Senator VAN HOLLEN statement “Trump said he would end wars”. Tonight, he dragged us into one. His decision violates the Constitution, endangers American lives and risks unleashing dangerous forces we can’t control. My full statement:

Van Hollen Statement on Trump

Decision to Attack Iran

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement on President Trump's decision to attack Iran:

"Trump said he would end wars; now he has dragged America into one. His actions are a clear violation of our Constitution - ignoring the requirement that only the Congress has the authority to declare war. While we all agree that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, Trump abandoned diplomatic efforts to achieve that goal and instead chose to unnecessarily endanger American lives, further threaten our armed forces in the region, and risk pulling America into another long conflict in the Middle East. The U.S. intelligence community has repeatedly assessed that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. There was more time for diplomacy to work.

"The war in Iraq was also started under false pretenses. It's clear that President Trump has been outmaneuvered by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who opposed the JCPOA negotiated by President Obama and has long favored drawing America into a war against Iran. The United States has rightly supported Israel's defense, but it should not have joined Netanyahu in waging this war of choice. Instead of living up to his claim that he'd bring all wars to an end, Trump is yet again betraying Americans by embroiling the United States directly in this conflict."