McConnell on War Powers Resolution: Divorced From Strategic And Constitutional Reality

Washington, D.C.
–
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued the following statement ahead of today’s Senate vote on the Kaine War Powers Resolution:
“Iran’s war against the United States is decades old. Through direct and proxy attacks, it has killed and wounded thousands of Americans.
“Five years ago, President Trump’s correct decision to remove Iran’s terrorist mastermind, Qassem Soleimani, from the battlefield restored a meaningful measure of deterrence. Within weeks, the Senate was forced to defeat an effort to constrain the President’s authority to take similar action in the future.
“Regrettably, under the Biden Administration, this hard-won deterrence eroded away. With the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan came a sobering reminder that the perception of American retreat emboldens our adversaries. Iran and its terrorist network shrugged off empty threats of deterrence and spilled yet more American blood.
“This weekend, the President seized a strategic opportunity to restore deterrence. In response to Iran’s ongoing war, U.S. forces dealt a devastating blow to the regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“Now, less than a week later, the Senate will again need to defeat an attempt to limit the Commander in Chief’s authority. And once again, the restrainers behind this effort on both sides of the aisle face simple questions:
“In what ways does this discrete and limited exercise of American power exceed the limits within which President Clinton directed operations in Kosovo or President Obama in Libya? In what ways does it differ from the strikes in Syria or Yemen for which President Biden invoked his Article II authorities?
“Was degrading Iran’s nuclear capability without expanding the U.S. military footprint in the Middle East a mistake? Was it wrong to seize the rare opportunity made possible by Israel’s operations over the last 20 months? Did it not demonstrably advance U.S. interests in the region? Or are isolationists correct in suggesting that such interests do not exist?
“I have not heard the frequent flyers on War Powers resolutions reckon seriously with these questions. Until they do, efforts like this will remain divorced from both strategic and constitutional reality.
“I will oppose Senator Kaine’s resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.”