Floor SpeechBipartisan2026-07-30

DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITHIN OR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS--Motion to Discharge

HealthcareEnvironmentForeign PolicyDefenseTrade

Context

On 2026-07-30, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) delivered a floor speech titled "DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITHIN OR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN THAT" in the Senate.

Full Text

DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITHIN OR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS--Motion to Discharge

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S4356-S4357] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITHIN OR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS--Motion to Discharge Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1546(a) and in accordance with section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 181. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: Motion to discharge from the Committee on Foreign Relations, S.J. Res. 181, a joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The yeas and nays are ordered. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. S.J. Res. 181 Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise in support of my legislation to end President Trump's unauthorized, illegal war with Iran. This war will go down in history as one of the greatest strategic failures in modern American history. It was launched without a clear plan, executed without a coherent strategy, and has become a costly, self-inflicted disaster for the American people. Every justification that we were given for this conflict has proven hollow. We were told that Iran's nuclear program would be eliminated. Instead, Iran still holds nuclear material, and its leaders may be more determined than ever to build a weapon. We were told that the Iranian regime would crumble; instead, it now holds new leverage of the world's energy supply in the Strait of Hormuz. We were told this President would bring peace and lower prices; instead, he has given us war, pain, and higher prices. New York families are struggling to afford groceries and keep up with the rent, and what is President Trump doing? Pouring billions of tax dollars into an open-ended war in Iran. This reckless war is driving up monthly bills and making everyday life harder for working families. This administration demands billions for wars abroad, then claims we can't afford to improve our schools or repair our roads or lower the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans. President Trump has made it clear that he doesn't factor in how Americans are doing financially, but the families I represent feel it every single day. Every time they fill the gas tank and watch the numbers climb, New Yorkers are being forced to pay a premium for this President's instability. According to data from the Joint Economic Committee, the average family has to pay an additional $432 on gas alone since this war began. Statewide, that is an extra $2 billion at the pump. Let me repeat that. That is an extra $2 billion at the pump. Nationwide, Americans have paid $60 billion more on gas. Every time I go home, I hear from constituents about their concerns: the cost of healthcare, the cost of gas, the cost to keep lights on, and put food on the table. Those are the conversations happening in kitchens across America. That is what we should be focused on here in Washington, not dropping bombs around the world. And let us not forget there is a human cost to this war that no dollar figure could ever capture. Our servicemembers did not volunteer to be pawns in a chaotic, unauthorized war with no plan and no end in sight. Eighteen American heroes have already paid the ultimate sacrifice. Eighteen families have been shattered. Just last week, New York lost one of our own: SGT Angel Rampersad of Queens. Sergeant Rampersad was a true patriot who begged her mother to let her enlist the moment she was old enough. She served this country courageously and honorably for more than 6 years before she was killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan. Our servicemembers take one of the most dangerous jobs there is. In return, we owe them a sacred obligation. We do not send them into harm's way without a clear mission, defined objectives, and the support of the American people. The President's war with Iran is a betrayal of that obligation. New Yorkers and all Americans deserve more. They deserve better. So I ask my colleagues: How many more servicemembers will we lose? How many more billions of dollars must families pay at the pump? How many more empty promises must be made from an out-of-control administration before this body finally acts? Under the Constitution, we have the power to end this war today. Let's use it. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this resolution. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Lummis). The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Vote on Motion to Proceed The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 199. The yeas and nays have been previously ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell). The result was announced--yeas 47, nays 52, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 215 Leg.] YEAS--47 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NAYS--52 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Collins Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Murkowski Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tillis Tuberville Wicker Young NOT VOTING--1 McConnell The motion was rejected. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagerty). The Democratic leader. S.J. Res. 181 Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I will be brief. Nearly half a year into Trump's ruinous war with Iran, the conflict is widening instead of winding down. More countries get dragged into the mix, more fronts open up, and more Americans get killed and injured. The American people have made it clear: No one wants this war to go on. A new poll, this morning, found only a fifth--a fifth--of the American people, including less than half of the Republicans, want the war to continue. Are our Senate Republicans listening? The country is clamoring for you to end this war and to bring our troops home--something you can do right now by voting for Senator Gillibrand's War Powers Resolution. Is Trump so intimidating, so untouchable that Republicans will keep siding with him instead of the 80 percent of Americans calling for the fighting to end? [[Page S4357]] The biggest thing standing between our troops and home is a Republican Party that is too afraid to cross the President. Congress can break this vicious cycle of escalation Trump started in Iran, and this War Powers Resolution is how we do it. I urge--I plead--with my Republican colleagues to listen to the American people. Vote to end this war. We are going to keep forcing Republicans to vote until you do. I yield the floor. Vote on Motion to Discharge The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on agreeing to the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 181. The yeas and nays have been previously ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell). The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 50, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 216 Leg.] YEAS--49 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murkowski Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Paul Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NAYS--50 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fetterman Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tillis Tuberville Wicker Young NOT VOTING--1 McConnell The motion was rejected. The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 50. The motion is not agreed to. The motion was rejected. ____________________

