'Draft-Dodging Coward': Tammy Duckworth Absolutely Tears Into Trump During Takedown Of The Iran War

[0:08] Senator from Illinois. Thank you, Mr. President. I've come to the floor today as a United States [0:12] Senator, of course, but also as a former soldier who served in uniform the last time [0:18] a president rationally sent our men and women into an unjustified war in the Middle East. [0:23] I spent nearly a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recovering from the injuries I earned in [0:29] Iraq. And every morning, as I struggled to sit up straight, every time I was rolled into yet another [0:35] surgery, I made sure to read the poster I had next to my hospital bed. It was a framed copy of the [0:41] soldier's creed, the words that those lucky enough to wear the army uniform live by. That same framed [0:47] copy now hangs by my desk here in DC. And as I glanced at it this morning, I realized that there's [0:54] perhaps no greater proof that Donald Trump never deigned to serve a day in his life than the mockery [1:00] he makes of the soldier's creed's commitments every single day he has been in office. The creed may [1:06] be associated with the army, but the sentiments hold true for all of those who wear the uniform of this [1:11] great nation. Its 13 lines tells us to be disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained, proficient, [1:19] and to look out for those who look out for us, to look out for one another. Donald Trump is supposed to [1:25] be our service members commander in chief. The very, very least we should expect of him is to [1:32] epitomize the standards that we ask our troops to swear by, to live by. The very, very least we should [1:39] expect of the commander in chief is to be as competent, disciplined, and professional as the men [1:46] and women whose very lives hinge on his capacity to lead on that competence and professionalism we expect to [1:53] see in the White House. The creed makes clear that our troops will never quit, that they will never [1:59] leave a fallen comrade behind, yet Cadet Bonespurs is someone who will always quit. And every hour he [2:06] orders our service members to remain in unnecessary growing danger, he is proving that Donald Trump does [2:13] not give a damn about leaving a comrade or so, so many comrades behind. Every moment that Donald Trump [2:21] leaves our heroes mired in the muck of this illegal war of choice in Iran, he is showing that he cares [2:27] more about saving his own face than leading our troops. So I come to the floor today with a simple [2:33] question. Our military men and women go out there every day and do their jobs, no matter the risk, [2:39] all on Donald Trump's orders. So I asked you, Mr. President, why the hell can't you do your job too? [2:47] Why can't you live up to the same level of proficiency as our troops? Look, I'm proud of every mission I [2:53] completed in Iraq, but I would never, ever wish another endless, needless, unjustified war like the [3:00] one I served in on anybody else. I wouldn't wish it on the heroes who are packing up their rocks right now, [3:06] knowing they may never touch American soil again. I wouldn't wish it on their families who are being [3:12] forced to spend their days anxiously awaiting news from half a world away. And I wouldn't wish it on the [3:17] American people who want their president to focus on bringing the costs down here at home, [3:22] not starting new expensive taxpayer funded wars continents away. But Trump either doesn't understand [3:30] or he simply doesn't care about that. From the moment this conflict began, the president has tried [3:35] to shroud his incompetence behind the valor of our service members. When asked to justify his illegal [3:43] actions, Donald Trump's tried to hide his cowardice behind our hero's courage. He's tried to act as if [3:51] questioning why we're at war is the same as questioning the skill and bravery of our troops themselves. [3:57] It isn't. And I'm here to call bullshit on the president of the United States, because I know that [4:03] our military will always do the best job possible. When given a mission, our service members will say, [4:09] yes, I will serve. They don't say, why me? They don't ask, will I be safe? No, they dust off their boots. [4:18] They show up and they do what's asked of them to the best of their ability every single time, time after [4:24] time, tour after tour, no matter the risk, no matter the sacrifice. They will always, always execute their [4:32] orders to the maximum capability of their professionalism. And they are proud to do it. [4:38] That isn't the problem. The problem here is that the person who's supposed to be leading them [4:44] spends more time talking about his Marie Antoinette ballroom than he does sitting in the situation [4:48] room trying to get us out of this war. The problem is the guy who claims to be making America great [4:54] again looks at the word America and only sees the letters M and E in the middle of it. The problem [5:01] is that the commander in chief not only has no idea what the end state is like for his war of choice, [5:08] but properly doesn't even know what the term end state means at all. The problem is that even in [5:15] the last two weeks, the man who is in charge of our nation's nuclear codes has himself gone [5:21] increasingly