Aloha, Friend.
I want to talk with you about Iran: what is happening; what the decisions and stakes are for us all; and what I think. I need to hear from you what you think, as I make critical decision and votes in Congress.
And I ask you to consider the questions we all face not just for Iran today, but in the big picture and long term. President Trump is among our most polarizing leaders ever; too many Americans support or oppose anything he says and does unconditionally. But the decisions we make as a country will far outlast his remaining Presidency, influencing our world abroad and our democracy at home, and we need to make the best possible decisions for our country beyond our views of this President.
What Is Happening. Iran under its leaders since 1979 has been a self-declared enemy of our country. It has fomented and funded terrorism throughout the Middle East and beyond, pursued the acquisition of both nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them, severely repressed its own people. Diplomatic efforts to halt Iran’s weapons development programs have failed, and Iran appears to have continued those efforts even after the June 2025 U.S-Israel attack.
Early Saturday morning, under the President’s orders, our U.S. armed services carried out an armed strike on Iran in close coordination with Israel. This attack was much broader than the June 2025 strikes, targeting not only military and civilian infrastructure and personnel critical to Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons and missiles and attack neighbors, but Iran’s civilian leadership, with Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei killed. Iran counterattacked both U.S. and Israeli forces and neighboring Middle East countries. There has been great loss of both military and civilian life, including at least three of our own servicemembers for whom we grieve.
An organized, coordinated and sustained attack by one country on another country is an act of war. The United States Congress did not authorize our country going to war with Iran. There is no current information indicating that Iran was about to conduct an imminent attack on our country that required the President to take immediate action to protect our country without Congressional authorization. Congress is expected to vote this coming week on one or more resolutions to decide if our military actions against Iran can continue or must halt.
What I Think. This was my statement Saturday morning right after the attacks:
“Our Constitution and laws say that a President cannot take our country to war without Congressional authorization unless there’s an imminent threat to our country and then only for a limited period subject to Congressional approval. History teaches us that the grave risks and consequences of war are too great to allow any President to ignore these foundational checks and balances and act unilaterally.
“Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them against us, and so there may be circumstances under which war would be our only option. But as there has been no demonstration of an imminent threat to our country, this action is not authorized and that cannot be ignored.
“The President must fully explain to Congress and the American people the imminent threat we face justifying this action and the specific case for war. Congress must reconvene now to obtain all of the facts and vote to continue or end this military action.
“We all pray for our servicemembers in harm’s way and their families and for the innocent lives that are being lost and shattered.”
What Our Decisions Are. There are two basic questions we all face as Americans that affect not only our current actions with Iran, but our future both within our country and around the world. The first is whether and when our President, any President, should be able to take us to war unilaterally based only on the President’s decision. The second is: should we continue this war with Iran.
On the first, our Founding Fathers viewed the centralization of power in one person as dangerous. They gave Congress the power to declare war because they wanted this most critical and consequential of decisions to be subject to the check and balance of the American people through their Congress. Our laws confirm this basic principle, while allowing Presidents to act without Congress’ authorization when our country faces imminent threat. The question is: did the President comply with the Constitution and law, and if this President can commence and continue this action without Congressional authorization, then what prevents this or any President from acting unilaterally without any check and balance in other circumstances.
On the second, it is clearly in our national interest to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them and to end Iran’s export of terrorism around the world. But: is this the right way to do that; were other alternatives exhausted; what is the complete plan, objectives, timeline, exit strategy; Iranian leadership succession; risks and consequences not just in Iran and the Middle East but with the equal if not more severe challenges of Russia, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and beyond. We have felt the painful consequences, including the lives of too many of our own lost, of failing to answer these inconvenient questions, and answering them now clearly and realistically absolutely matters.
What Do You Think/Anonymous Online Survey. I return to Capitol Hill this week to start to face these questions in my U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which oversees and funds our national defense and intelligence efforts, and with my votes. I need to know what you, as a fellow citizen of our country and whose voice I represent in Congress, think.
Will you please help me by completing this anonymous online survey here? I ask for your thoughts not just on the critical questions we face in Iran, but again on your own priorities as our many other challenges such as the unacceptably high cost of living are not going away and we cannot be diverted from solving them. Please note that, as this is an anonymous survey, I will not be able to respond directly to your comments, so please email me at ed.case@mail.house.gov if you would like a response.
Mahalo for your continued engagement and guidance. The best way to keep up with what I’m doing, provide your concerns, get your questions answered and ask for assistance is by visiting my website at https://case.house.gov/. Please also feel free to call my Honolulu office at (808) 650-6688 or email me at ed.case@mail.house.gov.
