WASHINGTON— Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement in support of Rep. Ro Khanna’s amendment to the NDAA to prohibit unauthorized war with Iran:

“I’m proud to join with Mr. Khanna as a cosponsor of this amendment.

“If the President wants to go to war, he needs to come to Congress first. The Constitution gives Congress—not the President—the power to declare war.

“This is about checks and balances. It does not prevent the President from defending America, it simply enforces current law exactly as it is written in the war powers resolution. There’s no special category for Iran that allows the President to skip the critical step of coming to Congress.

“Iran is dangerous. I am not blind to the threat it poses to our allies and our interests, but addressing those threats need not lead us into another war. We need to de-escalate heightened tensions in the region so we don’t stumble into a conflict with Iran. Now is the time for Congress to step up and assert our constitutional authority.”

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