nuclear. He's not believing literal war with Iran is enough. He's now gone on to [5:27] proverbial war with the Vatican, choosing to pick fights with the Pope of our people, the Pope, rather [5:35] than try to engage in any semblance of real diplomacy to end the conflict in the Middle East. He's [5:41] threatened to annihilate an entire civilization, terrifying people overseas and here at home, [5:47] who are understandably worried about retaliatory strikes. And now, after one half-assed day of [5:53] so-called negotiations with Iran, he's whipsawed to the next risky frontier in the region, a dangerous, [6:01] complex, partial military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, launching it at our nation's expense [6:08] with no justification, no explanation, or any real plan of what comes next. His only plan seems to rely [6:18] on the valor, the willingness to sacrifice, the professionalism of our military men and women. [6:24] But let me tell you, that is not enough. They need a true commander. But Trump is Trump, [6:31] and he is actively, unabashedly telling us how to ignore what we are all seeing with our own eyes. [6:38] He's trying to declare mission accomplished despite his obvious failures at every single turn. [6:44] He's declaring, and I quote, we did it, we're winning after all signs point to the opposite. [6:50] We're still at war. Americans are still at risk. Civilians across the region are still dying for no [6:57] reason that anyone can truly articulate. In reality, the only thing that Donald Trump has accomplished [7:04] over the last six weeks is more chaos. Because of his choices, a new younger Ayatollah is in charge, [7:12] who seems even more radical than his father was. 13 American heroes have been killed with hundreds more [7:19] wounded. More goats or parents are grieving their children. And more American families are struggling [7:26] to afford the spiking gas prices. They're unsure if they can pay even more every time they go to the [7:33] gas station. But they have to, because they need to get to work. They've got to take their kids to [7:39] school. They've got to take their aging parents to the doctor. The farmers of Illinois, the farmers of this [7:45] great nation have seen at the time that we should be planting their input costs skyrocket because of [7:53] Donald Trump's war of choice. Look, war is always tragic. But when it's preventable, when it's unjustified, [8:02] it's not just tragic. It's a travesty. Trump wouldn't let himself be dragged by the bone spurs to serve in [8:10] Vietnam. So how dare he, how dare he drag our nation into a war of his choice today? But this draft [8:18] dodger, this five time draft dodger, is too infatuated with maximum pressure to make a serious effort at [8:25] even minimum diplomacy. Once again, the Trump foreign policy doctrine has proven reckless, senseless, [8:34] and dangerous. A doctrine in which fact and fiction are one in the same. One in which our commander in [8:41] chief seems to come to military decisions by virtue of temper tantrums and announces them via tweet in the [8:47] middle of the night. And one in which avarice outweighs advice every single time. Look, unlike Trump, [8:57] I actually know what it's like to leave your blood soaking into the desert sand a half a world away. [9:03] So I know what it's like. I know what it's like and what is at stake for the troops this [9:09] administration is sending into harm's way. We must safeguard their valor and their professionalism [9:15] by doing our jobs. I can tell you this. It's a whole lot easier to cover your eyes and order other [9:22] Americans to sacrifice their children and sacrifice themselves if you don't have to do any of the [9:29] sacrificing yourself. It's easier to send other people's children to fight in a war if you know [9:35] your own children are cozy in a penthouse suite somewhere. It's easier to ignore the everyday [9:42] realities of war from inside the hallowed house of the White House. We've got McDonald's being [9:48] door dashed to the Oval Office. But it's nearly impossible. It's nearly impossible if you've been [9:56] actually outside the wire yourself. So I've come to the floor today to keep true a promise I first made [10:03] over two decades ago. I ran for Congress not because I wanted to be in Congress, not because I wanted to be [10:09] a congressman or a senator. I ran for Congress to honor the men and women who carried me out of that [10:15] bloody war zone. I made a promise that when the drums of war started beating again I would be in a [10:28] position to make sure that our elected officials fully consider the true cause of war not just in [10:38] terms of money but in human lives and in the sacrifices of the men and women who were the colors of this great [10:44] nation. That was the vow I made to the troops I deployed with and to all of those who've served [11:02] since I've hung up my uniform. I'm here today under this great Capitol dome to keep that most sacred [11:19] oath because right now thousands of our troops are ready to do their jobs even if it means laying down [11:27] their lives. And it's tragic it's disgusting to me that even as they prepare to do their jobs our [11:35] president and some members of this chamber seem so eager to neglect their own. So as those drums of war [11:43] echo louder than they have