War Powers Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. KIM. Mr. President, I rise today because the cost of this war is unbearable, and it is time we finally bring this to an end. I know we have talked a lot about that cost. It is something that the American people are feeling every single day. But I wanted to take a few minutes to really zoom in on what this war is costing us and why this War Powers Resolution by my colleague Senator Schiff is so important.

I want you to remember three numbers when we think about what this war has cost us in the first 60 days: $25 billion, 47 months, and $450. I want to go through these three numbers.

Let's start with $25 billion. That is how much this war has cost the American people so far, according to the Acting Comptroller of the Department of Defense, and that very well may be an understatement. Now, $11.3 billion of that was spent in the first 6 days of this war.

For $25 billion, we could pay for a yearlong extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that the Republicans cut last year. In New Jersey, that would mean that the nearly 70,000 people so far who have dropped their health insurance plans could afford them yet again. It could easily restore full funding to the National Institutes of Health, which was cut by nearly 20 percent in this recent Trump budget. That is billions of dollars on medical research for cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases that are hitting our families and our communities hard.

If we let this war go on for another 60 days, we are telling the American people that this choice of war without purpose or end matters more than their health and their families.

Now let's go to the second number: 47 months. That is the time it takes for a Tomahawk cruise missile to be contracted, manufactured, and deployed. Over the course of this war, we have used more than 1,000 Tomahawks. We have used more than 1,000 Patriot missiles, one of the most critical systems that we use to protect our forces as well as civilian populations. We have used hundreds of other precision munitions that are critical in our larger global defense, including in deterring Chinese aggression across the Indo-Pacific. The cost of this war isn't just the incredible cost it would take to replenish these munitions--now more than $2.5 million per Tomahawk; more than $15 million for THAAD batteries, which are critical against ballistic missiles. What we are also seeing is that it is a cost of time in losing momentum, in making sure that we maintain deterrence and project security and stability around the world.

Finally, this last number: $450. Last week, that is how much more the Center for American Progress projected the average American family will have to pay to fill their tank over the next year because of the rise of gas prices.

One of the more shocking and eye-opening statements and statistics that are out there is that right now, nearly 40 percent of Americans say they can't afford a $400 emergency. That is the world we live in right now.

This is an emergency. And if you think $450 is a lot, this figure was calculated last week when the average gas price in the United States was $4.02. Today, it is $4.30. Prices are going up, and we have seen negotiations go absolutely nowhere. This administration has failed to take them seriously, and it is the American people--our families and our small businesses--who are paying the price.

We can't continue to put the cost of this war on the American people. We can do something about it right here, right now, here in the Senate. We can pass this War Powers Resolution. We can bring this illegal war to an end, and we can give the American people the relief they desperately deserve. That is what I call on this Chamber and my colleagues to do.

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