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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has been 4 days since Donald Trump launched America into a war that most Americans oppose, most Americans don't understand, and his own administration can't consistently explain.
I walked out of yesterday's intelligence briefing even more concerned than when I walked in because if the case for war were strong, the story would be consistent and steady. Instead, it changes by the hour.
First, Donald Trump suggested the goal was regime change. He said the people of Iran should rise up and take back their country.
Then it was about nuclear weapons--the same program he said was ``obliterated'' last summer.
Then, yesterday morning, Pete Hegseth said:
Iran had a conventional gun to our head.
He said:
This is not a so-called regime change war.
Then Secretary Rubio claimed it was about crippling Iran's missiles. Then it was about crippling Iran's navy. Then Rubio said it was about what Israel would do and the Iranian response. We heard that this attack was ``defensive'' in nature; then Rubio says it was ``preemptive.''
Which one is it, Donald Trump? Regime change? Nuclear weapons? Missiles? An imminent threat to the homeland? Or a preemptive strike to stop future attacks on the region?
When the rationale for war keeps shifting, the strategy is missing, and that is because there is no strategy. And when the strategy is missing, the risk grows. Six American servicemembers are dead. The conflict is widening. The State Department is telling Americans to leave the region. Oil prices have already jumped 7 percent in just a few days.
History teaches us a simple lesson: Wars without a clear objective do not stay small. They get bigger. They get bloodier. They get longer. They get more expensive.
This is not a defensive war. This is not a necessary war. This is a war of choice. The American people do not want another endless war of choice in the Middle East. They do not want to see our troops fight and die in a pointless war. Parents don't want to worry about whether or not their kids will be sent abroad to fight in a conflict Americans didn't ask for.
The American people want leadership that is focused on lowering costs here at home because, while this administration debates which justification to use for the war, American families are debating which bill to pay. Gas prices are rising again. Electric bills are through the roof. Groceries are still too high. Housing costs are crushing middle-class families. Health insurance premiums are rising. The President should be focused on lowering costs.
Instead of mission creep abroad, we need cost relief here at home. Instead of shifting rationales for war, we need a clear strategy for affordability. That is what Americans are asking for, and that is what Senate Democrats are fighting for. Affordability
Mr. President, that is why, this week, the Senate is moving long- overdue housing legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and I want to thank Senator Warren for her incredible work bringing this package to fruition.
The ROAD to Housing Act is a good step, but Democrats know it is only the first step. We have much more work to do to fix the housing crisis--to restore the promise of homeownership and bring rents down. Democrats will continue to develop and push additional housing policies that build on the good work of this bill, including the ideas we laid out in our housing rollout and in our report on the housing crisis in January.
But Democrats are not stopping at housing. Later this week, I will join my colleagues to roll out our food prices legislation. Our bill will go straight to one of the core problems of the food industry: too much consolidation in America's food system, especially in meat and agriculture, where a handful of dominant players squeeze farmers on one end and squeeze consumers on the other.
Donald Trump acts like affordability is some kind of hoax, but Democrats understand it is the No. 1 thing people think about when they are paying the rent, filling up their tank, and especially when pushing a cart down the grocery aisle. We will keep fighting on this issue because Americans want us to bring their costs down.
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