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Floor Speech

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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran.

Donald Trump came into office promising that he would lower costs and end foreign wars, but with this war, he has broken both promises at once. Wisconsin families are already seeing higher costs at the pump and on airfare. Wisconsin farmers are staring down higher fertilizer and fuel costs as spring planting gets underway. Meanwhile, the uncertainty and chaos caused by this President is keeping interest rates high and shaking the global stock market.

Donald Trump is raising costs on Americans at the same moment he is spending billions of dollars on a war that Wisconsin families did not choose. In just 6 days, Trump's war in Iran has cost American taxpayers almost $12 billion. We are now nearly a month into this war, and it is estimated that we have spent around $30 billion of taxpayer money.

What Donald Trump spent in 3 weeks is what it would have cost to extend the Affordable Care Act's tax credits for a full year. Republicans said that extending these healthcare tax credits for working families was too expensive, but they have not said a word about Trump spending $30 billion for another war. That money could have stopped 22 million Americans from seeing their healthcare costs increase by double, triple, or worse. It could have stopped 1 million people from canceling their coverage because the costs were simply too high to manage without those tax breaks. That $30 billion could have paid for more than 30 million children's school lunches. That $30 billion could have put a safe roof over the heads of more than 3.1 million Americans. That $30 billion could have covered a year of childcare for nearly 2 million children.

Using that money for an illegal war that no one wants is a choice, and now President Trump is reportedly planning to ask Congress for $200 billion more for his war with Iran.

Here is my question: For what?

That is not a rhetorical question. I genuinely don't know, and the American people don't know either what the goals of this war are and why American families are being asked to shell out billions of dollars for it. The Trump administration has, so far, been unable or unwilling to give the American people a straight answer.

Just as Donald Trump tells the American people that we are close to ending this war, strikes continue, and all signs point to this conflict continuing to grow. We are hearing reports that the Pentagon is making detailed preparations for deploying United States ground forces in Iran as 5,000 marines and new warships are being deployed to the Middle East. Just today, it was reported that, roughly, 3,000 soldiers who are trained to parachute into enemy territory are being deployed to the region.

I have been demanding hearings for weeks so that Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Rubio can answer our questions under oath and in public before the American people. They need to answer why they are using taxpayer dollars on this illegal war instead of bringing down the costs of healthcare, housing, gas, groceries, and childcare for the families I represent.

Donald Trump ran and won on lowering costs for Americans, but his agenda has done just the opposite. He has started expensive wars; has pursued tariffs that have jacked up costs on consumers; and has slashed programs that have helped Americans afford their healthcare and put food on the table.

Enough is enough. It is time for the Trump administration to make their case to the American people. I personally don't think that they have one, but at the bare minimum, they need to tell Congress and the public why we are in this war, putting more servicemembers' lives at risk and not focusing on the kitchen table issues.

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