Referenced legislation: SJRES181, SJRES181, SJRES199

View original source →

DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITHIN OR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS--Motion to Discharge Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 125 (Thursday, July 30, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S4356-S4357] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES WITHIN OR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS--Motion to Discharge Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1546(a) and in accordance with section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 181. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: Motion to discharge from the Committee on Foreign Relations, S.J. Res. 181, a joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The yeas and nays are ordered. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 10 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. S.J. Res. 181 Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise in support of my legislation to end President Trump's unauthorized, illegal war with Iran. This war will go down in history as one of the greatest strategic failures in modern American history. It was launched without a clear plan, executed without a coherent strategy, and has become a costly, self-inflicted disaster for the American people. Every justification that we were given for this conflict has proven hollow. We were told that Iran's nuclear program would be eliminated. Instead, Iran still holds nuclear material, and its leaders may be more determined than ever to build a weapon. We were told that the Iranian regime would crumble; instead, it now holds new leverage of the world's energy supply in the Strait of Hormuz. We were told this President would bring peace and lower prices; instead, he has given us war, pain, and higher prices. New York families are struggling to afford groceries and keep up with the rent, and what is President Trump doing? Pouring billions of tax dollars into an open-ended war in Iran. This reckless war is driving up monthly bills and making everyday life harder for working families. This administration demands billions for wars abroad, then claims we can't afford to improve our schools or repair our roads or lower the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans. President Trump has made it clear that he doesn't factor in how Americans are doing financially, but the families I represent feel it every single day. Every time they fill the gas tank and watch the numbers climb, New Yorkers are being forced to pay a premium for this President's instability. According to data from the Joint Economic Committee, the average family has to pay an additional $432 on gas alone since this war began. Statewide, that is an extra $2 billion at the pump. Let me repeat that. That is an extra $2 billion at the pump. Nationwide, Americans have paid $60 billion more on gas. Every time I go home, I hear from constituents about their concerns: the cost of healthcare, the cost of gas, the cost to keep lights on, and put food on the table. Those are the conversations happening in kitchens across America. That is what we should be focused on here in Washington, not dropping bombs around the world. And let us not forget there is a human cost to this war that no dollar figure could ever capture. Our servicemembers did not volunteer to be pawns in a chaotic, unauthorized war with no plan and no end in sight. Eighteen American heroes have already paid the ultimate sacrifice. Eighteen families have been shattered. Just last week, New York lost one of our own: SGT Angel Rampersad of Queens. Sergeant Rampersad was a true patriot who begged her mother to let her enlist the moment she was old enough. She served this country courageously and honorably for more than 6 years before she was killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan. Our servicemembers take one of the most dangerous jobs there is. In return, we owe them a sacred obligation. We do not send them into harm's way without a clear mission, defined objectives, and the support of the American people. The President's war with Iran is a betrayal of that obligation. New Yorkers and all Americans deserve more. They deserve better. So I ask my colleagues: How many more servicemembers will we lose? How many more billions of dollars must families pay at the pump? How many more empty promises must be made from an out-of-control administration before this body finally acts? Under the Constitution, we have the power to end this war today. Let's use it. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this resolution. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Lummis). The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Vote on Motion to Proceed The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 199. The yeas and nays have been previously ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell). The result was announced--yeas 47, nays 52, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 215 Leg.] YEAS--47 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NAYS--52 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Collins Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Murkowski Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tillis Tuberville Wicker Young NOT VOTING--1 McConnell The motion was rejected. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hagerty). The Democratic leader. S.J. Res. 181 Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I will be brief. Nearly half a year into Trump's ruinous war with Iran, the conflict is widening instead of winding down. More countries get dragged into the mix, more fronts open up, and more Americans get killed and injured. The American people have made it clear: No one wants this war to go on. A new poll, this morning, found only a fifth--a fifth--of the American people, including less than half of the Republicans, want the war to continue. Are our Senate Republicans listening? The country is clamoring for you to end this war and to bring our troops home--something you can do right now by voting for Senator Gillibrand's War Powers Resolution. Is Trump so intimidating, so untouchable that Republicans will keep siding with him instead of the 80 percent of Americans calling for the fighting to end? [[Page S4357]] The biggest thing standing between our troops and home is a Republican Party that is too afraid to cross the President. Congress can break this vicious cycle of escalation Trump started in Iran, and this War Powers Resolution is how we do it. I urge--I plead--with my Republican colleagues to listen to the American people. Vote to end this war. We are going to keep forcing Republicans to vote until you do. I yield the floor. Vote on Motion to Discharge The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on agreeing to the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 181. The yeas and nays have been previously ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell). The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 50, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 216 Leg.] YEAS--49 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murkowski Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Paul Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NAYS--50 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fetterman Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tillis Tuberville Wicker Young NOT VOTING--1 McConnell The motion was rejected. The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 50. The motion is not agreed to. The motion was rejected. ____________________ Referenced legislation: SJRES181, SJRES181, SJRES199