DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT, PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(c) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION, TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITH IRAN

On 2026-09-14, Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5) delivered a floor speech titled "DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT, PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(C) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION, TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FRO" in the House.

DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT, PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(c) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION, TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITH IRAN

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 144 (Monday, September 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 144 (Monday, September 14, 2026)] [House] [Pages H5609-H5615] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT, PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(c) OF THE WAR POWERS RESOLUTION, TO REMOVE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITH IRAN Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of September 14, 2026, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 93), directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the concurrent resolution is considered read. The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows: H. Con. Res. 93 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)), Congress directs the President to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, other than those elements of the Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack provided that the President complies fully with the requirements of section 5(b) the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(b)) with respect to any such use of the Armed Forces, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific congressional authorization for use of military force against Iran. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The concurrent resolution shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by Representative Mast of Florida and Representative Moulton of Massachusetts or their respective designees. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida. General Leave Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Florida? There was no objection. Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to discuss the resolution again asking for the President to ``remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, other than those elements of the [[Page H5610]] Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally.'' I have spoken at length on this floor about Iranian threats, what they have been doing to the United States of America for the last 50 years or the last 50 months, the people that they have killed, the attacks that they have levied against us. Mr. Speaker, I would love to hear from my colleagues, the authors, and the cosponsors of this legislation what do they think that we are defending the United States of America from? Again, I have spoken at length about it. I would love to know, do they see a threat? Do they see no threat? More specifically, about the letter of this law, the letter of this bill, what is it that the sponsors want removed? That is what it says: ``Remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, other than those elements of the Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally.'' What is it that you want removed? Do you want us to remove refueling aircraft so they cannot support Israel or Saudi Arabia? Do you want us to remove our amphibious ready groups? Shall we remove our MV-22 Ospreys, our Chinooks, our heavy-lift helicopters, our attack helicopters or our utility helicopters? What about our Air Force and our naval aviation? What would you like removed there? We have veterans from the Marine Corps, Army brothers, Army Rangers, others over here that I am guessing are here to speak about what they want removed from this space. Do you want F-15s removed, F-15 Eagles? Do you want F-16 Falcons removed? Do you want F-35A or B removed or do you want them to remain? How about F-18 Super Hornets? What is it that you want out of there? That is what you are asking for: ``Remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, other than those elements of the Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally.'' What about our KC-135 Stratotankers or our Pegasus? What about our command presence? What is it that you want removed? This is your resolution. Do you want signals intelligence, electronic warfare, jamming maritime surveillance, ground surveillance removed? What is it that you want removed? What about in terms of long-range precision strike capabilities? Would you like our carrier-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles removed from the space? Do you want our air-launched precision weapons, our ground-launched precision fires, our ship-launched precision systems removed? What is it that you want removed? Do you want JDAMs removed? What about in terms of drones? What is it that you want to remain or want removed? How about one-way attack drones, small commercial-style UAVs, larger reconnaissance-strike UAVs? {time} 2020 What personnel do you want removed? Because that is what this is calling for, removing all U.S. Forces. Do you want logistics personnel removed? Intelligence? Maintenance? Medical? Communications? Headquarters command and control personnel? What do you want removed? Do you want marines at our embassies removed? Do you want pararescue jumpers removed? Do you want us to remove some or all of our Patriot missile batteries from the area? Can we destroy a missile but not destroy a launcher? What is it that you want to take place? Is all of this just because you do not want a naval blockade around Iran? Or is that not it? I would ask that you be clear because I would love to hear from you exactly what forces you are demanding be removed. To the sponsor of our bill, I would quote Representative Moulton: ``We have to acknowledge that Iran is a threat to American interests.'' To continue that quote--in fact, a brother in arms, and other brothers in arms over there, to continue that quote: ``I fought Iranians on the ground in Iraq in 2004. It was bloody. We won. And if necessary, I will fight Iran again.'' Iran was attacking us then, as you spoke about, and Iran has been attacking us at all points between that moment and now. I have spoken about it at length on this floor. I have submitted for the Record the ships they have attacked and the servicemembers that they killed long before Epic Fury. They are continuously fighting us. They are a continuous, ongoing threat to the United States and a continuous threat to our allies. That had not stopped until a memorandum of understanding, and then they decided to resume attacks again. So my question is, again, to the letter of this resolution: What is it that you want removed as you wrote this bill demanding? Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. MOULTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to briefly respond to the remarks from my colleague from Florida. The gentleman from Florida has asked two basic questions. The first is: Is Iran a threat? The second is: What troops or materiel should be removed? There is actually a very simple answer. He answered the first one himself by quoting me when I have in the past many times said that Iran is a serious threat. The second question: What should be removed? Also has a very simple answer. We should remove the troops and materiel that are going towards a war that has not only failed but backfired. These are troops and materiel that are depleting resources needed elsewhere in the globe. That is a very simple answer to the gentleman's question, which I will be happy to detail later. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks). Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Representative Moulton's Iran War Powers Resolution. We are 7 months into a war of choice that President Trump said would only last 4 to 6 weeks. American families have paid over $100 billion more for gasoline and diesel, roughly $800 more per household, while gas averages more than $4 a gallon and diesel is near $6. This resolution closely follows my resolution, H. Con. Res. 86, which passed both the House and the Senate. That resolution made clear what the Constitution makes clear: Congress, not the President, has the power to decide when the United States goes to war. This Congress has not authorized a war with Iran, and yet this administration has kept our troops in harm's way, without a declaration of war, without an authorization from Congress, and without any plan for how to win or end the war. Congress has already acted. H. Con. Res. 86 passed both Chambers, directing the President to remove U.S. Forces from hostilities with Iran, and in July, the House again passed H. Con. Res. 89 with the same message, a simple message: End this war. It is important that we do so again. I have also introduced a binding resolution demanding Speaker Johnson take legal action to defend congressional authority. When Congress' constitutional authority is challenged, this institution has an obligation to defend its own prerogatives. The administration hasn't just continued to wage this illegal war in direct violation of the Constitution, it has done so while Americans bear the costs: 19 fallen servicemembers and more than 750 servicemembers wounded, extended troop deployments, and billions of dollars in additional sp

Referenced legislation: HCONRES86, HCONRES89, HCONRES93