ever in years I am here to remind Donald Trump that he does not have the [11:50] authority to unilaterally force us into war. He may never have read the Constitution but I have. So let me [11:58] direct his attention to article one which makes clear that only congress only congress has the power [12:06] to declare war. We are the ones tasked with deciding when and how Americans are sent into combat. We are [12:14] the ones charged with that most solemn duty. Yet Trump is acting as if article one simply doesn't exist [12:21] as if obeying the Constitution is optional as if a founding document is just a yellowing crumbling piece [12:27] of paper that he can crumble up and toss into the garbage can at will. This should not must not be a [12:34] partisan issue. No matter if you're starting struggling to pay rent or if your name is plastered in fake gold [12:41] on a building on fifth avenue no one can ignore the Constitution especially if you've sworn an oath to defend [12:50] it. No matter if you're a mar-a-lago worker pulling down double shifts of the president of the united states [12:56] no one is above the law. Look I believe fully that there are certain solemn urgent times when our [13:04] military must be called upon to defend us. There are certain moments when the threat in question is [13:10] significant and imminent. Instances when military force is the most effective tool at hand and that [13:16] using it is necessary to protect America and her interests. The thing is from little and what little [13:23] information the Trump administration has shared publicly that he hasn't immediately contradicted [13:29] and sometimes the same sentence this was not one of those times but if the administration thinks that [13:36] I'm wrong and there was imminent reasonable actual threat to America then guess what the floor is theirs [13:44] come to the senate which is 20 minutes from the white house it's not hard to find it's even faster in [13:50] your motorcade mr president it's not hard to find us we're the building with a big dome on top we're [13:57] only a 20 minute walk Trump knows where the capitol building is it's a spot he told the insurrectionists [14:03] to march towards on january 6th so if his team actually believes that war is unjustified then they [14:11] need to come to congress and do their jobs explain their case giving the American people a say through [14:17] their elected representatives the members who sit at every one of this these desks in this chamber they need [14:23] to respect the American people enough to finally tell them why they're being forced to bear the [14:30] cost of this conflict both in dollars and cents and dollar and daughters and sons they need to respect [14:38] our service members enough to prove why war in with Iran is worth more children growing up without [14:43] their mom or dad they need to make it clear that they've thought this through and well enough that they [14:48] can actually articulate what an end state with this war of choice in Iran would even look like [14:55] then when their case has been made when the debate here in congress is completed then the members of [15:02] this chamber must vote it's our duty yes it is our burden it's the least we can do for those who are [15:09] willing to sacrifice everything to safeguard this democracy but if the trump administration refuses to do [15:17] that if they refuse to adhere to the constitution well then it begs the question what are you hiding [15:27] what are you hiding mr president we already know you're incompetent what else are you hiding look [15:35] we've now been at this war of choice of trump's choice for more a month and a half thousands are dead [15:41] grieving wounded suffering only someone is inept and unfit someone is callous and cruel as trump would see [15:49] this as winning only a draft dodging coward would think that this is the right way to engage in a war [15:57] only a man so unqualified to be commander-in-chief would be proud to keep on risking our heroes lives [16:04] without even a concept of a plan for how to get them back home without risking more graves at arlington [16:13] we can't let this chaos continue unchecked as our troops continue to sacrifice whatever is asked of them [16:20] we senators we senators need to do the absolute minimum required of us that's why this week i'm [16:27] calling up my war powers resolution demanding that the trump administration finally end this illegal war [16:34] and to call for some actual public oversight and accountability on behalf of the american people [16:40] it'll come to the floor for a vote shortly so to my republican colleagues you have a choice a simple one [16:46] really you can vote with me to end this conflict and show that you actually care about putting america [16:51] first like you claim or you can vote to put trump's ego first proving that when push comes to shove you [16:58] care more about protecting trump's thin skin than the constitution that you swore to defend at this point [17:05] it's pretty clear donald j trump will always be more interested in looking out for his own self-interest [17:11] rather than truly serving american interests so my question is if any of my republican colleagues [17:20] are actually brave enough to stand up and tell donald j trump the five-time draft dodging coward [17:27] enough thank you