Michael McCaul

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Wisconsin an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, at this point I continue to reserve the balance of my time until the chairman is prepared to close.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, at this point, I will continue to reserve until Chairman Engel is prepared to close.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Abraham).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Hice).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Texas (Mr. Arrington).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Abraham).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Louisiana an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished Republican leader.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for the leader, and I do not disagree with him that the President needs to come to Congress to authorize war with Iran, but that is not what we are looking at here today. We do not currently have troops engaged in hostility in Iran subject to withdrawal under the War Powers Resolution. However, if the administration were to strike Iran directly, in my opinion, they would need to submit a war powers notification, and they would need to proceed with an authorized use of military force. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Spano).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I am strongly in favor of exercising our Article I authorities for matters as grave as war and peace, but the fact is, we are not at war with Iran. The President is not trying to start a war with Iran. I met with the President earlier today. He told me that if this resolution passes, it will take all of his power to negotiate with Iran off the table. That is the worst thing that we could do. Yesterday, he called for making a deal that allows for Iran to thrive and prosper. The President is making the choice to move toward deescalation. The premise of this resolution is flawed because we are not engaged in hostilities with Iran. The President is not trying to start hostilities with Iran. Despite this public proclamation by our President, my colleagues are trying to claim that the President still wants to go to war. I deeply regret that my colleagues are not serious enough about exercising our Article I authorities to pursue regular order on such a serious question. We have had no hearings in the House Foreign Affairs Committee since these events transpired. There was no Foreign Affairs Committee markup of this legislation. I received the text of this legislation only 2 hours before the Rules Committee meeting last night on a War Powers Resolution. Debating issues of war and peace is perhaps our most important responsibility as Members of Congress, and, yet, this legislation dropped last night without committee consideration as required by the War Powers Resolution. If my colleagues were as serious about Article I as they say they are, then this would be a joint resolution with the force of law. Instead, it is a House concurrent resolution that will never go to the President's desk. Let me translate what that means to the American people listening today. Today, we are voting on a press release, a press statement. This is a political statement for a leftwing domestic audience. But they are not the only ones watching, Mr. Speaker. Iran is watching, and its proxies are watching. What they see is a divided America that does not fully support the ability of our Commander in Chief to respond to imminent threats to Americans. Churchill warned against appeasement when the dark clouds of fascism and the Third Reich swept in, in my father's war. Weakness invites aggression, he said. President Reagan said: ``Peace through strength.'' I believe in these ideals and these axioms. Last May, it was reported that Soleimani met with Iraqi militias in Baghdad and told them to ``prepare for proxy war.'' Without last week's strike, Soleimani would still be waging that proxy war, a war that he was escalating. An American was killed less than 2 weeks ago, and four American soldiers were injured. Our Embassy in Baghdad was attacked under Soleimani's orders. What more do we need? What more evidence do we need? Let's talk about the facts. He is a designated terrorist under the Obama administration. Importantly, the President told me today that Soleimani was planning to blow up our Embassy. I need no further proof, evidence, or intelligence than that from the President of the United States. What if the President had not acted? Let's assume that. By the way, some on the other side of the aisle were criticizing him for not responding after our Embassy was attacked. What if he did not act. What if Soleimani had made it back to Tehran to meet with the Ayatollah to give the green light to carry out the plot to attack our soldiers and diplomats in Iraq? What if the Americans were killed? What if they killed our soldiers and diplomats? What if they successfully stormed our American Embassy and held our marines and diplomats hostage, like they did in 1979 when this whole reign of terror started with Jimmy Carter in the White House? How would the critics of the President respond then if we had done nothing? How would the American people respond? How would the Gold Star Mothers respond? No, this President did the right thing to take out this threat that killed so many Americans. I have been to too many funerals, as many of us in this Chamber have, and many of those soldiers were killed at the bloody hands of Soleimani. As many Americans whose families still grieve today, we grieve for them. Since 1979, Iran has presided over a reign of terror in the region. For over two decades, Soleimani has been the mastermind of terror, and the world is safer today without him. Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying that now is not the time to divide this Nation and play into the propaganda of Iran. Now is not the time to tie our Commander in Chief's hands. Now is the time to support our men and women in uniform. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), who is the Republican whip.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo), who is a Marine veteran of the Persian Gulf war and a current member of the Mississippi National Guard.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Watkins).