Killing of the iranian general soleimani, donald trump has proven that beyond. And the failure to consult with our allies or congress and the reckless disregard for the consequences that would surely follow was in my view dangerously incompetent. Folks, in the wake of such an enormous escalation that has exploded to politics in the region has put the United States on a collision course that what we expect from an american president. What have we heard from President Trump . We have not heard an explanation to assure the American People that this decision and its consequences were thought through. No levelheaded words meant to dial down the tensions and take us off the path of conflict. No press conference or consultation with our congress. No. What we have heard so far are tweets, threats and tantrums. All we heard from this administration are shifty explanations, evasive explanations, and imminent threat without the necessary evidence to support that conclusion. And since this is a president with a history of lying about virtually everything, who has destroyed his own credibility and that of the United States on the global stage, we, the American People, nor our allies and indeed, no one around the world seems to be taking his word for it. If there was an imminent threat that required this extraordinary owed an t we are are explanation and facts to back it up. But the these matters are important. And to me, they are unmistakenbly clear. Donald trump does not have the authority to go to war with iran without congressional authorization. Without working with congress. It is not optional. It is not an optional part of his job. President ial notification to congress cannot be satisfied in 280 characters or less. And no president should ever take United States to war without securing the informed consent of the American People. Refuses to cause he level with the American People about the dangers which he has placed american troops and our diplomatic corps and civilians and personnel as well, and our a tners and allies or showed modicum of gravitas, i will attempt to do that. Make no mistake that this outcome was a strategic set back, chants of death to america, once more echoing across the middle east. Iran and its allies are vowing revenge that was avoidable. The seeds of danger were planted by donald trump himself on may 8, 2018. The day the president tore up his clear deal against National Security advisers and turned his closest european allies and he destroyed any progress made by the Obama Administration and build on it and create a safer world. What we had in the iran deal, we had verbal viability, cut off every one of irans pathways to a Nuclear Weapon. Inspectors repeatedly confirmed irans compliance as well as our own intelligence agencies. And one of the greatest threats to Global Security was off the table. Iranian nuclear power. And when the iranian deal was enforced, we didnt have this dangerous cycle of at this time for at that time response. There were allies and partners to address their actions throughout the action. The iran deal was not only accomplishing a Critical Mission that it was designed for, but created an environment where diplomacy was possible. And trump, he walked away, not iran, trump walked away. Trump made the international outliar. Trump reimpo possessed gnificant sanctions to quote exert maximum pressure on the regime with claims that it would deter aggression and secure a much promised, quote, better deal. On both fronts, as many anticipated at the time, his threats were empty, baseless, and naive. Since then all thats materialized is an utterly predictable cycle of escalating conflict with iran. It was stated at the time that of course iran would seek to demonstrate that the pressure we were exerting was not costfree. They could take actions to make life more difficult for us as well. Iran began again to unearth and enrich uranium beyond the limits allowed under the iran deal, the nuclear deal. Iran attacked oil tankers, shot down an unmanned u. S. Surveillance drone. Yet the administration had no plan to prevent, mitigate, or appropriately respond to these provocations. Instead, trump acted erratically and impulsively, which is not unexpect. He ordered a retaliatory strike then called it off at the last minute, then the administration imposed more sanctions. Shot down an iranian drone, issued a warrant to seize ewe rain seize an Iranian Oil Tanker and before long, iran attacked saudi arabias facility, and iraq restarted rocket attacks against our bases. Until one of those attacks against our bases, kirkuk, killed a u. S. Citizen and wounded others. Taff tragic loss of life, an act condemned by all americans. But in response, trump bombed five sites in iraq and syria, tied to the militia group, killing at least 25. Iraq protesters organized by iranbacked militias assaulted our embassy in baghdad and breached the outer wall of that compound. No injuries were report bud trump was embarrassed. By the images of a burnt out reception area. He ordered the drone strikes to kill soleimani, perhaps the second most important official in iran near the Baghdad Airport as a consequence and rushed thousands more troops to the region to deal with the fallout. Actionreaction, provocationresponse. All predictable, all predicted. A president who says he wants to cut, end, and defaultless wars in the middle east is bringing us dangerously close to starting a brand new one. A president who says he wants out of the region sends an additional 18,000 plus trps to deal with a crisis of oys his own making. An administration that claims its actions made america safer in the same breath urges our citizens to leave iraq, puts americans throughout the region on notice because of the increased danger that now exists. I have no illusions about iran, i never have. The regime has long sponsored terrorists who threatened our interests. It con tin it continues to detain american citizens. Ruthlessly killed hundreds of protesters. They should be held accountable for their actions. But theres a smart way to counter them. 20 counter iran. And a selfdefeating way. Trumps approach in my view is demonstrably the latter. Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american troops an thousands of innocent lives throughout the region. He was the mastermind but he was not the whole of the regime or its capacity to strike back. So the question is, was the reward of removing a bad actor worth the risk of what comes next . We dont have evidence to suggest that trump or Anyone Around him thought seriously about that calculus. The pentagon long warned against taking a shot like this was shocked that trump would take such a terrific, thats the reports, i cant verify. Its not a question of whether iran will retaliate, it almost certainly will. But but what it means for our troops, our personnel throughout the region, what it means for our allies and partners who have troops in harms way, that are impacted by this decision, what it will mean for the longterm mission of countering iran and preventing isis from bouncing back and our military to pursue a broader strategic aim in the region, already were seeing the fallout. Iran has declared it will no longer abide by the constraints set up by the nuclear deal, putting it back on track to obtain material for a Nuclear Weapon and pushing the region closer to a nuclear crisis. You know, our forces in iraq and syria are now focused on protecting themselves, preparing to lead, putting the