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

Quick facts

Record: Senate Floor
Section type: Floor speeches
Chamber: Senate
Date: June 16, 2026
Congress: 119th Congress
Why this source matters: This section came from the Senate floor portion of the record.

Linked context

People mentioned: Warnock, Raphael G., Barrasso, John, Durbin, Richard J.
Bills and resolutions: S.J.Res. 172 (119th Congress)
Committees: Committee on Foreign Relations

Readable version of the official 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

Mr. WARNOCK. Madam President, I rise today to ask a simple question. After 109 days of a failed war and now a fragile, temporary—but welcome—truce, will my Republican colleagues

choose today to finally stand up to this President? Will my colleagues say “enough is enough” to the President who ran as a candidate promising no new wars?

After 109 days of contradictory messaging, rampant and rank

corruption, with people literally cashing in on news about this war and devastating news stories from the Middle East, will this be the vote when my colleagues finally stand up for their constituents, rather than simply standing up for Donald Trump?

Here we are: Tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, of American taxpayer dollars spent; gas prices are well over $4 a gallon; hard-working American families crushed under tens of billions of dollars in soaring energy prices and inflation driven by this unnecessary war; and the ultimate price—the ultimate price—13 servicemembers tragically killed.

The question is, Where did all of that land us? What did it accomplish? And it appears that we are basically back at the status quo, at best.

Let me start by saying that I am very proud of our military. That is not the question here. We have the most powerful, the most effective military force in human history.

The problem is that the President has decided to use that military

force and significantly deplete our defense arsenal for his own pet projects. He decided to launch an attack on Iran to decapitate the brutal leadership of an awful regime, but he had no plans for what he would do the next day—the next day.

And so, today, the regime is still in place, with younger and

potentially more hard-lined and radical leadership.

So even now, with the war hopefully coming to an end, I still don't

understand why we were in this war in the first place.

It appears that the only thing this war has done is put

servicemembers' lives at risk, Americans in the region at risk. It has undermined our global standing and put millions of civilians in harm's way.

And so we pray for the families of the brave Americans who have

already paid the ultimate sacrifice, our servicemembers who are the best among us and who go no matter who the President is or what their politics are. They were simply following orders. Our servicemembers embody courage and patriotism. They put it on the line for us, and I submit that they deserve better than this.

We have learned, due in part to recent history, that it is easier to

get into a war than it is to get out. The President said on multiple occasions: “It will all work out well in the end. It always does.”

Maybe it always does for him, but we are sending brave American

servicemembers into battle, and they return with visible and invisible wounds of war.

This is something not to be handled in a cavalier manner. It is the most sacred responsibility of an American President.

And so I promised my people of Georgia that I would walk with them

even as I worked for them. I have listened to agonizing stories of war from veterans whose lives will never be the same. I have stood at Dover Air Force Base to receive the bodies of Georgia's heroes. I have looked into the grief-stricken eyes of their family members as they greeted a flag-draped coffin wrapped in unbearable grief. It is gut-wrenching, and it is something that I think about whenever we consider the consequences of sending our servicemembers into harm's way.

The question is, Did the President think about it? Did he think about those families, even as he said, “It will all just work out. . . . It always does”?

I am hopeful that this war may come to an end beginning this week.
But let's be clear: This temporary truce agreement with Iran brings us
back to the status quo, at best.

Let's not forget that the President of the United States, in deciding

to launch this war, created a situation in which we lost our servicemembers.

We continue to grieve the dozens of fathers in Iran who will be

without their school-aged daughters on Father's Day, as an elementary school in Minab was attacked on the first day—or a bomb was dropped on that school the first day—a horrific mistake with huge human consequences. And this was on day one of the war—young children who didn't get a chance to grow up, hundreds of dreams that will never be realized.

Those Iranian babies are human beings. They too are children of God. And so this kind of consequential action requires much more thought, a much more serious-minded administration than what we have seen over the last year and a half.

And so I hope that we are seeing the beginning of the end of this

war. But we paid a huge cost, and I am not so sure what we are getting for that.

But the question before this body is, Will this President do this

again? I think the answer is yes. He will continue to choose bombs over diplomacy because he is a failed warmonger, and that is why I am urging my colleagues to speak up in this moral moment and send a message that the President should not feel that he can easily and so cavalierly use American might while Congress stands idly by.

The time is always right to do what is right.

I urge my colleagues to do what your constituents are begging you to

do and join me in putting a check on this President's lawless warmongering—warmongering that has upended the global economy and sent gas prices soaring.

The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Iran perhaps seems even more emboldened to try it again. And what is the plan to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon with Iran going into this truce with all of its enriched uranium?

We had a deal. Donald Trump chose war over diplomacy.

Hopefully, this Congress will stand up and do its job. The time is always right to do what is right. That time is now.

Pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1546a 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. 172.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.

The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

Motion to discharge from the Committee on Foreign

Relations, S.J. Res. 172, a joint resolution 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.

Mr. WARNOCK. I know of no further debate.

Vote on Motion to Discharge

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.

Mr. WARNOCK. I ask for the yeas and nays.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?

There appears to be a sufficient second.

The clerk will call the roll.

The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.

Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Hawley) and the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell).

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

The result was announced—yeas 47, nays 48, as follows:

Rollcall Vote No. 174 Leg.

YEAS—47

Alsobrooks

Baldwin

Blumenthal

Blunt Rochester

Cantwell

Cassidy

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

Schatz

Schiff

Schumer

Shaheen

Slotkin

Smith

Van Hollen

Warner

Warnock

Warren

Welch

Whitehouse

Wyden

NAYS—48

Armstrong

Banks

Barrasso

Blackburn

Boozman

Britt

Budd

Capito

Cornyn

Cotton

Cramer

Crapo

Cruz

Curtis

Daines

Ernst

Fetterman

Fischer

Graham

Grassley

Hagerty

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—5

Bennet

Booker

Hawley

McConnell

Sanders

The motion was rejected.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Banks). The Senator from Florida.

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Readable version of the official text

After 109 days of contradictory messaging, rampant and rank

The problem is that the President has decided to use that military

And so, today, the regime is still in place, with younger and

So even now, with the war hopefully coming to an end, I still don't

It appears that the only thing this war has done is put

And so we pray for the families of the brave Americans who have

We have learned, due in part to recent history, that it is easier to

Maybe it always does for him, but we are sending brave American

And so I promised my people of Georgia that I would walk with them

Let's not forget that the President of the United States, in deciding

We continue to grieve the dozens of fathers in Iran who will be

And so I hope that we are seeing the beginning of the end of this

But the question before this body is, Will this President do this

I urge my colleagues to do what your constituents are begging you to

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