States Marine.
24:32How dare we ask people
24:34to make the ultimate sacrifice
24:36if we don't have the guts
24:38to have a debate
24:39and decide
24:40whether a war
24:41is in the interest
24:42of this country?
24:45I know what the American public
24:46thinks about this.
24:47There was a poll
24:48that was released today
24:49and this is completely consistent
24:51with what I've heard
24:52from Virginians.
24:53And Virginia is one
24:54of the most pro-military states
24:55in this country.
24:56I'm on the Armed Services Committee.
24:58One out of every eight
24:59Virginians is a veteran.
25:01That's not one
25:01out of every eight adults.
25:03That's one out of every eight
25:04Virginians is a veteran.
25:07And you had active duty.
25:08You had the Guard.
25:09You had the Reserve.
25:11You had the civilian DOD
25:13and the military contractors
25:14and their families.
25:16We train all the Marine officers
25:17in the world.
25:19We have the biggest
25:19shipbuilding enterprise
25:21in the world.
25:22We have the Pentagon,
25:23the largest military office
25:25in the world.
25:26We've been the site
25:27of more battles
25:29on U.S. soil
25:30than any state
25:31in this country
25:32in Virginia.
25:34Revolutionary war.
25:36Civil war.
25:38The attack on 9-11
25:40at the Pentagon.
25:41We are as pro-military
25:43state as there is.
25:44But I can tell you this.
25:45Virginians do not believe
25:47the United States
25:48should be in another war
25:49in the Middle East.
25:50Neither do Americans.
25:51A poll today suggests
25:5316% of Americans
25:55think the U.S. military
25:57should get involved
25:58in a conflict
25:59between Israel and Iran.
26:01One-sixth.
26:0216%.
26:0360% say we should not.
26:0724% are not sure.
26:12We need to have this debate
26:14in front of the American public.
26:15Let them watch us debate
26:18the stakes of this.
26:19And it might be that
26:21colleagues in this body
26:22or in the House
26:23think a war with Iran
26:24is a good idea.
26:25Let them put
26:26a war authorization
26:27on the table.
26:29Let's debate that.
26:32Let's debate that
26:33in front of Virginians
26:34and Kansans
26:35and Californians
26:36and hear what our constituents
26:37have to say.
26:38Let's debate that
26:39in the full view
26:41of people whose spouses
26:43are in the military
26:44or whose kids
26:45are in the military.
26:46Let's have that debate
26:47in front of them
26:48and hear what they think
26:49before we cast a vote
26:50that would be one
26:52of the most serious votes
26:53that you ever cast
26:56on the floor
26:56of a body like this.
26:58But we should not
26:59allow a war
27:01of the magnitude of this
27:05to begin
27:07with Congress hiding
27:08from the responsibility
27:10that was put
27:11on Congress' shoulders
27:12in 1787.
27:14I will be asking
27:15my colleagues
27:16to support
27:17my simple resolution
27:20as early as next week.
27:23No war without a vote
27:24of Congress.
27:25I will be asking
27:26my colleagues
27:27to support it
27:29and uphold the oath
27:29we've all taken
27:30to support the Constitution
27:31that established
27:33that most unusual principle,
27:35most unique principle
27:37that is part of
27:38what makes this nation special.
27:40With that,
27:40Mr. President,
27:41I yield the floor.
27:45Under the previous order,
27:47the Senate...