counterisis mission on hold, allowing a Deadly Terrorist Organization the room to regroup and reactivate. The Iran Parliament voted to eject all americans and Coalition Forces from the country. And however you may feel about American Military presence in the middle east, theres a right way and a wrong way to draw down our troops, our troop presence. Getting unser moans youly kicked out is unequivocally the wrong way. And if we do end up having to leave, that would be another boon for iran tipping the balance of power in the region in their favor. Just weeks ago, there was spontaneous protest across iran gainst the regime. Its taken that patients bill of rights off the regime now. Trumps impulsive decision may do more to strengthen irans position in the rethan any of soleimanis plots would have ever accomplished. You know, whether or not we see more or less life, more or less threats, more interest in the area, its always, its always and now a debacle. What we have and what is possibly the most dangerous time in recent American History and precisely the moment when we should be rallying our allies to stand beside us and hold the line against threats, Donald Trumps shortsighted, americafirst dogmatism has come home to roost. Our closest allies, our closest allies are calling for restraint and making a moral equivalence between iran and the United States. I never thought id see that happen coming out of nato and china and russia are quietly reveling in the prospect of the United States will now once again be bogged down in another major conflict in the middle east, giving them room, theyd love nothing more than to be able to continue to pursue their own interests, their own interests and carve out their own spheres of influence without the United States challenging them on human rights. On abusive trade practices. On meddling in other nations democracies. Because were too busy in iran. We are alone now. Were alone and well have to bear the cost of Donald Trumps folly. And this at this moment, it seems to me when we most feel the lack of function in the National Security process or diplomacy, we have to do something. After three years of hollowing out the state department, disrespecting and dismissing our intelligence community, destroying relationship between the white house and capitol hill, throwing out the deliberate policymaking process that has served republicans and democratic administrations for decades, coroading the values of the word of the United States, abusing our allies, embracing dictators, create, not solving Foreign Policy on the international stage, were in a much worse position to meet the demands of this crisis than we were when president obama and i left office. You know, President Trump has no strategy, it seems to me. He has no end game. Heres the hardest truth of all. His constant mistakes and poor decision make having left us, the United States work a severely limited slate of options for how to move forward. And most of those options are now bad. But there are some key steps in any responsible commander in chief would take. While i dont expect donald trump to listen to me, i hope hell listen to those around him who understand the gravity of the threats we now face. He should take the necessary steps to protect our forces and ensure the security of our diplomats, civilians and overseas facilities, not just in the middle east but anywhere iran might be able to strike. He should ensure that authorities are working with state and local governments and private institutions to guard against heightened risk for signer cyber attacks. He should stop tweeting so he doesnt box us in with these threats that the only options left for iran are uncreasingly damaging strikes and counterstrikes. And he should immediately, i hope hes doing this now but ive heard none of it, he should be reaching out to our European Partners and others and send private signals of deterrence and deescalation to ireason and find a way to avoid the onrush of war and the best way to do that would be for President Trump to rejoin the iran deal and build on it. If iran moves back in compliance with the obligations and reestablishes International Consensus about how to confront these threats, we would be much, much better off. The only way out of this crisis is through diemployee may. Is cleareyed, hardnosed diplomacy grounded in strategy thats not about oneoff decisions and one upmans one upsmanship. We need to protect our regional interests including our counterisis campaign. No one wants war. But its going to take hard work to make sure we dont end up there by accident. Finally, this one is not optional, mr. President , you have to explain your decision and your strategy to the American People. Thats your job as president , mr. President. Not dear leader. Not supreme leader. Democracy runs on accountability. And nowhere is it more important than the power to make war and bring peace. Youre required to work with congress, mr. President. Youre required to abide by the war powers resolution, mr. President. And you cannot pursue war with iran without consent and authority from congress. The existing aumfs, the congressional authorizations for use of military force do, not apply. The American People do not want and our constitution will not abide a president who rules by fiat and demands obedience. I served in the executive branch for eight years. Eight years. And you know, what i find is i served in that branch, also, the other one, the sthath, the congress, for 36. And i understand better than anyone that the system will not hold unless we find a way to Work Together to advance our national interests. To Work Together. Not in a political interest of any one party or any one person. We need to restore the balance of powers between the branches of government. We need to we need checks and balances that serve to check and balance the worst instincts of our leaders in either of the branches. We need to use our system to bring us together as a nation, not abuse it and rip us apart. This is not a naive, outdated way of thinking. This is the genius and timelessness of our democratic system which has for more than 240 years allowed us to remake our ourselves, reckon with our shortcomings and move our nation ever forward. Thats what we owe these brave women and men who stepped forward to wear the uniform of the United States. Who decide, who dedicated their life to diplomatic service. Who chose that join the peace corps or work in development. We represent the best of our country they represent the best of our country all around the world. Today they are doing so at great risk because of our president. Ladies and gentlemen, i want to thank you all. These are dangerous times, but let me end by saying, may god protect our troops. We need action, mr. President. You have to explain what youre doing. Thank you very much. The Washington Center holds a seminar on the 2020 election and g. O. P. Politics. Watch live wednesday morning at 9 00 eastern on c span 3. Online at cspan. Org. Or listen live on the free span radio app. Our Live Campaign 2020 coverage continues thursday at 7 00 p. M. Eastern with President Donald Trump in toledo, ohio, at a keep America Great rally. Watch live on cspan2, on demand at cspan. Org or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app. Earlier today senate Party Leaders held their weekly news conferences and commented on the impeachment process against President Trump. Here are their remarks, starting with Senate Majority leader h