J Street commends the House of Representatives’s passage of a war powers resolution to prevent the president from carrying out a disastrous, unauthorized war of choice with Iran. By taking this step, Congress has acted to restrain an out-of-control president and assert its constitutional authority to decide whether, when and where our country goes to war.

The cycle of escalatory violence during the past week has made frighteningly clear that President Trump’s decision to unilaterally violate the JCPOA nuclear agreement, implement a ‘maximum pressure’ campaign and assassinate a senior Iranian commander has only strengthened Iranian hardliners, further destabilized the region and brought us to the brink of war. If Congress does not act decisively to stop them, the president and his saber-rattling advisers could soon lead us into a conflict that will endanger American servicepeople, our allies in Israel and the Middle East and millions of Iranian civilians caught in the crossfire.

The Senate must now pass its own war powers resolution, while the House should also vote on additional measures to definitively block funding for a conflict with Iran and to repeal the long-outdated and misused 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

Representing the views of an overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community, J Street will continue to stand alongside our pro-peace partners to rally support for diplomacy and firm opposition to war with Iran.