Lawmakers in Oregon and beyond are calling for action after President Donald Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die” if his demands in Iran are not met by Tuesday evening.
Trump said Iran must meet his latest deadline to strike a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while the Islamic Republic urged young people to form human chains around power plants and other potential targets.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley held a press briefing in Portland Tuesday afternoon, calling on Congress to reconvene and vote on the War Powers Resolution.
“These are apocalyptic words about attacking the civilian infrastructure and the civilians of another nation,” Merkley said. “It is 1000% out of sync with the principles of our nation and international principles.”
He said protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure from war is a tradition cemented in U.S. history
Dexter said Republicans should call on Trump to stand down.
“When we call it, he doesn’t listen,” Dexter said. “But if his party and his donors call for it” that might convince the president not to escalate his attacks.
She said she recognized this may be challenging for many Republicans.
“If you talk to Donald Trump and take an alternative perspective to his, he shuts you out,” she said. ”He stops talking to you. But if a preponderance, a critical mass, is saying the same thing, we know there’s safety in numbers.”
U.S. Sen. Corey Booker, D-New Jersey, joined Dexter and Merkley at the event, saying he was in Portland as part of a global book tour.
“Americans cannot be silent while a president has usurped the Constitution,” Booker said. “How can we be silent at a moment like this when he is threatening societal elimination”
Booker said Democrats in the Senate, the people of America and Republicans in Congress need to stand up and “ultimately the power of the people will prevail.”
“War is evil,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a necessary evil, but it’s always an evil. This one is an unconstitutional evil. The only thing necessary for it to continue is for good people to do something.”
On Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden called Trump “deranged” in a social media post.
“He must be impeached and removed from office,” Wyden said. “Republicans who don’t stop him will have blood on their hands, and anyone who carries out an order to bomb civilian targets will be complicit in war crimes and will be held accountable.”
Oregon 4th District Rep. Val Hoyle, a Democrat, released this statement:
“This is evil. Plain and simple. Pure evil. The President has stated that he plans to commit genocide against more than 100 million civilians and the infrastructure they rely on - the literal definition of a war crime. This is an illegal war, and the President’s allies in Congress have done nothing to stop it. Mike Johnson should call us back to DC so we can do our jobs and protect the safety and security of our nation. I am once again calling on Congress to vote on the War Powers Resolution and put a stop to this—now.” Hoyle has called to invoke the 25th amendment.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
